by Leia Stone
She pulled me over to the far wall, near the library. We were alone. The other Elders had gone with Indra to get land for the Halflings to stay on.
“Indra is making two sets of cuffs. One for you, and the other for Liam. Be careful now. Very. Very. Careful.”
I wanted to say it then—just blurt out that I was the fucking Princess of Spring and Indra had every right to kiss my royal ass—but I needed to plan this perfectly. Especially if Indra was plotting something.
I nodded.
“One more thing.” Rose lowered her voice even more. “I switched out Indra’s snoozeberry juice with sweetberry.” Then she winked and walked away.
The breath stilled in my throat. Rose knew about the snoozeberry juice and was on our side. Sweetberry juice was something we gave kids. It was a mild, sugary drink, nothing more. Rose had just become my ally.
Turning on my heel, I left to find Liam and the others.
“Indra, these are unacceptable living conditions!” I growled.
There was a decaying patch of forest, right behind the cages—a patch of land where the darkness from outside seeped in. It was full of diseased trees that had to be cut down. It smelled like mold, and the earth was always damp. There were about twelve empty huts with caved-in roofs and no plumbing.
Indra crossed her arms. “Do I look like I have any five-star resorts lying around? We don’t just have ten vacant houses.” She put her hands on her hips, her wings snapping stiffly. “Besides, this wasn’t our agreement. When they bring me the final crystal and Faerie is restored, they can make a castle on their own land, for all I care.”
She spun on her heel, and I turned to see Liam and the others looking at me expectantly. “This is bullshit,” one of the guys mumbled. He clutched a broken arm to his chest as Kira wove light around it.
They’d trusted me. I had promised them a better life with no more running, and now they were living in a swamp.
How could I expect them to fight for Faerie if I wouldn’t fight for them?
I had to do something, or we would lose them, and it wasn’t right to treat them this way. Stepping up onto a rock, I cleared my throat. “Our village is small and humble, and I’m sorry we don’t have better accommodations, but I’d like to offer my three-bedroom home to all of you in a revolving schedule.”
A few of the guys who were bitching relaxed.
“I’ll get some bunkbeds put in, and my house can sleep ten people. One night a week, you can stay there, and you can all rotate until Faerie is restored. Does that sound fair?”
Nerves churned in my gut. If they walked out, I was screwed. My gaze fell to Liam. He was looking at me with total adoration. I wasn’t prepared for it; it took me aback.
“That’s fair!” Liam shouted.
One of the guys scoffed, “Is it? Is she gonna sleep in this shithole six nights a week?”
He was right. I needed to make it even.
“Yes,” I piped up before Liam could answer. “I will. We will all be on the rotation schedule.”
I tipped my chin high, but Liam growled, spinning on his men. “Listen to yourselves! Complaining about camping for a week. Do you feel that?” He tapped his chest hard, shaking out his blond hair. “Can you feel the crystals? The magic here…it’s more than we’ve ever had. I feel”—he touched his face—“alive.”
One by one, the men nodded. I noticed that their skin had more color, that their hair shone in a way it hadn’t before. They’d lived their whole lives on Earth, without Faerie’s energy, only stealing bits of it when they could. This must feel heavenly to them.
“Suck it up, pussies!” Cam shouted. “We’re staying here.” He walked over to the hut that looked the least caved-in. “I call this one!”
The men moved quickly, running into the huts in clusters to try to claim the best ones. I hadn’t even realized Jasper was still there until he came up behind me. “Let me know when we go get the last crystal,” he said, then started to walk away.
A frown pulled at my lips. “Where are you going?”
He waved me off. “Farmlands. I have a friend there. I’m not staying here.”
Hah. Figured. He was too good for the swamp with his Gucci bags.
When I looked up, I was face to face with Liam. “I’m sorry, I…this wasn’t how I planned—”
He cut me off with a kiss. When he pulled back, he took my face in his hands. “I’m in love with you,” he blurted before complete fear crossed his face.
