“Okay.” I nodded. “Just you and me. And … I think we should only tell a few people. Keep it under wraps as much as possible.”
He didn’t argue, and his grip eased on the staff as he said, “Maybe we should have Violet spell two shifters, create an illusion of us in the mansion. It would be dangerous for whatever shifter they use, but it’s important the fae spies don’t report our disappearance.”
I agreed. Even though I didn’t like putting that sort of target on any of our people, it needed to be done. It would be hard enough to fight Isalinda and the Dark Fae Lord without giving them a heads-up that we were coming for them.
Kade continued: “There’s a low-ranking bear shifter in my royal guard on the Island. We are often told of our likeness in looks.”
My mind searched for someone I could trust that was tall and blond and ...Jen. She would need whiter hair, but that could be changed easily enough; Violet’s magic could take care of the rest. “Jen can be my lookalike. They will keep up appearances here, while we go in and take out the winter queen and the Dark Fae Lord. End this war before it starts.”
Kade’s eyes deepened to a dark brown and a frown touched his lips. “What if we don’t make it back?”
I sighed. It was a damn good question, just not one I wanted to think about. “You owe me a wedding and babies. We’re making it back. You have forty-eight hours to master that staff. We leave in two days.”
The mention of future babies had a soft sort of grin lifting his cheeks. “With that sort of motivation, how can I refuse?”
I smiled lightly and stood on my tiptoes to kiss his warm lips. Times were never so dire thatthere was no time for kissing. “I’ll prepare for our trip,” I told him after I pulled away.
“Two days.” He confirmed with a nod, then turned and bellowed out in the hallway, “Baladar, get your ass back in here.”
No doubt they would have it mastered in that time. I could sense his determination.
The next two days were filled with training, strategy, and planning. Calista unearthed some ancient books on the Tuatha de Danann, which had a rough map of the entire world. The Dark Fae Lord’s territory was not on there, but it was fascinating to see the huge scale of their realm. I had explored such a small part. She made me learn as much as I could, both of us hoping the landscape hadn’t changed over the years.
I had explained to her that we were starting in the Summer Court, that hopefully they would point us in the direction we needed to go. When Calista wasn’t grilling me, I trained with Kade. He threw dark magic at me with the staff, which was helping him get the hang of it, and me to get the hang of fighting the dark magic it held.
The stone atop his staff was absolutely fascinating to me. I was drawn to it, the same way I was with the purple mecca, but it also left a weird residue of oiliness on my tongue. Therewas a wrongness about it I couldn’t get past, even though it didn’t seem to bother Kade.
At least — besides a couple of mishaps — I successfully broke any and all dark spells. I was as ready as I would ever be. Violet, Calista, Jen, Kevin — Kade’s bear lookalike — Finn, and Nix were the sole bearers of our secret. The others believed they were training us for the war. After we left, Violet would break the news to the rest of our inner circle. We argued about whether this was the right thing to do. Kade was worried our family wouldn’t be able to keep up a convincing act with our spelled lookalikes if they knew it wasn’t us, but I refused to deceive everyone in that way. I wouldn’t let them believe that Kevin and Jen were really us.
Our doppelgängers were already situated in the far west wing of the royal estate; both had been thrilled to be able to help us with this. Neither cared about the danger, even after I explained it to them. I felt it was an essential part of our plan that if the winter queen or Dark Fae Lord were watching the castle, they would still see us in the residence.
Finn had halted his perimeter excursions, sticking by my side as much as possible. The morning before we were about to leave, he bumped his head into me.I still think I shouldcome with you. Being separated like this … it’s not right.
I dropped to my knees, wrapping my arms tightly around his middle.I know, I want you there more than anyone. But … you stand out too much. Nix stands out too much. It’s safer if you stay here, keep an eye on the city, and tell me everything that’s happening. You can pass on information if needed.
His chest rumbled under my hold, his next words hard:We don’t know that we can communicate between the worlds. What if you can’t hear me?
I sighed.We’ll figure out a way.
War was taking a toll on all of us, and it hadn’t even started yet.
After much discussion, Kade and I felt it was the best move politically to take a portal into the Summer Court and briefly talk with Blaine and Bianca before moving to a private meeting with the king and prince. They would be the only ones to know of our plans. Gossip no doubt spread as rapidly there as it did here, and we wanted to contain it at all costs.
I wished there was no need to tell anyone, but it wouldn’t be right to sneak into their lands, and hopefully they could offer us some guidance in the direction of Isalinda and the Dark Fae Lord.
“Ready?” Violet whispered.
I nodded. “Yep, can’t wait.” My voice was light, no real emotion.
It was near midnight and the entire house was sleeping except for Kade, Violet, Rowan, and me. We’d told Rowan we were going to have a meeting with her king — which wasn’t a total lie. We were still trying to keep everything under wraps, but I think she knew something else was up, because she eyed our heavily-laden packs and Kade’s dark staff with wary eyes.
“Worried about running into trouble in the Summer Court?” she asked, as she prepared to make a portal into the Otherworld.
“Hopefully not,” I answered honestly.
Rowan just shook her head, the slightest of smiles tipping up her lips. Then she smoothed her coat, and in a flash pulled out a small shimmering vial. It was the mecca dust we’d been gifted. A second bottle. She pressed it into my hand. “In case you’re in trouble. Mecca powder needs only to be given direction, and then it can accomplish almost any spell.”
Our gazes clashed; the tiny fae nodded once, and I knew that she knew what we were up to. She knew and she supported it. For some reason, that made me feel a little better about the plan. I met Violet face to face. Her eyes were swimming with so much emotion.
