“I’m not helping you and your father, who got me here in the first place!” Petra’s cheeks reddened.
I smiled wickedly at Petra. “Not even if I swear to fight you one-on-one when we return?” Fae vows were binding even to half fae and humans.
Peony inhaled sharply and put her hand on my arm. “Onyx, you can’t.”
I ignored her, watching Petra who had gone completely still. Petra was yearning for revenge. She and Preston might’ve never been physical lovers, but she had a strange relationship going on with him. She was obsessed with her competitor for the throne. She wanted to avenge him and needed the closure my death would bring. “Swear it.”
I showed off my sharp teeth.
“Onyx,” Olwen said from his boulder in a warning tone, but I ignored him. He had given up, but I wouldn’t. I was the only hope for the Winter Court. I would do whatever was necessary to protect it.
“I, Queen Onyx Vinter of the Winter Court, swear to participate in a duel with you, Princess Petra Kallan, upon our return to the faelands, upon two conditions. Firstly, you work with me during our stay in the wastelands with the goal to get us out of here. Secondly, you swear you won’t attempt to harm me or those who work with me in any shape or form until we get out of here and the wastelands have either closed the portal or no longer exist.” There, I had covered all my bases. As much as I wanted to believe the ancient voice I’d heard in the desert, I wasn’t sure how long it would take for the wastelands to heal or if that was even possible given the sorry state they were in.
Petra’s emerald eyes flashed with eagerness. I had cast a hook and she was about to take it. Her lips were plump like that of a praying mantis, ready to devour her mate. “I, Princess Petra Kallan, accept your binding oath, Queen Onyx Vinter.” She spat my name and title, like both were insults, but I couldn’t have cared less as the air tingled and the oath snapped into place.
I motioned at Peony. “Release her. We need to get going to the tundra.”
Peony’s vines retracted, and her hands shook as she tore off an apple from the tree she’d planted and bit into it. It had taken a lot out of her to restrain Petra. I too took an apple, then threw one to my father. Only one apple remained. As much as I wanted to withhold it from Petra, I couldn’t risk the wastelands messing her up too much. If she deteriorated to Olwen’s level, she’d be useless to me.
Despite her shabby state and the pain Peony had put her through, Petra strolled over like a bloodthirsty goddess to the tree and plucked the final apple. She tore into it, and juices ran down the sides of her mouth like blood. “Why in the faelands would we venture to the tundra?” she asked, chewing loudly, all manners abandoned.
18
Virgie
Nathan slept as the day-night dragged on into eternity. I tried not to worry too much and get some rest. I cuddled against Nathan’s body and must’ve fallen asleep because a hand shaking my shoulder awoke me some time later.
I blinked open my eyes to find Caleb above me. “Virgie, we need to get to Vasara. The night shift has just started, according to the spy. That’s when the guards change shifts. Can you take on Zeeba’s form again? I’ll use glamour to turn into Christoph. Hopefully, Kalvin isn’t expected to be on duty at Vasara.”
I stared at the horizon where a dark sun was rising, a black sphere against the stars. Morning had arrived. “Of course. Sorry I fell asleep.”
Caleb waved away my apology. “You needed your rest.”
I glanced at Nathan. “What about Nathan? We can’t just leave him.” He continued to rest under the golden orb, among the ring of Shield plants we had growing around the small clearing. The plants had really flourished. They all sprouted several white flowers, and the air smelled of nectar.
Caleb smiled. “The spy was here an hour ago. She has gone to fetch Nerissa. They’ll be back soon to watch over Nathan as he sleeps.”
Nathan, still on his back, muttered in his sleep. His eyelids twitched as if he was dreaming. At least, he wouldn’t have to worry about me and Caleb when we raided the Potions classroom and liberated whoever we could.
I glanced at the Vasara, which I could just see beyond the trees. “Potions take time to brew. It would be best if we could get some of the potion making equipment out here.” Thankfully, the potion stands didn’t require electricity to work, just the dust of a magical plant called Ember. We’d also need a few mixing bowls, pestles, and perhaps a drying rack. Most importantly, we needed to get Kristen out.