My heart stopped, and it felt like everything around me froze in that moment. From the day we’d met, I had never thought we’d get here, to those three words.
A slow grin crept onto my face. “I love you, too.”
Relief relaxed his features, but they quickly tightened again.
“You look like you’re going to be sick,” I said.
He chuckled. “I’ve never said that to a girl before. Besides my mom.”
Most adorable thing ever. Marry me now.
His face fell. “My mom. Shit. Where will she live?”
We were going to get his brothers later that day. We’d dropped Cain off at the New York apartment before coming here. “She can stay in New York. The apartment is paid for, and Mara can take you and the boys there any time you like.”
He sighed, exhaustion pulling at his face. “My dad’s men came for us in Central Park. What if they find her there?”
He was right. “Let me ask Mara,” I said. “We have hundreds of safehouses all over the world. We will put her in the best one.”
Reaching out, he pulled me into a hug. With his arms tight around me, I felt so safe. We were almost there—one more crystal, and we could just be a normal couple. Well, semi-normal. There would always be something different about us.
Liam looked down at me. “We need to train more of your people. We are barely getting away each time. My dad will call in all of his forces to protect the final crystal.”
I nodded. “We don’t have many to spare, but I’ll call for volunteers.”
“Excuse me, Lily?” a familiar voice peeped from behind me.
Spinning around, I saw a small group of garden-tender fae. They lived on the outskirts of the dome shield, and I rarely saw them. They were holding baskets full of fresh fruit and vegetables, baked breads and jarred jams. My throat tightened with emotion.
“We wanted to thank the Half—uh, your friends for helping get the crystals.” She bowed deeply to Liam and set one of the baskets at his feet. The others set more, and soon, there was enough food to feed our large crew.
“Thank you,” I croaked.
I’d done the right thing in telling my people about the crystals and the Sons. I could see that although they were a bit timid and unsure about these new fae—wingless ones, horned ones, or black-winged ones like Liam—they were open to them, and that could change everything.
“We will bring more tomorrow,” she told me.
“Thank you,” Liam muttered, and I could hear the emotion in his voice. Then he looked at me. “Come on. We’ve got work to do.”
Over the next week, we took turns sleeping in my house or in the “mud camp,” as the boys had so aptly named it. The farmers had brought tons of extra hay and bark pieces, and they’d sprinkled it over the ground to absorb the mud and moisture. The blacksmith and some of the other fae had stepped in to repair the roofs and donate furniture.
We now had four earthen ovens where we could bake vegetables and make pizzas and breads. It was a bit of an outdoor kitchen, but with some lights that Elle had strung up through the tops of the trees, it looked kind of homey and cool. We were working on building a bathroom, but until then, three nearby neighbors had volunteered to let the boys use theirs whenever they needed. All in all, I was proud of my community and how they’d come together.
Trissa and her whopping five apprentices had merged with Liam’s men, and we’d found an additional twenty fae volunteers after putting out a call for help within the community. We were doing daily h
and-to-hand combat drills, weapons training, and even first-aid and triage drills at Liam’s request. We had the makings of a fine fae army, and I thought we were ready to get the last crystal. Everyone was pretty much fully healed and ready to fight.
The sun was setting on the seventh night when I went to find Liam. I came across him showing Cain how to throw a small blade into a target someone had painted on a tree.
“I think we’re ready,” I told Liam as he plucked the knife from the tree and handed it to Cain.
His brothers had flourished here. They loved seeing all of the fae and helping out on the farmlands. The garden-tender fae had taken to the small boys and let them pick as many sugar berries as they wanted.
Liam’s mom was getting healthier by the day, too, and no longer showed any signs of having cancer or illness. In the end, we’d decided to keep her at Mara’s. It was Mara’s idea—since her home was between worlds, it would not harm his mom. She would be safest there. Truthfully, I thought Mara was a bit lonely, and having a human friend who knew of the magical world was a perfect way for her to pass the time.
