Is he trying to start a brawl? I glower at him, but his gaze drifts over my naked body like he’s getting ready to steal me away for more claiming time.
“We don’t have time for this,” Hart snaps. “Daphne, get dressed. Theo, do the same. Nash, take a damn walk to cool off. Malachi, help Daphne not get lost between here and the common room. Gwyneth has some ideas on what happened with the Red Queen and how that can be used against the Idols deciding to interfere in the realm.”
I’m out of bed and yanking on my gown within the next heartbeat because as cute as baby Theo was, I can’t go around shrinking folks and who knows what else because of some uncontrolled power I tapped into.
Theo is slower to drag himself out of bed, and Hart manages to shove Nash out of the door while shaking his head at us like we’ve been naughty children.
Two tempos later, I’ve emptied my bladder, tamed my hair into a wonky braid, and settled onto a sofa between Nash and Hart. The former appears to need reassurance that I’m okay, while the latter is holding the reins.
Gwyneth sits on the opposite sofa, squashed between Charming and the pair of capons. Luckily, someone decided to cater this little rebellion meeting with plenty of cheese, sausage, and cake.
“What have you found?” I start once Malachi and Theo join us. Genie sits on an invisible chair while Sir Sweeps-A-Lot floats overhead, ready to swat anyone who needs it. Eron ripples and appears in a mirror that someone positioned against the wall.The gang is all here, and I’m stuffed full of every kind of sausage. There’s nothing we can’t face now.
Gwyneth opens a heavy tomb, and butterflies of all colors flutter out from the pages. She wafts them away with a huff. “This is the oldest record of our bloodline we’ve been able to locate. It goes back to the Grimm brothers.”
“Wilhem and Jacob?” I check.
She nods. “The stories they wrote and willed into existence were always meant to take on a life of their own. That’s how they were designed, and the power was meant to pass from the Idols to their next generations, developing the story with each new one born.”
Nash grabs a cube of cheese off my plate. “But instead, they got power hungry, and rather than letting the wonder breathe, they stifled it and got greedy, realizing they could get stronger by forcing everyone to live out the story as it originates. Nobody learns, nothing develops, and people get trapped recycling the same toxic narrative over and over again.”
Gwyneth points at him. “Right. And when the Red Queen perished, that power?—”
“Got sucked up by me,” I finish.
“Exactly. Now imagine if we took that power back. If we went back to how things were supposed to be.”
I wince. “I have to tell you, it’s not comfortable. And I only have one Idol wriggling inside me.”
“Phrasing,” Hart murmurs.
“I’m not explaining this right,” Gwyneth huffs.
Charming squeezes her hand. “You are doing great, my love.”
Excuse me?My love?I promised not to be judgy, and here I am ready to hang him by his balls after one term of endearment. How angry would she really be if a smarmy prince went missing? Like, a tiny bit? Or full-blown rage?
“You have this,” the All Knowing booms.
We all jump, even Genie. Damn weird dude is creeping around. Wait… “Do you have a body?”
“Not the time,” Malachi mutters.
“When the occasion calls for it,” the All Knowing answers.
“Are you tall? Handsome? How many annuses?”
“Focus,” Theo drawls.
Gwyneth chuckles. “It’s fine. I need a beat to think how to explain myself.” She jumps to her feet and paces the floor between the sofas. “Think of it like a pail which fills with the power they have hoarded over generations. When it gets full, the power leaks from the top and spills into the land, giving just enough to continue the generational line of that Idol.”
“I’m with you.” Surprisingly.
“But it’s our magic, our blood, that maintains this system.”
Nope, I’m lost.
Nash nods. Of course, the big brain would understand what the other big brain is talking about. Charming blinks as if he’s both in love and utterly confused. Ugh, this diurnal is already strange enough without empathizing with Charming.
