Nathan took my hand and led me away from the others and outside onto the riverbed. I was glad for it. We needed some time alone before we slept. Peony and Caleb needed their privacy too.
But instead of saying something romantic, the first words out of Nathan’s mouth were, “You read Onyx’s mind.”
I nodded. Too tired to beat around the bush, I told him what I’d overheard, hoping that Onyx would forgive my invasion of her privacy and understand that I was watching out for her.
Nathan ran a hand through his hair. “Petra must think that she can kill Onyx. There’s a high chance that she’s right. After the exhaustion of the tundra—”
“But Onyx is queen, while Petra is only a princess,” I protested.
Nathan sighed. “Yes, but that’s not the only factor. Onyx is powerful, true, but Petra has gained power and experience over centuries. Onyx has been crowned prematurely.”
I gulped. “So what do we do?”
“Since Onyx made a vow, she’ll be forced to stop us from interfering if we try to enter their duel. We’ll have to weaken Petra beforehand.”
Something else occurred to me then. “With Caleb here, can’t he work with Onyx to open the portal?” I chewed on my lip. “I know it sounds callous, but perhaps—”
“We can’t end Petra,” Nathan quickly said. “Caleb is not a match. He’s the bastard son. The ancient magic wanted someone who was the counterpart of Onyx, which is Petra. She and Onyx are the only daughters and the oldest living children of the respective kings. Also, killing Petra would only tear the two courts further apart and enrage the ancient magic.”
I swallowed hard. Nathan was right. The wastelands had become this way because the Summer and Winter courts had split.
I averted my gaze, feeling utterly useless. What was the point of us being here if we couldn’t do anything?
As if reading my mind, Nathan said, “Onyx needs us. She’s strong, but everyone needs friends. She had to handle a lot in a short period of time. We can’t interfere with the vow or get rid of Petra, but we’ll find ways to exhaust her.”
I nodded, even as I wondered if Petra’s, King Peter’s, and Percival’s reign of terror would ever end. “I need a break from all of this.” I kissed Nathan softly, and he returned the kiss. It grew more and more passionate until I was ready to tear off his clothes, yet I knew I had to control myself. The others were sleeping, scattered around the shallow cave nearby.
“Soon we can be with each other whenever we want as often as we want,” Nathan promised, then led me back to the cave. King Olwen was already asleep, his back protectively pressed against a wall. Peony and Caleb hadn’t returned yet, but I wasn’t worried about them. My lids felt heavy, and as soon as I put my head on Nathan’s chest, I fell into a deep sleep, my body needing a respite from the wastelands.
A shaking awoke me some time later. “Your turn,” Blair whispered, and I blinked my eyes open as next to me, Nathan pushed into a sitting position.
“Where are they?” he asked.
“Outside.” Blair laid in the now empty spot. Peony and Caleb were sleeping in a spooning position while King Olwen was still pressed up against the wall. Nathan and I headed out of the cave to relieve Onyx.
“Rest,” I said to her, and she nodded grimly.
Petra appeared to be sleeping near the cave’s entrance. She didn’t stir, her body in a fetal position, her head turned away from us. Two hours. We only had to watch her for two hours. I yawned. Waking only after that same amount of time proved exhausting. I paced to keep myself from falling asleep. I didn’t talk to Nathan, afraid that even if we used telepathy, Petra might find a way to overhear our conversation. Also, we couldn’t afford any distractions.
The minutes trickled by as I paced back and forth, occasionally rolling my shoulders. Finally, the sun slowly rose on the horizon in the form of a dead, tan light. Our shift was almost over.
You should wake Peony and Caleb, I spoke into Nathan’s mind.
He hesitated, and I raised an eyebrow at him in challenge. Really, you don’t think I can be left alone for a minute with Petra after I stole the crown out from under King Peter’s nose?
Nathan’s expression softened. No matter how much you’ll achieve, I reserve the right to worry about you.
I smiled. I worry about you too, but I don’t need you to coddle me.
He nodded and headed into the cave.
