“A similarity? Yes, I suppose there is. They need human souls to survive. We need human essence.”
“But the light fae don’t have that issue,” Bree pointed out. “And humans definitely don’t.”
Rafe sighed and scratched his neck. “All right. I still don’t see how that has anything to do with any of this.”
“Think about it.” Bree’s mind began to spin. There was something there. She knew it. But it was as if she did not have all the pieces to the puzzle yet, and the edges did not fit together. “You both need humans to survive. Your lands are both stuck in endless night. The light fae don’t have that. They aren’t stuck in endless day. There’s night there. So, why are you stuck in night?”
Rafe cocked his head. “How do you know the demon realm is stuck in endless night?”
“Oh, Taveon told me,” Bree said, trying to sound nonchalant. She knew she could trust Rafferty, of course. Over everyone else, she could trust him. But she’d made a promise to Taveon. Never speak it out loud. So, she wouldn’t.
“All right,” Rafe said. “But that doesn’t mean anything.”
“Maybe it does.” Bree tapped her chin, trying to make the pieces fit. “How did this realm come to be? Who were the first dark fae? When did the Tithe truly begin?”
“I don’t know, Bree. If you want those answers, you need a library.”
“So, where do I find one of those?”
Rafe rubbed his jaw. “Are you serious about this? You want to go to a library right now?”
“What else can we do? Neither one of us can return to the castle unless we want to end up trapped. At least going in search of ancient answers is doing something.”
Through the bond, Bree felt Taveon’s displeasure. He did not want her to go far, but she could also feel that he wanted answers even more than she did.
“I’m not sure, Bree,” Rafferty said. “If we find answers about the origins of our realms, how will that help?”
“Maybe it can give us a way to defeat the demons,” Bree said. “And if we’re lucky, we can save us all.”
14
BREE
They camped in the village for the night, taking turns to keep watch, just in case any soldiers came looking for them. After several hours of fitful sleep, Bree pulled up some water from the well to wash her face and neck. She rummaged through some of the trunks left behind by the villagers, bundling a pack of clothes, a knife, and a canteen that she filled up with more well water.
The two of them could travel faster in their Redcap forms, but they decided to take it in shifts, as Bree wanted some respite from her beast. They set off through the forest, heading south, away from the castle. At times, Bree charged forward on powerful paws with the packs clenched between her jaws. Other times, they walked, arms wrapped around each other.
When the moon dipped behind the horizon, they set up camp. They’d journeyed far, leaving the thick forests behind for verdant, rolling fields. Stars lit up the sky, and insects buzzed through the chilly air. The cold seeped into her bones, even as the fire flickered warmth onto her skin. Bree huddled against Rafferty.
“How much further is it?” she asked, referring to the ancient library on the southern edge of Underworld’s island. Rafe had filled her in as they’d travelled. There was a city along the coast called Munlin, ruled by a Lord Worm. A nickname, referring to his slimy way of dealing with the other lords across the land. He liked to keep to himself, rarely going to court, and his most prized possession was his library. At last count, it housed a good three thousand books.
If Bree could not find the answers there, they did not exist.
“If we continue at this pace, it will be another two days of travel. It helps that we can spend some time in our Redcap forms.”
Another two days. That was not much at all. “Where is Taveon’s castle in relation to the rest of the island? Do you have a map?”
“In the middle,” Rafe said. “And no, my love. I don’t have a map on me.”
Something gnawed on the back of her mind. “So, Underworld is just an island. What’s beyond the seas all around it?”
“Just water,” Rafe said with a shrug. “We’ve sent many fae out exploring, and they all come back saying the same thing. There is no more land to be found in our world. This is it.”
Bree’s heart thundered in her chest. “So, just like Otherworld, then.”
Rafe’s brow arched. “Otherworld has the same geography?”
“A single island, surrounded by water. Otherworld Academy sits in the center with the four courts taking up the territory east and west, north and south. There’s nothing else.”