Then, I’d have to steal the crown. I was confident I could take Percival’s form without anyone becoming suspicious, but there were so many other things that could go wrong. I pushed the thought aside and focused at the task on hand. I recalled Zeeba’s blunt, almost cynical thoughts, and a tingle swept over me as my gown turned to armor and my hair wrapped into a neat, dark braid.
Caleb nodded, no longer having brown hair but Christoph’s red mane and freckles. “Remember to appear submissive and hesitant. All guards have been on edge since the vampires moved in.”
I smirked. “No worries. I had to use a lot of acting skills at my old school.” Also, being terrified wasn’t exactly hard, especially as a form approached us from the direction of the Vasara. I drew my dagger, but it was only our nameless spy.
“I’ve updated Nerissa,” she said. “She’ll be out here very soon. I have no other news.”
“Thank you.” I motioned at Nathan. “Please look after him.”
“I will.” The spy sat next down to Nathan, and I forced myself to step away from him. “Let’s go,” I said to Caleb, sounding much braver than I felt.
We exited the woods and reached the meadow outside the Vasara Center. The gates of the mansion slipped open, and I shot Caleb a worried glance.
“It’s fine,” he whispered. “All guards have clearing, not just those of high standing.”
Right, anyone could come and leave unless they were former earthbound fae or prisoners. We approached the mansion, and the pull within me grew stronger and stronger. Kristen was inside, suffering and unprotected. A stabbing started in my side as if I had been running for miles. Soon, I promised. I’ll get you out of here soon.
The Vasara Center was very quiet...too quiet. No one strolled on the grounds, and outside the front door, two vamp guards were posted. This was a change. Before there had never been any guards to stop anyone from leaving the mansion, just the gate and wall that kept the students within the grounds of the Vasara Center.
“State your business,” one of the vamp guards barked as we approached.
I suppressed my urge to reach for my quiver and inclined my head respectfully to the two beefy vampires, trying not to worry too much about how we’d sneak potions lab equipment past them, let alone Kristen.
“We are here to start our shift,” Caleb said in hesitant Christoph’s voice. He bit his bottom lip nervously. “There’s been a lot of changes recently. We apologize if we’re in the wrong place.”
I extended out my mental powers. These vamps were clueless and had their guards down, which made my job influencing them that much easier. Let the fae guards in, they’re just doing their job, I whispered. Let the fae guards relieve you. You deserve a break from this boring job. They should be carrying the weight here.
“About time,” the second vamp barked. “We could use a break.”
The first vamp didn’t look convinced.
We won’t let you down, I whispered into his mind. A tense silence stretched out. Okay, so this one was less susceptible to influence. Reverse psychology would have to work, then. “Perhaps it’s best if we ask someone in the Vasara to assign us spots if we’re not needed here.”
“No. You’re taking over for us,” the first vamp, a bald, muscular man, said as he worked his jaw. His eyes were rimmed with red, telling me he was ready for his next meal.
As the two vamps stomped toward the wooden gates, Caleb and I took their position near the front doors. I shuddered, having the bad feeling that quite a few of
the vamps hunted any fae they could get their fangs on. When this was all over, bodies would be found in cottages and in the wilderness.
I turned to Caleb. “We have to move quickly.” Not only would the vamp guards return eventually, but I was still uneasy leaving a vulnerable Nathan, even if the spy was watching him.
Caleb nodded. “No one can discover we took a break from our duties, not just for our sake, but for Zeeba and Christoph’s sake.”
“Agreed.” Opening the front doors to the once bright and happy Vasara Center, I stepped inside.
The place was still lit from the inside by hanging lanterns, but no longer felt light and airy. Caleb and I moved fast, scanning the vast open space. The stairway tree waited, still, and no students studied along the walls. The birds had all fled. No sound came from the dining hall. Everyone seemed to be shut inside their apartments. I shivered as I wondered how many of the students had already been forced to take the fertility potions and been locked in with a random fae of the opposite gender. I wanted to rescue them all, but going from door to door was unrealistic.
