by Nissa Leder
Nevina turned her head to see her fallen guards. Rage consumed her face as she turned back to Kaelem. A shriek escaped her lips, echoing through the chamber. Ice shot out of her palms, aimed at Kaelem’s heart.
He diverted the ice daggers, sending them up into the ice above. More shadows swarmed Nevina. Kaelem tried to invade her mind, but her mental shields remained strong.
Kassandra shot more magic at Scarlett, who was holding her own against the former Summer Queen.
Kaelem didn’t have time to watch. He hoped Scarlett could save herself. If not, her blood would be on his hands. If anything happened to her, he would keep his word and save her sister. For now, he needed to focus on taking down Nevina.
The Winter Queen’s rage grew. Ice daggers flew at Kaelem.
He blocked all but one that stabbed through his shoulder.
The Winter Queen gleamed. “It’s the Solstice, little king.”
Kaelem lunged out of the way of an arrow.
A guard with a sword attacked, his blade of ice slicing at Kaelem’s neck.
Kaelem twisted around him. Shadows grew from his hands, wrapping themselves around the guard’s neck and squeezing tight. Kaelem used him as a shield as he gasped for air.
The Ice Queen shot another dagger at Kaelem.
Kaelem caught it with the guard, straight through his forehead.
“Go get the rest,” Nevina barked at the last living guard, who obliged.
The Winter Queen had underestimated him and Scarlett. Otherwise, she would have already brought more guards.
Kaelem was strong, but he had his limits. If the other guards returned, the chance to escape would be lost.
Nevina attacked Kaelem with more ice. He reached into her mind. Blocked. If he could get completely through, he could take her down in a blink. He stopped the ice daggers from reaching him with ropes of shadow, shooting more toward Nevina. As a strand circled her neck and tightened, a gap appeared inside her mental shields.
“Your Court will fall, Nevina,” Kaelem said, slipping past the fallen shield. “If word gets out I’ve been harmed, the wrath of my people will be upon you.”
“Please,” Nevina replied. “My army will attack before they have a chance. The Unseelie Court will be mine.”
Kaelem continued to fight Nevina. Slowly, he was cracking her mental shield. He needed to hurry. He was inside enough to access her memories. There, he found a vision of her as a child, riding her horse through the snow-covered forest with her father. Perfect. It was just what he needed.
He pictured the image of her father and, as he slipped past the next layer of her shields, he made her see him standing in front of her.
“Father?” Nevina’s voice cracked as she spoke.
Kaelem had heard he’d been stabbed by a dagger to end the Winter war against Summer, so he imagined a dagger protruding from her father’s heart, blood dripping into a puddle on the ground.
“No!” she screamed, agony shooting through her.
The last ring of her mental shields shook. Kaelem was so close.
A few feet away, Scarlett cried out. Her hands covered her ears as she screamed. Kassandra must have invaded her mind.
Kaelem was too busy to help. If he stopped now, Nevina would strengthen her mind again and he wouldn’t be able to get back in.
But if Scarlett couldn’t push her back out, it wouldn’t take Kassandra long to crush her.
The Winter Court gates were open. Two guards stood by, but when Raith said they were there for the Solstice, they let him and Sage pass.
Raith could feel Scarlett screaming from the bond. She needed him—now. He picked up his pace.
Sage matched it.
Hope filled him. If he hurried, he could save her.
The hope fell to shreds when he stepped inside the Ice Palace.
Cade and Poppy stood, both dressed in ball apparel, staring wide-eyed at his presence.
Sage pulled the bow from her back as Raith reached for his daggers.
“Brother,” Raith said.
A group of Winter guards rushed past, oblivious to the exposed weapons. They headed to wherever Scarlett was.
“I see you’re alive and well,” Cade said. He had no weapon, but an aqua orb grew in his hands. “You should have stayed away.”
“She’s in trouble.”
“Who?”
“Scarlett.”
Cade clenched his teeth.