I reached out toward Petra’s mind, wanting to make sure that she was still asleep. In the last few hours, she had either truly slept or managed to only allow vague images into her mind, perfectly mimicking the state of sleep. This time, however, what I found made me gasp.
The images were vivid. I had never seen such life in a mind before. Petra stabbed Onyx in the chest, over and over, then reached into her torn flesh and tore out her heart.
Someone shifted as I stepped back.
No. Something wrapped around my leg and pulled me forward. I crashed onto the ground, my skin and bones screaming as Petra’s vine dragged me away. I tried to scream but couldn’t. A sticky vine glued my mouth shut.
Petra loomed above me and smiled down at me triumphantly, clearly very much awake. Mentalists, they always forget that each power can be used against the one who has it, she spoke into my mind. My guess is that given how relieved you were to walk, you don’t know how to fly. Time to learn, little birdie. A grin played on her lips.
Nathan! I yelled down our telepathic bond as Petra’s vines shot me upward and to the left. I sailed over the side of the mountain. The vines extended, carrying me higher and higher. Dizziness stole over me as the ground plunged below—a valley, filled with jagged rocks.
The vines released me, and I tumbled downward.
“No!” The scream ruptured from my chest. I thought someone echoed my scream but couldn’t be sure. Desperately, I flapped my wings. I could fly. I had to. Damn, why had I never learned that and instead relied on the Pegasi? I fell faster. Thirty feet. Twenty feet. I flapped harder and managed to slow, or maybe I was just imagining that as I prepared for the impact, for the crunching of bones, for the end.
It didn’t come.
I dared to open my eyes. I was floating an inch above the ground. The relief made my wings relax, and I collapsed onto the rocks, happy tears rolling down my cheeks.
“Virgie!”
I whipped around and prepared to defend myself as someone dove for me. Blonde hair, green wings. Petra had returned. I reached for the dagger I still had strapped to my thigh and brandished it, then retracted it at the last second as the person screamed, “It’s me!”
“Peony.” I let out my breath.
She landed next to me and studied me.
“I’m fine,” I managed as another figure appeared on the horizon.
I rose to my feet as the male came closer, beating his golden wings fast. “I’m fine, Nathan.”
He landed and looked me over tensely. “That damn Petra,” he cursed. “She was not supposed to do that. Onyx forbade her!”
I glanced around. “Who did you leave Petra with?”
“Caleb,” Nathan replied, then cursed. Sure, Caleb was strong, but so was Petra, and she was cunning.
Nathan looked me over, but I waved him away. “Go! Help Caleb!”
Still he hesitated, and Peony gave him a gentle shove. “I’ll take care of Virgie.”
Finally, Nathan rose and disappeared.
Peony faced me. “Do you think you can fly some more? I’m not sure I’m strong enough to carry you.”
I nodded, even though I wasn’t sure. But with the valley steep on all sides, climbing out would be impossible. I had to fly. The sooner Peony and I returned, the better. To Petra I was a nobody. I was merely step one in whatever plan she was hedging.
23
Onyx
A scream split the air, tearing me from my sleep. Virgie. I jumped up to my feet. Olwen stirred, and Blair peeled herself into a sitting position. Outside, Petra was laughing. Even though she had v
owed not to harm me in any way, she was already breaking the oath. I gritted my teeth and ran outside, conjuring an ice spike. Nathan and Peony were already in the air, flying toward the valley of jagged rocks I’d seen around the bend last evening.
Virgie was gone.
Gone.
“Virgie!” I shouted.
Nathan and Peony flew down into the steep valley. Petra continued laughing. Caleb charged her from behind. He shot vines at her, wrapping around her torso, but Petra didn’t seem to care. Her wicked smile remained. She’d already done the deed.
Rage filled my chest and dark ice filled the cavity where my heart had been a moment ago. I squared off with Petra as Caleb’s vines tightened around her. “You broke your vow.” My voice came out scarily calm.
Petra smiled, showing all her teeth, and her green eyes flashed. “I broke nothing. The oath said that I couldn’t hurt you. I simply gave your friend the motivation she needed to finally learn how to fly.”