Kira and Trissa had been on constant revolving guard around the queen, and the last time I’d gone to check on her two days ago, her fingers and toes were twitching. I thought she was waking up. I thought Indra had kept her asleep this whole time. Maybe the crystals had, too, but to a lesser degree.
My plan was to get the last crystal, wake the queen, and let her dispose of Indra or do whatever else she wanted. Then she would restore Faerie and hopefully let the boys have a beautiful section of land nearby to make their own village. They could be free, and Faerie would flourish again.
Liam surveyed his men. “I think you might be right. My men are healed. Your fae need work on melee combat, but they’re great archers. We can put them at the back of the line.”
I nodded. “You and I could go Seeking at first light tomorrow. See if your father has moved the crystal. Then we send for the others.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “All right. Just one more.”
I nodded. “Just one more.”
Someone cleared his throat loudly behind me, and I jumped a little. Spinning, I saw Jasper. He looked…shaken. Not his usual scowling self.
“What’s up?” I approached him, and Liam followed me so that we could be alone in the small section of the muddy forest.
Jasper sighed, rubbing his temples. “I was having a lovely lunch with my friend when a horrible vision came to me.”
I frowned. “Vision?” I didn’t know enough about warlocks to know what powers they had, but vision almost sounded like—
“At times, I can glimpse the future,” he stated plainly.
What the what?
“What did you see?” Liam looked unfazed, so he may have already known this.
Jasper sighed again. “I saw that your father has amassed an army so large, we cannot win as we currently are.” He scanned our small group of men. “I saw that my beautiful plot of land will not come to pass if you do not retrieve the Sword of Night.”
Chills ran up my arms. “The Sword of what?”
“A powerful item that will give you the upper hand against the Winter King.”
“No way.” Liam shook his head. “It’s too dangerous. She couldn’t handle it.”
Excuse me, what? I glared at him, plotting his future of sleeping on the couch alone.
“I know,” Jasper said. “That’s why you must wield it. The Winter King commissioned the Sword of Night in order to kill his father and take the throne.”
Oh, man. He was dirtier than I’d thought. That was just wrong.
Liam frowned. “He told me about it. Said it had the soul of a demon trapped inside.”
Okay, shit just got scary. I gulped and looked over my shoulder, just to be safe. No demons. Whew.
Jasper nodded. “One lick of the blade on his skin, and you could control his mind temporarily.”
“I’m sorry, what?” I leaned closer, assuming I’d heard that wrong. “Did you say control his mind? The blade lets you control minds? Because there is a demon’s soul trapped inside?” I looked at Liam. “Yeah, we’re not getting that.”
Liam turned to face me, gripping my shoulders. “Lily, this could change the game. We can seek the sword, and when we get back, we’ll charge my father’s land with it. I’ll control him and make him hand us the final crystal, and then this all ends.”
Fuck. It seemed easy. Too easy. And that was why I didn’t trust it. “It sounds dangerous.”
“It is,” Jasper said. “The wielder of the sword is prone to madness. It cannot be in his possession for too long.”
Okay, that officially became a hard fucking pass. “No. We’ll find another way.”
Liam shook his head, pulling me to the side. “Stop living in fairytale land, Lily. There is no other way! I can handle this. I was made for this.” His eyes flared orange, and he held his hand up to my face, showing me each scar there. “You want to know what these are? These came from back when I thought it was cool to count my kills. Back when my father had me be his little enforcer.”
I gasped. There were so many…
“Liam.” My throat tightened, and he turned away from me.
“I can handle darkness. I’ve lived there my whole life.” His voice was hollow, and I wanted to wrap him in my arms and tell him it was all going to be okay…but that wasn’t real life. It might not be okay, and I couldn’t live in fairytale land anymore.
“Okay,” I murmured. “Let’s do it.”
If Liam thought he could handle the darkness in this sword, then I needed to trust him. Controlling his father’s mind was an advantage we needed right now.
