Page 79 of Broken

In the center was another large flat rock surface. This one was circular, with a pair of two-foot-high pillars in the middle. They had shackles and chains attached. In a half-circle around them were seven carved stone chairs, set up on twenty-foot plinths.

Where the Council sat…

Ireland felt a sudden, terrifying sense of deja-vu.

“What is it?” Cole said, clearly feeling her emotions through the bracelet.

“I’ve been here before,” she whispered. “Down in that valley. Chained to those pillars. This is where they put the bracelet on me.”

Cole took her cold hands in his warm ones, pulling her around to face him. “Then this is the perfect place to retrieve the person who’s going to take it the fuck off,” he told her. “You listen to me. Those Bright Fae are liars and hypocrites. You are not what they said you were. Even if they were here—even if they come—we have people on our team who can kick their asses back to wherever the hell they came from.”

She tried to quiet her breathing, and she felt him sending calm, certain energy through the bracelet.

Cole went on, “You are brave. And badass. And you can do this.”

She looked into his eyes, saw the certainty there. Felt it through their bond. He really believed they could do this.

“We’re fucking unstoppable,” he said. “Now, first things first—you have to get us through the wards at the top of the trail.”

That went fairly easily—as far as they could tell. They weren’t trying to deactivate the wards—yet—just use her presence as a Bright Fae to persuade them that she and Cole were authorized to enter. Nothing to see here.

No alarms went off, and no other Bright Fae appeared, so they made their way down the narrow trail—her first, and Cole covering the rear.

They encountered another set of wards near the circle of thrones. Ireland walked them through these as well, making sure to keep well away from the manacles and chains—they brought back that sick feeling of helplessness.

There was a third set of wards around the semicircle of rock in front of the door, but these parted before them as well. It was almost too easy.

Ireland dropped the coin and prepared to set the final gate anchor for DB, who would be waiting in the spirit world—a dimension that lay between the Fae world and earth. Just as she was about to start the spell, she heard a small popping sound. Cole was already aiming his P-90 as Ireland whirled around to see a silvery door appearing in the air. A Bright Fae portal.

Two Fae stepped through, wearing blue robes: Bethiaz, Bright Fae Council member, the one who’d put the bracelet on her so long ago, and had been in charge of her ever since. The other was Sakir, one of his chief lieutenants.

“So it is you,” he said to Ireland. “The half shifter. I always knew the Dark would take you over one day. Did you really think I wouldn’t know you were here?”