I was totally screwing this temp thing up. But I couldn’t help the smile that pulled at the corners of my mouth.
The warm hand in mine told me that I wouldn’t be alone.
Chapter 8
“We need to start a rumor.” Jasper said as Trissa, Elle, Liam, Cam, and I all sat around our new ‘War room table.’ We’d converted the library into the war room and pulled out the chairs, bringing in the large dining table from my childhood home. On it was a map of the fairy realm on the upper half and a map of Earth on the lower half. Mara sat in the open doorway with Liam’s mom, listening in at my request. I thought having a human, a portal keeper, a Son of Darkness, and the rest of our team was a good mix.
“What kind of rumor?” I asked Jasper.
“One about you and Liam being engaged.” He picked a piece of lint off of his Gucci jacket.
My mouth dropped open, and Liam froze next to me.
“No way.” I shifted uncomfortably. “Why would we do that?”
Jasper waved me off. “Listen, people don’t like seeing you together yet. If they all thought there was a royal wedding to look forward to—”
“No.” My voice was firm. “Let’s stay on task. How are we going to tear down ‘New Faerie’ and get the crystals back while also protecting our borders here back at home?”
Leave it to Jasper to say something so ridiculous.
Trissa chewed on her bottom lip, and it was clear my mother’s guard was thinking. “Trissa, what’s on your mind?” I asked her.
She looked at me with a gaze I couldn’t quite interpret. “What?” I pressed her.
“You’re not really a full-fledged Queen. If you were, you’d have twice the power and be better able to take on our enemies,” she hedged.
“But I don’t want to take power from the Queen while she sleeps, lest she fall deeper,” I explained.
Trissa nodded. “But, traditionally, after the Spring Queen is crowned, she receives an activation of sorts from the Spring Tree.”
The Spring Tree… that was a myth… right?
“Yes!” Jasper clapped his hands. “And you’ve given some of your power to the Life Tree, so you’re weaker than you should be.”
“Gee, thanks.” I rolled my eyes.
“It’s a good idea,” Mara chimed in. “The Spring Tree is at the Spring Castle. The activation would give you enough power to set up the perimeter protection dome again.”
Relief melted through me; setting up the protection again meant we could go away for long trips without having to worry about the village being attacked. “Well, why didn’t you start with that?” I nodded. “Let’s do it. Right now.”
I stood to leave, and Trissa stopped me, reaching out to place a hand on my shoulder.
“There’s a catch.” Her voice held a sadness, and my stomach sank. “If you take the power activation from the Spring Tree, it will weaken the Queen because it will pull the power from her.”
Of course, because nothing could be easy.
Great.
The last thing I wanted to do was weaken the Queen further. What if I took too much power and she never woke? As of right now, Kira thought that she might be able to awaken naturally once we had more than six crystals. Would taking more power mean I would need all twelve to wake her? I needed to know more about how she fell into this coma, to begin with, and I had an idea.
“I need to think on it. Let’s break for the day,” I told everyone and stood.
Liam shot me a sympathetic glance. “Raincheck on our date?”
My heart plunged even deeper into my stomach, and I nodded. “Yeah, sorry. Sounds good.”
Reaching out, he grabbed my hand and squeezed. We were just trying to find our way back to each other, and life kept getting in the way.
