“The fae would wipe us off this planet if they had a choice,” Nevander said, his cold words dripping with malice.
“They would have done so already if that were the case,” I countered. “Nothing has happened in over five hundred years, and even then, they stopped when they thought the threat was neutralized.”
“Neutralized?” Thaddeus said coldly.
“You know what I mean.”
“They killed my family, Nyleeria. I’d say that goes beyondneutralized.”
“I’m sorry,” I offered, and started again. “What I’m trying—and failing—to convey, is that they left the general human populace alone. If they wanted to decimate us, surely they would have already.”
A pause. Tarrin and Nevander glanced at Thaddeus.
“What?” I asked.
“That’s not entirely true,” Thaddeus said. “The spell I cast as a child had larger implications than we realized. Not only did it create the veil for our people, but apparently it renders fae magic useless on our lands.”
“The fae can’t use magic in our realm?”
“They can valen, but no, they can’t use their elemental magic.”
“How do you know this?”
“That doesn’t matter. What does matter is that we now understand why they’ve left us alone,” Thaddeus said.
“But why does my magic work, then?”
“Well…that’s one of the things we wanted to discuss today,” Thaddeus hedged. I held his gaze, waiting for him to explain. “The truth is, the spark doesn’t seem to follow any of the rules. But it is possible that my ancient spell precludes you because you’re human.”
“Or it could be because you haven’t actually learned to wield your powers yet,” Nevander said under his breath, and Thaddeus sent him a sharp look.
He was right, though. In the short time we’d practiced, I hadn’t gotten very far, and our lessons had been sidelined to prepare for our visit to the Summer Court.
“Okay, but my powers aside,” I said, “you have your spell magic, and the fae can’t use their magic on human lands. Doesn’t that mean this isn’t an issue anymore, that we’re safe?” Warm hope bloomed in my chest. Perhaps this could end before it began. Surely, if the fae had intended to destroy us, they would have found a way to do so by now.
“No,” Thaddeus said solemnly, and my heart dropped. “I can’t let the fate of my people rest on the lore of one spell to protect them. Yes, I’ve been granted immortality, but that doesn’t mean I can’t die. What if the spell is connected to my life force somehow? What if the magic fails? More importantly, what if the fae find a way to lift the spell?”
He was right. Magic appeared to be fickle, or at least that had been my experience with it, and he was looking for a permanent solution to protect us for time immemorial.
Amos’ words ran through my mind:I never did like the humans being considered one of us, sharing our food and our celebrations.A shiver ran down my spine.
“You think they would have made us extinct if you didn’t cast that spell, don’t you?” I asked.
“Yes.”
How could one word hold so much weight?
Despite myself, the brutality of a human-fae war flashed in my mind, the cracks of cobblestone disappearing under poolsof red. Unseeing eyes. Bodies. Silence. That was what it would be like if the fae had extinguished us.
Icy cold ran through my veins, and something clicked.
“It had to be Amos,” I said simply.
“What did?” Nevander asked, eyeing me.
“Amos has to be responsible for taking the twins.” The others didn’t look convinced, so I forged on. “Think about it. He is the only high lord who was alive before the Great War and who remembers what it was like to have humans and fae intertwined—and he loathed it. If he’s looking for the spark, for me, it could be because he thinks I’m the key to breaking the spell.”
A wave of dread filled me. How close had I been to ending up in his grip? He could have used me to annihilate the human race. I swallowed back bile. I knew then, without a doubt, that the twins were alive, and they would remain so until he got what he wanted. Had Amos known who I was? Surely, my brother and sister would have told him my name. But why press me at the celebration? Why threaten to kill me? Why not just take me? Unless he wasn’t sure…unless there were other things at play. Maybe he wasn’t the one who’d taken them. No, that couldn’t be right. I didn’t have all the information, but my parents’ murder was the type of cruelty he was capable of.