“You already almost killed her once,” Raith said. “She could die at any moment. I can feel her panic.”
Cade glanced around the room as if he was looking for someone.
“Now’s your chance,” Poppy said. “We can take them.”
“Please.” Sage chuckled. “You have no weapons.”
Poppy lifted her dress and pulled out a dagger. “Don’t we?”
Sage raised her bow and pulled an arrow from her back, loading it and aiming it at Poppy’s forehead.
Poppy was one of the fiercest females Raith had met—until he met Sage. She fought like no one he’d ever seen. She’d wipe the smugness right off of Poppy’s face.
“Save her,” Cade said.
Poppy snapped her head toward him. “What?”
“We can battle each other another day.”
Raith wasn’t sure if he should trust his brother, but he didn’t have time to overthink it. “C’mon.”
He and Sage walked around Poppy and Cade, not turning their backs until they were around the corner.
Raith could feel Scarlett near. He just needed to find her before it was too late.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Scarlett’s head exploded into pain. Pressure built, pushing against her mind, begging for release. She searched for her mental wall, which was all the way down.
Another wave of pressure sent her to her knees.
A vision appeared. Her mother, dead on the ground with blood dripping from her wrists.
No.
The funeral, Ashleigh next to her, tears dripping from her cheeks to the floor.
Scarlett found the wall and shoved it up. A scream blew from her lungs as a flash of light burst from her.
The sound of footsteps approaching caught her attention. More guards, and from the sound of it, a lot of them.
Scarlett heard words that weren’t her own.
My son will thank me someday.
Son? Had she heard Kassandra’s thoughts?
Scarlett reached out her mind and found a hole in Kassandra’s mental shield. She actually could invade the minds of others. She couldn’t explain how she knew what to do, but as if it were as simple as breathing, Scarlett snuck through Kassandra’s mental wall. Using the emotion she’d felt as she’d been forced to see her dead mother, she sent a wave of light through Kassandra’s mind.
Kassandra screamed, throwing an orb of Summer energy at Scarlett.
Scarlett leaped out of the way. She threw another wave of light. And another. It was as she was a ghost of brightness inside the room that was Kassandra’s mind. She didn’t have a body, but she could observe her surroundings as if she did.
Another blast of light pulsated from Scarlett. With each vibration, Kassandra’s mind weakened.
The hatred inside powered Scarlett as she let everything out. The shock of finding her mother on the floor, the pain of Ashleigh’s blame, the feelings of fear as Kassandra had shown her images of Ashleigh dying.
Another pulse.
Cade’s possessiveness in the battle when he’d heard Scarlett had chosen Raith over him.
Pulse.
Kaelem showing her Ashleigh trapped inside the mirror.
Pulse.
Knowing she’d never again be mortal.
Everything that had happened to Scarlett since losing her mother swirled into a hurricane of rage that she flung into Kassandra’s head over and over again.
A flash of light shattered the last barrier inside of Kassandra’s mind keeping Scarlett from the very essence of her brain.
Wi
th one more forceful blast, Kassandra would meet her final end.
It would be so easy. Scarlett could taste the power she possessed. It exhilarated her. To hold someone’s life in her hands sent a thrill through her veins.
Just one more strong strike and Kassandra would be gone forever.
But her death—deserved or not—would stain Scarlett’s soul. Was she capable of it?
Yes, she knew she was. Perhaps mortal-Scarlett would have feared such power, but fae-Scarlett reveled in it.
But today would not be the day she’d cross that line.
A final flicker sent Kassandra crumpling to the ground, unconscious but alive.
The Winter Queen stared at her ally, mouth gaping. “How?”
Even Kaelem seemed surprised, but he focused and threw shadows around Nevina. They curled around her neck, strangling her.
The Winter Guard had arrived. There had to be at least thirty of them, maybe more.
Three of them nocked their arrows and aimed at Scarlett.
“Let our queen go,” one said, “or we shoot.”