Caleb nodded toward the basement where the Potions lab was. “Anyone down there?”
I was already honing in on the area. About twenty active minds slaved away, sharp and nervous. “Twenty students are working. The lab is at capacity.” There were so many fae minds that I almost missed the two vampire minds, cold and calculating, down there with them. “And two vampires.”
Could I make them leave, too? I doubted King Peter would allow any fae to guard the Potions classroom. The front doors, maybe, but not the lab itself where his breeding program was turned into a reality.
Caleb and I got onto the stairway tree and waited on the first step that would take us to the basement. We spiraled downward until we stood at the mouth of a dark wooden corridor. All was quiet except for some faint clanging down at the end. The classrooms here were behind wooden doors and Potions was at the very end.
“Hold your breath,” Caleb warned. “This plant is derived from the one I stole from the vampires’ museum. It’s very potent.”
I nodded, wondering how the fae working were able to avoid jumping each other. Maybe they received an antidote.
“Drop something again, and you’ll see what happens,” a vampire woman shouted from within the classroom as we stepped closer.
“I’m sorry,” a fae guy whimpered.
“Clean up the glass!”
I drew my bow. Beside me, Caleb drew his spear. “Do you think Kristen’s in there?” he asked.
“Yes.” The pull on my limbs intensified. She was in there all right, slaving away.
Caleb and I ran down the corridor, wasting no time. My heart thudded in my chest.
He kicked the wooden door open to the Potions lab. The room spread out in front of us, with its copper tables, bowls, and potion stands. The weaponless fae students wore white cloth masks over their faces as they ground red petals and vibrant green leaves in bowls. Steam rose from glass bottles and potion stands. Two masked vampire guards, a man and a woman, towered over a fae student who picked up glass shards with his bare hands. Behind them stood Kristen, holding a bowl. Her shoulders were slumped and her hair was greasy. Her gaze fell on us, and her eyes widened.
The vamps noticed us too. The man flashed his fangs. “You are not supposed to be down here!”
Caleb wasted no time. Wooden spear bared, he charged the male vampire, impaling him in the chest as screams erupted from the students. More glass shattered as people backed away.
The woman curled her hands like claws as she watched her partner being skewered. Embers spread from his heart as Caleb drove in the spear harder, shoving him against a potion table. But instead of going for him, the woman stalked toward me like a predatory cat. “I knew you fae guards couldn’t be trusted.”
Since my talents didn’t lie in weapons, I took off my quiver and bow and tossed them to Kristen. She froze for a split second, but then her well-trained hands went to work, notching the bow. More screams rose as I backed away. The vampire woman was so fixated on me that she paid Kristen no attention. I dashed out of the classroom, luring her with me. You want to kill me.
With a hiss and the baring of her fangs, she lunged for me, but her jump was much shorter than she had planned as a well-placed arrow pierced through her chest, spewing blood, which was followed by embers. The vampire collapsed to the wooden floor. She grasped her chest and convulsed as the fiery death took its hold.
I released my mental pressure and leaned against the wall as Kristen, armed with her bow, took up the doorway of the Potions classroom. “Virgie, is that you?” she panted, taking in my Zeeba form.
I smiled wickedly. “Yes, and the guard is Caleb.”
“You returned. I felt it. The vow alerted me to it.”
I nodded. “Friends don’t leave friends to fanged monsters.”
19
Virgie
I motioned back at the lab. “We need to grab the Potions equipment and get everyone out.”
Kristen studied me. “You’re getting all of us out?”
“That’s the plan,” I said. “Our spy will get you to the borderlands safely where you can hide until we free Onyx from the wastelands.”
“Not that I’m ungrateful, but what about food and shelter?” Kristen looked into the classroom and at the male vamp, now a collection of embers and ashes. Silence started to fall amongst the other students as shock set in.
I gave her a reassuring smile. “It’s taken care of, but we have to move now.” We couldn’t waste time. More vamp guards could arrive any time to check up on the students.
