“Really, tell me more about Nikoli?” Blaine teased. Clearly he had picked up on it too.
Violet gave a devilish grin. “Well, he’s a pretty good kisser.”
Whoa! Kisses …she wouldn’t, right? I mean, not without telling me — I was her best friend. Blaine seemed shocked too, his eyes widening as he blinked in her direction. Monica leaned in a little closer. She might have been a serious sort of warrior chick, but she loved gossip. Jen and her always had the juiciest information about the other shifters.
Violet gave a shrug. “It just happened. At first I was looking for a distraction, and Nikoli is a very nice distraction. But then it felt like something more. Plus, the guy went all the way across the Otherworld to rescue me. He deserved a little something.”
“Do you have problems kissing another magic born?” I asked. “Do your powers collide or something?” I’d always been curious about that.
She’d always said touching me was harder than most people; I had so much mecca in my energy. Even before I became queen it was like that. Probably my undiscovered fae side causing problems. Still, I expected another magic born would be even worse.
She shook her head, arms crossing over her body as the grin disappeared. “Actually, it was perfect. Our energies meshed, which is a rare occurrence between magic born. It was definitely … unexpected.”
My mind was racing. My best friend rarely got into relationships. No one understood what it was like to be a magic born, to not be able to touch without getting overwhelmed. So this was huge. Violet dropping her guard to kiss Nikoli … triple extra huge.
Blaine leaned in close to her. “Hey, baby, I traveled across the Otherworld to rescue you as well.” He puckered his lips.
Violet snorted, some of her old humor returning. “You wish. Besides, you already have a girlfriend.” The second the words left her mouth she seemed uncomfortable. “Or … I mean you will.”
Blaine dropped his sleazy act and went very still. “Explain. Now.”
Yeah, what did she mean?
Violet chewed at her bottom lip. “It’s just one of my future-sight things, that’s all. I saw something, but I’m not supposed to tell you about it. It can mess up the timeline — I shouldn’t have mentioned it at all.”
She spun around and began rifling through a box of books; Blaine was staring wide-eyed ather back. The moment he recovered from her shocking statement, he strode closer.
“You have to tell me who it is.” His voice was low, controlled, but I could hear the wolf in there threatening to break free.
Violet looked over her shoulder, giving him an “Oh, do I?” look, before turning back around.
“Violet…” I prodded. I needed to know too, mostly to make sure she was good enough for my best friend.
She turned to face us both. “Look, the future is an ever-changing thing. If I tell Blaine who it is, it might mess up the timeline. Like, what if he goes after her now, before he’s meant to, and it doesn’t work because of that? Or if I say who it is and he always wonders if his feelings are real, or if I influenced them? It needs to happen naturally in order to last. Just trust me.”
I dropped my hand on his forearm, giving it a squeeze. “Sorry, buddy. That actually makes a lot of sense.”
Blaine opened his mouth, no doubt to argue the point, so I laughed and pushed him back toward his books. “Let’s get to work. It’s going to be a long night. I’ll have Calista order in pizza.”
My advisor and her chosen mate Baladar had been house-sitting the Manhattan royal estate while I was living on Staten Island. I was so grateful to have someone I trusted here.
I always had a lot to be grateful for.
Here’s hoping the fae didn’t steal it all away before any of us had a chance to truly live our new lives.
Chapter Two
One, two, three, four. Oh look, a hidden door.
The next few hours passed in a blur of books and food. Calista kept us well supplied with sustenance, and Baladar put his wisdom and magical skills to use. He seemed to be able to sense where the most important books were, ones pertinent to the information we needed. He was also really good at translating obscure pieces of information. Some of the language was old and complex, and some of it very riddle-like in its prose — like reading a ton of Shakespeare, but the Tuatha version of the great bard.
So far we had a pile of about twenty books, half a dozen on the Winter Court, two on the Fall Court, and another half dozen pertaining to the Summer Court. Lastly, there were anotherfew that might have a possible mention of the Dark Fae Lord. Everything about him was very obscure: guesswork, myths.
We weren’t giving up, though. There had to be something here that would give us an edge against the fae. We just hadn’t found it yet.
It was after midnight when I received word that Winnie was safely in California, which knocked relief and sorrow into me at the same time. Finn was close by, curled up at my side, resting his head across my thigh. I absentmindedly patted his fur to calm myself.
“This queen business is not easy.” I said, speaking to no one in particular. “Some days I wonder if I’m doing everything wrong. Sending the young away feels like the right decision, but it also doesn’t. How can I protect them when they are thousands of miles from me?”