I swallowed hard. I would not think of Virgie’s broken body and show weakness. I was the Queen of the Winter Court. “You hurt my friends, you hurt me.”
“That little mentalist wasn’t your friend,” Petra said plainly. “She was picking through your darkest, most private thoughts. I did you a favor.”
I advanced on Petra. I would not let her spin this around or dodge her vow. But my rage would have to be controlled. I could not let her see how much Virgie meant to me and allow her to get an advantage before our duel.
Blair joined my side and from the slow steps nearing me from behind, I knew Olwen had stepped out of the cave. He didn’t approve of weakness or friendships. He only valued strength. Was him watching my reaction part of Petra’s plan? Was she hoping to deepen the rift between us? For her to succeed, she needed to tear us all apart.
I would not let her. I calmed my ice and shoved away the images of Virgie’s unmoving body. “Justice is coming for you, Petra,” I hissed. Caleb maintained his vines on her, but his shoulders relaxed. The moment had passed. He, just like I, knew that I wouldn’t allow Petra to goad me into hurting her. I would not give the wastelands any reason to reject us when we united our powers later.
Shouts echoed from the valley. Warmth flooded my chest. Had Virgie survived? I took a breath as logic told me that no one could survive a fall like that. We fae could heal, but only from nonlethal injuries.
“Aren’t you going to thank me?” Petra asked in a sweet voice. Her words wormed under my skin, approaching that vulnerable core I could not dare to show. She gripped the vines from underneath, curling her fingers around the green ropes. Caleb tensed again.
Before I could shout a warning, Petra rose with a grunt, the vines obeying her will, and with a lightning motion, they lashed Caleb, throwing him back onto the riverbed so hard that a sickening thump filled the air. She’d used his own vines against him. They snapped around Caleb, holding him down to the ground.
“Petra!” She was working against us despite her vow. I urged three ice spikes to form before me.
Beside me, a fireball appeared in Blair’s hand. I moved toward her, eager to protect her. Petra wouldn’t attack me. She would go for the others. Even though my ice begged to be released, I could not unleash it on her and risk the wrath of the wastelands. I had to subdue her.
I nodded to Blair, who shot a fireball at Petra. She dodged, and it sailed into the side of a mountain and spread apart before vanishing.
I needed someone with plant magic to restrain Petra, preferably with a dash of compulsion. I winced as my mind once again turned to Virgie. Petra shot a vine past me, and Blair shot her fire after it.
“Stop it, Petra,” I said. “You’ll have your revenge soon enough. Don’t you want to get out of this hellhole?”
Petra smiled wickedly. “Indeed, I do. I just don’t see why I have to take all of you with me.” Vines shot for Blair, but they burst into flames and fell to the ground. Unable to do nothing, I unleashed my ice spikes, shooting them not directly at Petra, but an inch away from her. As my ice shattered against stone, the vow prickled at my scalp. I blinked and that one moment of distraction cost me. A single vine shot for Olwen’s head, for his crown. It wrapped tightly around the icicles on the crown and ripped it from his head.
“How dare you!” Olwen boomed, coming to life.
I waited for the wastelands to react, but nothing happened. It seemed that the Ancient Lands didn’t care about him.
Petra held the crown triumphantly in her hand. “You don’t need this anymore, old man.”
A single ice spike appeared before Olwen. “That is mine.”
His aim was true, and the ice spike struck Petra’s arm, making a horrific crack as a bone broke. Olwen’s crown fell to the ground, rolling away from her.
I ran for the withered crown. Olwen needed it. Without it, he was as good as dead in the wastelands.
Petra snarled like an animal as she grasped her arm. But the pain only seemed to add to her rage. “No!” She lifted her unbroken arm, and the dying vines lying over Caleb rose as a swirling mass. One of them snapped up Olwen’s crown and retrieved it for Petra, while another seized Caleb’s Summer crown. I stopped and watched in horror as her vine placed the Summer crown on her head right in front of her diadem.
The air crackled with magic.
“Onyx! Stop her,” Olwen shouted.