Scarlett readied her stance. She might be able to dodge one arrow. With a miracle, maybe even two. But three? Her light magic had saved her a few times already, what were the odds it could save her again?
If Kaelem let the Winter Queen go, they’d stand no chance of escape. No. He needed to take her out.
I’ll take my chances, Scarlett thought.
Kaelem’s eyebrows pressed together. Scarlett knew he didn’t like the idea, but what choice did they have?
Scarlett reached her mind to the Winter Queen, surprised at how easily she slipped inside.
She wasn’t the only one there.
She saw an image of a man, tall with silver hair and the same brown eyes as Nevina, with his mouth gaped open as he puked blood.
Then, a burst of darkness spread through the room of her mind like smoke, pushing Scarlett out.
Nevina dropped to the ground.
“Have it your way,” the guard said. He aimed his arrow at Scarlett. The other two archers copied.
An arrowhead shot through his eye from behind.
The other guards turned around. The sound of clicking ricocheted through the chamber.
Someone was helping them. But who?
More arrows pierced through faces—through eyes, and mouths, and cheeks—blood splattering on the ice as they dropped to the ground.
A surge of wrath hit Scarlett. Not her own, but Raith’s. She’d been so busy fighting she hadn’t noticed the bond had strengthened. He was near.
So near.
Her heart raced in her chest.
Kaelem attacked the guards closest to them, his shadows taking them down two at a time. Others fell unconscious with no outwardly struggle. Had Kaelem entered their minds?
Scarlett could help, but it seemed they had it under control. Taking Kassandra down had weakened her power. As soon as they could, they would need to bolt. This couldn’t be the entire Winter army. Reinforcements could be on their way at that very moment. Scarlett retreated to Aria. She pressed her hands over her chest. She was still breathing—alive, but barely.
Scarlett absorbed the wrath in the air and did her best to warm Aria.
The clicking of swords stopped. Winter Guards were scattered on the ground like leaves in the fall.
If they hurried, maybe, just maybe, they’d escape alive.
Kaelem rushed to Scarlett’s side. They needed to leave quickly, before anyone else came to aid the Winter Guard.
He couldn’t find the strength to ask Scarlett if Aria was still alive, but she answered his unspoken question anyway.
“She’s fading fast. I did what I could, but we need to get her somewhere warmer.” Scarlett lifted her hands from above Aria’s heart. “What do we do with them?” She glanced at the two queens, both curled on the ground, unconscious.
Kaelem wanted to finish the job. He’d only caused the Winter Queen to blackout—in case they needed leverage if more of the Winter Guard arrived. But he wanted to wrap his shadow around her throat and squeeze until her eyes popped from their sockets and blood sputtered from her throat. Then he’d enter her mind and shatter it completely with darkness.
She deserved it and so much more.
No, it would be an act of war. Don’t let your desire for revenge destroy you, brother. Aria’s voice was barely a whisper in his head. She was right, it was not a decision to be made lightly, and he didn’t have time to waste. Aria needed warmth.
“Let’s get out of here,” Kaelem said.
Raith and a warrior woman stood outside Aria’s cell. They were now both enemies of the Winter Court, too. How had they made it in?
Kaelem could ask questions later. He lifted Aria and exited the cell, Scarlett close behind.
She stopped and hovered over Kassandra’s body.
Kaelem had read Scarlett’s thoughts. She’d been the one to take Kassandra down with mind magic. Impressive, to say the least. He listened in again.
She should die. She deserves nothing less.
Not today, Kaelem spoke inside Scarlett’s head. Her time will come.
Scarlett tilted her head.
Kaelem added, Since you have mind invading abilities, unless you have me blocked out, I can speak to you like this.
Raith grabbed Scarlett’s hand. “C’mon. We’ll deal with Kassandra another time.”
Scarlett let Raith pull her out of the dungeon.
Aria was still breathing. She was so light in Kaelem’s arms. His sister used to be the most vibrant person he knew. Now, so near death, he saw her fragility. The Winter Queen would pay. Kaelem’s revenge would be long and sweet. Someday.