I spun and asked Jasper, “Where is it? Are you taking us there?”
“Oh gods, no. I’m not going out there until it’s healed.” He motioned to the dome and gave it a disgusted look. “Those woods are full of flesh-eating monsters.”
Selfish prick. “You’ll be among friends, then.” I winked, and he rolled his eyes.
“You’re both Seekers,” he said. “Seek the sword at Winter Castle, and tomorrow, we can retrieve the final crystal.”
Liam nodded. “We’ll leave now.”
Jasper waved us off. “Get that sword!” he called over his shoulder, and then he was gone.
I turned to Liam. “I’ll get dressed, and then let’s head out.”
His face took on a grim determination. “I’ll assemble a team.”
Those woods were scary, and trekking all the way to Winter Castle from our camp was at least a four-hour walk. We couldn’t get a horse and buggy across the river, and if Liam brought Cam or any of his other wingless men, then we would need to walk. Flying would be much faster, but we needed warriors more than speed. We were looking at a full day’s journey and would be back only by nightfall—if we made it back at all. The dark woods was not someplace I was excited about going.
Thirty minutes later, our team of eight were showered, fed, and ready to go. Trissa had insisted on going with us, since she knew the forest lands best, while Kira had promised to stay back with the queen. Filling out our little team were Elle, Trissa, Liam, Cameron, three of Liam’s strongest men, and me. We’d packed dried fruits and water and set out.
After fording the river and nearly scraping our backs bending under the thick overgrowth, we made it out into the dark forest. Trissa eyed the footprints filled with grass and flowers, which now dotted the riverbank, and frowned. “That’s new.”
I laughed nervously, and we continued. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t told Trissa of my lineage yet. It wasn’t mistrust—more like fear. What would she say? What would she think? Would she treat me differently?
As we continued along the riverbank, I walked behind Trissa so that my footprints didn’t give me away yet. I wasn’t sure how to have that conversation with her, under these circumstances, and in front of Liam’s men. Luckily, she was busy at the front of the group, scouting and teaching the others what to l
ook out for.
After an hour’s walk, it started to become stiflingly hot. The landscape changed from a riverbank with trees and lava pits to a barren desert.
The moment I stepped off the damp forest floor and onto the cracked earth, I prepared myself for the flowers and grass that would pop up under me. But they didn’t…at least, not right away. Only after about ten minutes of walking across the new landscape of sand and oppressive heat did I look over my shoulder and see green plants rising from the ground far behind, where I had stepped. It was a delayed reaction, and I hoped no one noticed.
What did this mean? That if I walked over every square inch of Faerie, I could restore it myself? That would take a lifetime, but it was worth a shot if the queen didn’t awaken once we got all the crystals.
“Ugh, I hate Summer,” Elle huffed, tying her T-shirt up high under her boobs and exposing her stomach. Cam’s gaze ran the length of her body, but when he caught me looking, he blushed.
“Oh, this isn’t Summer, dear,” Trissa said. “It used to be Fall. Summer is even worse—still on fire, from what I hear. But we won’t be crossing through there.”
Fall. This was fall?
That was depressing.
“I need a break,” Elle finally growled after walking for miles with the beating sun on her back.
Oh, thank gods. I hadn’t wanted to be the one to call for a break, but I needed one, too. There was a large rock off to the right, and we started to walk toward it for shade.
“Shall I make us a nice illusion to enjoy?” Elle mused.
Trissa and I nodded. Elle was the best at these. The boys just shrugged, either not caring or not knowing what illusions were.
With a snap of her fingers, a lush garden appeared around the desert landscape, with a blanket of green grass to sit on and a small blue pond to swim in. It was lovely but depressing—if we tried to swim in that water, we would eat sand.
“Wait…is that…” Cam tried to reach out and touch one of the flowers, but his hand passed through.
“Fake, sorry,” Elle said. “But it looks pretty.”
