Scanning the page, my stomach dropped. I read aloud: “Forged in revenge, of evil and bone, the Dark Fae Lord rose to be one of the first fae demons.”Great.As if I didn’t have enough toworry about with the winter queen, aka evil-grandmother, who was hell-bent on ruling the Earth-side mecca, now I had to worry about an honest-to-God demon. The summer king had mentioned him of course, but information was limited.
“Okay…” I started pacing. “I want to know everything about this fae demon. Where does he live? What does he eat? How the hell do I kill him?”
Kade was going to flip when he heard about this.
“That’s not all,” Violet piped in. “I did a little scrying spell to see if this Dark Fae Lord was even alive.”
I swung around to face her, my eyes wide as I opened and closed my mouth. Finally I said, “Can youpleasetry and be a little less reckless? I need you alive and safe after the Otherworld experience. At least let me know when you’re playing with magic and demons.” I’d known for years that Violet was probably going to be the death of me one day. There was no other person I worried about as much as her. Even more so now, after she’d been taken.
“So what did you see?” I didn’t really want to know. No way was it good.
Her lips creased into a tight line. “I saw a dark shrouded figure, which I assume was the DarkFae Lord. It was impossible to make out any defining features, but he was speaking with someone who was very clear. And familiar.”
My stomach dropped. “The winter queen.”
Violet nodded.
“Shit!” I bit out, frustration in my voice.
Blaine and Monica, who were taking point on either side of the main door, keeping guard, both spun around, weapons in their hands. Yeah, I might have overreacted a little, but the last thing I needed to hear was that Samson, the summer king, was right, and those two psycho evil fae had teamed up.
“Could that be the delay?” Blaine said, dropping his sword back into its sheath. “She’s cementing this alliance with the demons, and then both of their armies will come at us full force.”
I’d had that thought already, and it looked like we had to accept that inevitability. No one spoke; there really wasn’t anything that could be said. In that moment, we were all caught in a tangled web of fear.
Finn’s energy entered the room a moment before he did. I reached along the bond I had with my familiar, allowing his vast strength to brush against me. Finn and Nix had been out patrolling Central Park and the waterways, as the pair did every day.
Finn stepped to my side and brushed his soft white fur against my leg.Demons or not, we can win this. We just need more knowledge.
I nodded, letting my body relax. Finn was right. Knowledge was power, and I intended to find out all that I could about this Dark Fae Lord.
“Violet, Blaine, Monica, Finn,” I called out, “we’re having a sleepover. We’re not leaving this room until I have identified and read every book that pertains to the demon fae.” I paused. “Well, except for the run we have tomorrow morning. But other than that, we are on study duty. You’re going to cram like you’ve never crammed before.”
Blaine’s random crooked grin washed away some of my stress. It reminded me of when he was a little boy, always up to some mischief.
“What are you smiling about?” I fake huffed, acting affronted. Truthfully, it brought me true joy to see him looking like his old self. Things had been strained between us since Kade — since Blaine told me he’d expected that one day we would be together romantically. I never wanted to lose him, I needed him in my life, but Kade was like part of my soul. A part I could not and would not live without.
I thanked the gods that Blaine and I had found a way to be just friends again. Even better, it wasfinally starting to feel like he had accepted that there would be nothing romantic between us.
His grin turned into a full smile. “Remember when we all had a sleepover for Monica’s thirteenth birthday?”
Now it was Monica’s turn to bust up laughing, but I didn’t find it so funny. I remembered that sleepover very clearly.
“Yes, Blaine, I definitely remember. You fell asleep with your stupid mouth open and your gum got in my hair. I looked like a jacked-up Barbie doll for months after we cut it out.”
I’d had heir duties and photos that month too. Suffice to say, the Red Queen had had more than a few nasty comments to make about my new hairstyle.
Itwaspretty funny looking back though.
Blaine and Monica were shaking with barely contained laughter, until finally the sides of my mouth quirked.
“I nearly killed you,” I told him.
He nodded. “That you did, Princess. And I gave up chewing gum on that day.”
I chuckled. “Well, for old time’s sake, one final sleepover?”
Violet nodded; she had even been smiling, which I loved to see. “It’s a deal. I’ll invite Nikoli. He can help with the magical end of things.” I wondered if she knew how her voice softened —her face too — when she spoke about the bear magic born.
