“Charming,” she says dryly, and I might just be imagining the hint of a smile that plays around her lips as she summons one of her courtiers forward with a curt wave of her hand.
“Split the bounty.”
The fae—this one who looks to be made almost entirely of dead leaves—gets to it immediately. Two more fae with rough, bark skin grab the chest and pop it open while the leaf fae fetches two cloth sacks.
The treasure shines just as brightly as it did at the hunters’ gathering, and I try not to look too eager as the courtiers get to work dividing it up.
Only… something isn’t quite right.
My stomach sinks when I see it.
The trunk has a false bottom.
The fortune the fae queen showed us a glimpse of is still there, but that glimpse is all there is. A single thin layer of coins and jewels. Still a prize, but probably not one I would have risked my damn life for over and over these past few days.
Probably not one that’s going to fix all our problems.
But offering any argument over her deception is absolutely going to end with both of us swallowed up by her vines and made permanent fixtures of this bower, so I hold my tongue.
“I thank you for your efforts, human,” the queen says, then pauses and sighs. “And demon. Fair payment for a bargain met. To my court, I declare the hunt over. Spread the word amongst the realms that I no longer seek my heart.”
Callum grunts something that might be agreement, but he doesn’t relax for a moment as the courtiers finish their work and present it to the queen for her inspection.
“Take your treasure.” She tosses the sacks and they land jangling at our feet. “And get out of my realm before I change my mind.”
I don’t need to be told twice.
And neither does Callum, it seems, as he bows low to the queen, scoops up the two bags, hands one to me, and places a hand in the center of my back in an unmistakablelet’s get the hell out of here.
After my own brief bow to the queen, we turn and high-tail it out of the court, through the bower, trying not to catch the eye of any bloodthirsty fae as we go.
We come out the other side of the Veil back in the Middle.
An interesting choice, but I wasn’t the one to put my hand on the stone. Callum’s touch had the ether melting into a deep, earthen brown, and after a stomach-churning walk through, we wound up back where it all started.
My throat is tight as I inhale the scent of peat moss and loam, damp and rich like it’s recently rained.
Tight with relief. Tight with disappointment. Tight with worry as Callum drops my hand and takes a few steps away, frustration coming off him in waves.
In my other hand, the sack of treasure feels almost comically light.
Somewhere in a far corner of my mind, I’ve already started thinking about where I’ll be able to trade it for currency I can actually use. A few names come to mind—witches and wielders back in the human realm, a few other beings I’ve crossed paths with in my limited travel through the other realms—but it’s a problem I can’t even begin to sort through right now.
Not considering my biggest problem is currently right in front of me.
“Well,” I say, and my voice comes out choked and hoarse. “That was…”
I can’t find the words.
“A mistake?”
Callum sounds just as wrung-through as I do.
“Not entirely. I mean, we probably just saved my realm a whole lot of headache from hunters wreaking havoc. And I’m sure Elijah will be glad to know the queen got his message.”
He lets out a short, humorless laugh. “A great accomplishment, indeed.”
“It’s not nothing,” I protest. “And we got something out of it for ourselves.”