“Let go of that!” Blair added.
Icicles materialized in front of me, and I shot them for her legs, no longer caring about the Grand Librarian advice. I had to stop Petra or she’d leave us all here. I let my icicles fly. She dodged them and Blair’s fireballs, until one struck her knee with a sickening crack. Petra stumbled, but her vines dove anew for Blair and Caleb, turning a powerful green and sporting orange, caterpillar-like blooms with teeth. Poisonous vines. I had experienced them once before. The poison worked fast. If it wasn’t sucked out, the infected would die within minutes.
“Don’t let those vines get you!” I screamed, and unleashed frost at them. Blair used her fire, and Caleb finally pushed to his feet and used his own vines to fight Petra’s.
The sky darkened. The wastelands weren’t liking this. A thunder bolt shot down, straight for Petra. She dodged it but not the thick vine that shot for her. Caleb gritted his teeth as his thick vine lassoed Petra’s torso, binding her hands to her sides. One by one, her animated vines collapsed, including the one that had stolen King Olwen’s crown. It thumped onto the ground and rolled away from Petra. Caleb used another vine to rip his crown from her head and put it back on his. Petra’s vines died, no longer fed by her new power.
I breathed a sigh of relief. Without the crowns and bound by Caleb’s vines, Petra couldn’t do much.
Behind me, a violent cough sounded. It was followed a thump. I whipped around to find Olwen had collapsed to his knees, clutching his chest. His crown. I ripped it free from the vines and hurried to the former Winter king. He was prostrate on his stomach, wheezing. I pushed him into a sitting position, propping up his back.
“Here.” I put the crown on his head. “It’s all good now.”
Olwen’s cobalt-blue eyes focused on me. “Onyx,” he rasped. “It’s too late. My time has come.”
I shook my head. Olwen couldn’t die.
He clutched my hand with his cold, trembling one. “You will carry the Winter Court to a glorious future. You are the Queen the Winter Court needs.” His last breath seeped out of him, and his gaze turned unseeing.
“No,” I whispered and rocked his dead body back and forth. But death didn’t listen to me. The already-withered crown on his head melted. The pine branches fell to the ground, where they turned brown, then disintegrated to dust.
Olwen was gone.
Pain erupted in my chest, yet there was gratitude buried underneath. On his deathbed, Olwen had given me the approval I thought I’d never receive.
Somewhere in the distance Blair said something, and Petra screeched. Other voices joined them, but they sounded as if they w
ere a million miles away. I stared at Olwen’s motionless face, trying to understand how I felt. It was too much. My whole life I had believed my father was a weak nobody. Then, I’d discovered that he was a powerful fae king, who only cared about me when I could do something for him. Olwen had been ruthless. He had taught me strategy. He had introduced me to fae customs. He had broken me, forcing me to turn against the one I loved. He had left me with too much responsibility too early when his own spell backfired and landed him here. Since we reunited, he had barely spoken to me, ignoring me as he once did when we lived for months under one roof. Yet, in the end, he had given me his blessing, his approval. He wasn’t my father. A father was someone who raised you. As a person, I didn’t need Olwen’s approval. Yet as the Queen of the Winter Court, I cherished his last words. For if a king had faith in me, I had to go on. I would unite the Summer and the Winter Courts, bring prosperity to our lands, and free the fae trapped under the Kallan dynasty’s brutal reign.
Tears ran down my cheeks. I allowed them to come. Caring didn’t make me weak. It made me stronger. Unlike Petra and her father, I wasn’t just fighting for myself. I was fighting for my friends, the family I had created, my future with Thorsten, and all the fae who deserved to be happy and free.
When I let go of Olwen and rose to my feet, my friends were there. Blair, Peony, and Virgie—thank the faelands she was alive—pulled me into a tight group hug.
24
Onyx
As my tears slowed, I pulled back from the hug and looked at Virgie. “You’re alive,” I breathed.
She smiled. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”
The corners of my mouth twitched upward. I glanced at Peony. “You saved her.”
Peony shook her head and smiled. “Virgie did it herself.”
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