And Corbin…even after I cut away his bond, he still lay there like a corpse.
Rage burned inside me as I realized what that might mean.
I turned back just as the fae started to creep forward again. A tall flame rose from my hand. I gathered the power within me, forming the fire into a glowing ball. I lobbed it into the crowd of fae, watching in satisfaction as it caught on clothing and garlands, sending three fae rolling to the earth, their bodies ablaze. The fae rushed about, gibbering and panicking as flames leapt through the crowd, catching on clothing and skin.
That’s for Corbin, you bastards.
I raised another ball of fire in my palm, holding it aloft. “Listen to me!” I yelled at the panicking fae. “I want to know exactly where the king has taken Maeve, and if you don’t want your entire court to burn, I suggest you tell me,now.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
MAEVE
My father.
Daigh waved a hand, turning his litter away from me. Smooth hands grabbed me, and Blake dragged me with him, following behind the litter. Several of the green-guards and other fae in long black cloaks fell in step beside him.
“He’s…he’s joking,” I choked out.
Blake shook his head, his face impossible to read.
My protests died on my lips. As much as I knew I shouldn’t trust the fae king, I believed him. After everything that I’d discovered about myself over the last weeks, nothing took me by surprise any more. Of course my father was a fae – and not just any fae, but the king of the violent Unseelie Court.
It makes perfect sense.
We drew up beside the litter. Daigh chuckled, and in his smile, I realized the cause of the weird feeling – it was recognition. I’d seen his smile before…in the mirror.
“We fae are tricksters, but in this case, I am being entirely truthful. Your mother and I had an arrangement. We met under the light of the full moon, down in the Briarwood meadow, for a ‘roll in the hay,’ as you humans like to say. Unconventional – a fae and a witch – but we both wanted a child, and desperationdoes play havoc with the mind to the point where even the unthinkable becomes desirable.” Daigh clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth in a way that made me shudder. “And your mother wasspectacular. She bucked against me like a little filly in the stables?—”
“Don’t talk about my mother like that,” I growled.
“Like what?” Daigh laughed. “Like awhore? You humans do so relish that word – a word with the power to discredit a woman, to render her impotent even as you grant her the sexual appetite of a tigress. Your mother knew exactly what she wanted and she took it – she would have made an absolutelyenchantingfae. The only thing I do resent is the fact that she trapped me in this forsaken place and hid you from me. But I can be patient. I knew you would show yourself when you came of age. As it was, I didn’t even have to wait – those hapless witches of yours led me right to you.”
“You didn’t manage to kill me, so I think you should give the title of hapless to yourself.”
The litter halted outside the entrance to an enormous barrow. This one was on the outskirts of the revels – the door framed with garlands of vivid blue and purple flowers that gave off a pungent, sickly-sweet scent. The king stepped down, his pointed leather boots hitting one of the litter-bearers in the face as he crossed the threshold. Blake dragged me inside after him. The king whipped his head around, and fixed me with a perfect, pearly smile. “Whatever made you think I was trying to kill you?”
I gulped. “The Ferris wheel…my parents…”
“They werenotyour parents.” The king’s voice became stern. “Come, daughter, and revel with me. From here, you will rule over your own kingdom as my heir. Those humans could never give you anything that compares to you true power.”
I dug my heels into the dirt floor, but Blake was much stronger than me. He scooped me up – thrashing legs and all – and carried me into the sidhe.
The round chamber was lit by the glowing beeswax candles set in enormous chandeliers made of bleached bones – femurs and shoulder blades and pelvic bones forming intricate, almost Rococo-esque filigree that cast jagged shadows across the dirt floor. Some of the bones were from enormous animals, the likes of which hadn’t been seen on earth for millions of years, but others were clearly human and fae.
The dim candlelight could not hope to penetrate into the darkest corners of the vast room. A vaulted ceiling rose above us, crossed with twisted vines and hung with yet more garlands. In the center of the room stood a pair of thrones – one larger than the other, both made of twisted vines and bleached bones and covered in cushions of ivy.
The king sank into the larger of the thrones, pushing his crown further up his forehead. His glittering eyes caught the light. He patted the cushion beside him. “I achievedexactlywhat I intended when I got rid of those people and that pesky university. I brought you home to us.”
“Wait, you took my scholarship—” Rage burned inside me.
Of course, I should have seen that a mile away.
Without the scholarship and my parents, I had nothing tying me to Arizona, so it made perfect sense to go to England.
Daigh knew exactly what the Briarwood witches would do. Corbin’s letter played right into Daigh’s hands…
Blake dumped me in the chair beside Daigh.