When they stepped into the entry room of the palace, Cade and Poppy stood in front of the exit door.
Cade glanced at Scarlett and Raith’s interlocked fingers.
Kaelem could offer Raith to Cade as a bargain for a quick exit. He could even offer Scarlett. He promised he would release her sister from the mirror, which was glamoured small in his pocket, for her help, nothing more.
Aria coughed in Kaelem’s arms. She desperately needed warmth but Kaelem would not betray those who’d helped him.
If Cade and Poppy planned to stand in his way, he would show them no mercy.
Kaelem stared at them and said, “Don’t make us fight you.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Scarlett’s body felt so heavy, completely drained of magic. If her senses weren’t so heightened, she’d have almost felt human again. She leaned into Raith’s shoulder for support.
Cade stared at her and Raith, their proximity likely unnerving him. Even now, after he’d won the Summer Court, she felt his possessiveness over her. She wondered what had changed in him? He’d brought her to the Summer Court as a source of magic, not as a fairytale princess he’d hoped to fall in love with.
The air around pressed into her skin. Her eyelids grew heavy, so heavy, until they snapped shut and the world around her darkened.
Scarlett woke to the comfort of a mattress underneath her and blankets covering her. The memory of the day’s events swirled in her mind like a fine mist. She opened her eyes to find Raith sitting on the bed at her side, concern heavy on his face.
“Where are we?” Scarlett asked. She scanned the room and recognized it before he replied.
“The Unseelie Court.”
Scarlett fought the weakness in her limbs and pushed herself to a sitting position. Why was she so tired? “Is Aria…okay?”
Raith nodded. “She’s stable, though delicate.” He shifted closer to Scarlett. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there sooner.”
Scarlett reached for his hand. “You were there in time. I don’t think we could have gotten out if it weren’t for you and your friend.” Jealousy rose in Scarlett’s throat like bile. She had no idea who the warrior woman was, but her fae beauty and fighting skills were apparent.
“Sage,” Raith said. “She saved me in the forest and has been teaching me abou
t my Autumn heritage.”
“Oh.” Scarlett wasn’t sure what else to say. It wasn’t like Raith had promised himself to her, and, being fair, Scarlett had crossed lines herself with Kaelem. To save her sister, she tried to assure herself, but deep down she couldn’t deny she possessed an attraction to the Unseelie King.
But she wanted Raith, no one else, to hold her in his arms now. She scooted closer to him.
He shifted himself next to her and wrapped his arm around her.
She rested her head on his shoulder.
Would she ever adjust to being fae? In the dungeon, she’d felt strong, far stronger than she’d ever felt as a human. At first, she’d feared the changes, but after wielding power like she did, she couldn’t imagine not having it.
“My life is a mess.” Scarlett sighed.
Raith tilted his head toward her and lifted her chin.
As his lips met hers, a wave of energy passed through Scarlett, the bond between them strengthened.
Raith pulled back. “Yours and mine both, love.”
Raith absorbed the passion between him and Scarlett. He’d missed her. The feeling of attachment he had toward her felt foreign. His entire life had been him refusing to care too much about anything or anyone. The only person he’d ever truly loved was his mother, and she was stolen from him, leaving him broken inside.
The bond he shared with Scarlett complicated everything. He didn’t know how to separate his true feelings from the binding of the Summer Court ceremony.
He’d given it a lot of thought, and the reason they were still bound must be because the Battle of Heirs hadn’t officially concluded. Cade had knocked Raith down, but Raith didn’t die or surrender. And if the battle still continued, Cade wasn’t truly king.
If Raith found his brother and admitted defeat, would the bond vanish? More importantly, was that what Raith wanted? If the bond disappeared, he’d know if his feelings for Scarlett were real, but he’d lose the connection to her. If they hadn’t been bound, he’d have never felt her panic. He wouldn’t have come to help.
