“Do you know how to break the wards?” I asked. “I know you fix and patch them all the time, but this feels different.”
“It is different. The wards I put up are modern magicks,” he said. “The wards we’ll be breaking are centuries old. They date back to the days of the Fae Queens.”
“Will you be able to break them?” My throat felt dry. “If it’s so different?”
“No, I don’t think I’ll be able to break them.”
“Silas! Why wouldn’t you tell me that before we set this plan in motion?”
“I won’t be able to break them, butyoumight.”
“Why me?”
“Take out your dagger.”
I slipped the dagger out of its sheath on my travel belt and handed it over.
“Do you see this?” Silas gestured toward the cerulean gems on my dagger, the inlaid stones that looked eerilysimilar to the ones on my circlet ring. “These stones are the same ones that represented the Court of Isles thousands of years ago.A blue to match its waters.”
“It’s just like my ring,” I said. “I never knew where it came from. Do you think…”
“Do I think your ring could have been passed down from your actual parents—from your Fae mother and father?” Silas’s eyes leveled on me. “Absolutely. I think it might be one way they’ve been protecting you, even after they’ve been gone for so long.”
“I found it in a box with my name on it in the attic,” I said. “My mother didn’t know where it was from. She’s tried to get rid of it over and over again, but inexplicably, I keep finding it.”
Silas grunted in a way that told me he understood. That I wasn’t crazy. That maybe, this meant something.
“You belong here,” he finally said. “You’ve always belonged here; you just didn’t know it until now.”
That single sentence summed up my whole life in a few syllables. The way I’d felt my whole childhood and well into adulthood was that Ihadbelonged somewhere, just not New York.
I’d always suspected my destiny hadn’t arrived yet. I’d felt uneasy and different, and I often experienced a longing for something more. Something bigger and better, somewhere I could just be myself.
Try tellingthatto my parents.
I glanced down at my ring. Sunlight glinted off those azure gems, almost as if there was water beneath the hard surface. Like my very ring was happy to be home where it belonged, just like me.
“The dagger might be able to break the wards,” Silas said. “That very weapon belonged to the previous Fae Queen.”
“A Fae Queen?” I just about dropped the sparkling blade. “How did you acquire it? Why did you give it to me?”
“The dagger is of no use to me,” Silas said. “Only a full-blooded Fae can wield it effectively. To me, it is a knife like any other. To you, it’s an extension of your power and heritage. The dagger has touched ancient magic. It’s happy in your hand and, I suspect, will come alive when you need it most.”
The dagger suddenly felt hot to the touch. Or maybe my palms were just clammy.
“The salt crystals are fixed to the bottom of the lake,” Silas continued. “We’ll get to the boat, then sail to the other side of the ward’s barrier. I think it’ll be best if we approach it from the outside. The stray magic will naturally head toward The Isle once it has been released, so we want to be opposite its path.”
“Makes sense.”
“I’ll Phase you down once you’re ready. I’ll be able to create a sphere of air around us to give you space to work,but it’s heavy magic, and I won’t be able to hold it for long. You will have to move quickly.”
“What if I can’t do it?”
“We’ll figure it out together. I’ll be by your side every step of the way.” Silas put his fingers at my chin, tilted my head up. “You’ll never be alone again, Alessia.”
I shuddered at his touch, at his words. How alone I’d felt for so long. How reassuring it was to hear his words, even if it wasn’t a promise he could realistically make.
“I’m ready,” I told him. “Let’s go.”
