Page 61 of Ruling the Green

Dragon fae.

Thought for many generations to be all but extinct. I’d always imagined they’d simply disappeared to avoid being forced into my father’s army.

But now they were back.

Working for the Light Court.

Cass was going to blow a fucking gasket.

“What the hell is she thinking?” I asked, rushing toward my wardrobe.

“Don’t white flags mean peace?” Serin asked, voice still sleepy.

Nira came stumbling in the room, still pushing her shirt into her waistband.

“Cass and Cece have a really complicated past,” Vishen explained. “She’s a daughter of both Courts.”

“How is that possible?”

“Cece’s mother was young and foolish,” I explained. “She thought she’d fallen in love with Cass, who was a new king at the time. But Cass was always good at putting on a mask. She didn’t know who the real Cass was until it was too late.”

“What happened?”

“She took off with Cece when she learned that my father was finding the most powerful fae and draining them of their blood to try to take their powers.”

Serin blanched. “Did he succeed?”

“He is more powerful than I’d like to admit, yes. But those powers are hindered by his slipping control on his sanity.”

“He was really going to drain his own child?”

“Not until she was grown, when her powers were fully manifested.”

“But she got away.”

“With a little help,” Vishen said, nodding toward me.

“You helped her?”

“This scar,” I said, lifting my head to show her my neck, “that was Cece.”

“She burned you?”

“I told her to.”

“So your father didn’t know you helped her.”

“Precisely.”

“If he saw her again, though…”

“Yeah. He wouldn’t hesitate to drain her. He strung up and tortured her mother for weeks. He wouldn’t even think twice about using Celestine to get whatever he wanted from her.”

“Why are Cece’s powers so strong?”

“Her mother was strong as well. Mix that with what little power my father had at the time, and Cece was almost guaranteed to be something special.”

“Wait. Do you have powers?”