“Okay.” Kristen nodded and glanced at Caleb who was giving the other students instructions.
“Kristen, how many guards are in the Vasara?” I asked. “We sent two away at the front door and took out these two. Are any more stationed here?”
Kristen’s forehead wrinkled. “There are, but I don’t know how many.”
“Any estimates?”
She shook her head. “Ten, twenty, maybe. I’m sorry. They never stay in the same place.”
“It’s fine.” I’d simply have to sense all the guards before we went to each floor. With only twenty fae students in the basement, there should be eighty in the other classrooms or their rooms, plus any refugee prisoners King Peter had sent here. “Has anyone been used for the breeding program?”
Kristen’s features tightened. “Not yet. We were supposed to start today with the first batch of potions.”
I shuddered. Caleb stepped toward us as the students scrambled through the room. Some gathered supplies while others dumped red petals into wastebaskets or stomped on them. A tingle of satisfaction swept over me.
“We can deal with this,” Caleb said after I filled him in on what Kristen had told me. “I’ve been using telepathy with Nerissa. She returned with the spy, Christoph, Zeeba, and Kalvin. They’re ready to come to our aid.”
“What about Nathan?”
“He’s with them.”
I stared at Caleb. “But—”
“He’s feeling better. He wants, needs, to do this. Killing a few vampires and freeing innocent fae isn’t going against the king. My father has never forbidden Nathan from doing those things, as they weren’t in place when he made the vow.”
I bit my lip. I wanted to protect Nathan, keep him safe, but I’d be a hypocrite if I demanded he stayed behind. Also, we needed all hands on deck, and Nathan wouldn’t forgive himself if he sat this out. As the High Commander, he did whatever was necessary, no matter how risky.
“Virgie.” Caleb’s hazel gaze drilled into me. “We don’t have much time. The breeding program was supposed to start today. The king will expect a report soon. While we get the Vasara students out and create a spray from the Shield, you need to return to the Summer Palace.”
My insides clenched, but I knew he was right. “I’ll take on Blythe’s form, then Percival’s when it’s safe.”
Caleb nodded. “While you wer
e busy with Nathan, the spy and I have put a few things into motion. She managed to smuggle a laxative into the castle’s kitchen. My father would sense a poison, but not a high dose of innocent Slug Root. After lunch, he and Percival as well as the rest of the castle should be severely ill for a few hours. They’ll retire to their rooms, and while my father recovers and searches for the culprit—”
“I’ll steal the crown,” I said. I glanced at the clock, which read seven in the morning. I had to get going. Breakfast would be soon.
Caleb motioned with his arm to the left. “Use the side exit. It’s at Nerissa’s former office. It will lead you outside where a Pegasus will be waiting for you. He’ll take you to the secret tunnel so you can get back into the castle.”
I gulped. Not only was I going on my own, I had to leave now without saying goodbye to Nathan. While the possibility that I wouldn’t even get a proper last kiss was a stab in my heart, I knew it had to be this way. Nathan would never let me go alone. And with his vow holding him hostage, he couldn’t come with me.
“I understand.” I raised my chin. “Keep Nathan occupied for as long as you can.”
“I will,” Caleb promised.
I stepped forward and pressed him into a tight hug. Caleb pushed a small glass bottle into my hand. The red liquid told me it was one of Peony’s strength potions. It would give me the alertness and energy to do what I needed.
“Thanks.” I turned to Kristen. “Take care of the other Vasara students. I’ll see you soon.”
Her brown eyes were filled with worry and gratitude. Even without knowing the whole plan, she could sense how risky it was. “Be careful.”
“I will.” With that, I walked out of the door and down the corridor, not daring to look back. Since there were no vamps on the main floor, I proceeded upstairs. Six calculating minds wandered on the second floor. I was sure many more lurked in other parts of the Vasara Center, patrolling in front of the prisoners’ rooms. I swallowed hard, reminding myself that Caleb would get the prisoners and students out while I was needed at the castle.
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