The vision of Corbin’s face from my dream burned behind my eyes.He said this would happen.
It’s a coincidence. Corbin is just your subconscious. He’s not telling you what will happen in the future.
For the first time, doubt flickered across my mind. I’d seen the room where we kept Daigh. I knew how secure it was. I knew he had no powers. Not even my subconscious – which was every bit as logical as my conscious mind – would have assumed he’d escape. And the idea had been planted in my head by Corbin just moments before it happened...
“Maeve, your trousers!”
I whirled around. Flynn tossed my jeans into my arms. I shoved my feet inside – no time for socks or panties – and scrambled into the hall. Flynn and Rowan thudded after me.
I sprinted down the grand staircase, pulling Rowan’s hoodie over my naked chest. Footsteps pounded behind me. “Einstein, wait for us.”
I didn’t wait. I plunged into the labyrinthine hallways, some sort of instinct directing me to the correct room. The others had already gathered in Ryan’s gallery room, surveying the damage. And what damage there was.
The short hallway leading to the safe no longer existed. In its place was an enormous charred hole. Bits of drywall and shards of the steel door littered the hardwood floor where the wood hadn’t burned to a crisp or curled up.
Flynn picked up a piece of metal between his fingers. “It’s been shattered,” he whispered. “Like it’s bloody glass.”
“That’s twelve-inch bulletproof steel,” Ryan picked through a pile of debris. He held up a tangle of cords and metal teeth – what remained of the keypad and lock. “It’s supposed to be able to withstand nuclear fallout.”
“Apparently, it’s not demon-proof,” I growled.It made perfect sense.“A fae couldn’t have done this, not with their metal allergy. This is what Daigh traded for his powers – an escape route. He knew we’d keep him alive and try to hold him.”
“He might’ve left my art intact,” Ryan picked up the corner of a gilded frame that had fallen from the wall beside the hallway. Tatters of canvas hung from the wood. “This was aCezanne.”
“We’ve got to find him.”
“Why?” Ryan kicked debris across the floor. “He’s history. He can’t go back to the fae – not now they know he doesn’t have any powers.”
“We can’t just leave him wandering around the village!” I yelled. “He could hurt people.”
“He can’t do anything now he’s human,” Flynn pointed out.
“If this whole stupid situation has shown us anything, it’s that humans are just as cruel as the fae.”
“Maeve.” Flynn grabbed my shoulder, shaking me hard enough to clatter my teeth together. “What’s wrong? You’ve gone as pale as a wee goth kid.”
“I had another dream,” I sobbed. “I think… I can’t explain it, but I just have this feeling…”
Flynn’s fingers dug into my shoulders, his eyes a perfect storm of emotion. “Tell us everything you saw, Einstein.”
“Corbin was there, and Arthur.” Behind Flynn, Rowan flinched, his eyes filling with pain. I kept talking “But Arthur was just this nearly invisible shape. He couldn’t speak. Corbin said he had one foot in both worlds. And then he pulled Liah out of the darkness and?—”
“Liah?” Blake appeared by my side, his face stony.
I sniffed. “She said Daigh was torturing her so she’d compel the villagers to attack the castle. I guess… he could have used her to hide his lack of power from the other fae. She said she was on our side this whole time.”
“Fae lie,” Blake whispered.
“But she didn’t kill you! Back at the church, she had the chance to get to me through you, and she didn’t take it. She may bear me no kind feelings, but when it came down to it she wouldn’t hurt you.”
“Are you saying this is a real dream?” Ryan demanded, straightening up and letting a scrap of canvas flutter to the ground.
“Yes. No. I think so.” I threw up my hands. “I don’t know!”
“If it is real…” Flynn whistled. “Then Corbin was right. Daigh’s making a move on the crown of Hell.”
“And he’ll do it soon, while the Slaugh are riding and we’re all distracted.” I glanced up at Clara, who hovered in the doorway with Aline, Smithers, and Jane. “When will they come?”
“Tonight, at the stroke of midnight,” she said.
