by Nissa Leder
He went first, Scarlett right behind. They turned the last corner to find the dungeon empty of any guards. Kaelem rushed ahead, crying out when he reached the cell at the end of the corridor.
Kaelem crouched down by a slender body crumpled on the floor. The figure was female, but bald. It had to be his sister, Aria.
Scarlett kneeled next to him. “Is she…” She couldn’t continue.
“Not yet,” Kaelem said. “But almost. I will kill the Winter Queen if it’s the last thing I do.”
“May I?” Scarlett hesitated. She wanted to try and help, but she didn’t dare move too quickly.
Rage poured like monsoon rain from Kaelem. He stepped back.
Scarlett shifted herself next to Aria. Her thin body looked ready to snap, with almost nothing more than skin covering her bones. Scarlett closed her eyes and hovered her hands over Aria’s heart. Frost crept up Scarlett’s hands.
Aria was freezing to death. Literally.
Scarlett channeled the heat inside herself and spread it through Aria. Aria’s cheeks flushed ever-so-slightly. It would buy her some time, but they needed to get Aria out of the cold. Now.
Kaelem twisted his body to face the dungeon entryway. The Winter Queen, still dressed in white, walked toward them, followed by Kassandra and a group of Winter guards.
“I knew you couldn’t help yourself, King.” Nevina stopped outside of the cell.
They were trapped. The Winter Queen could close them in and they’d all freeze to death. Scarlett couldn’t save Aria if she died, too. And Ashleigh would be stuck in the mirror forever.
This was bad. So bad.
“Love makes people so predictable,” Kassandra purred as she stepped next to Nevina. “I don’t think there’s a greater weakness.”
“Fuck you,” Kaelem said. “Scarlett and I are leaving here with my sister.”
Scarlett admired his confidence, but she wasn’t as sure. She sucked out more of the cold inside Aria to buy her more time.
Scarlett’s hands turned blue. She couldn’t risk any more, not if she had to fight her way out of there.
“You are stealing my property,” Nevina said. “That breaks the Court treaties. I have grounds to hang you all.”
“You can try.” Kaelem kept a protective stance.
Scarlett pushed herself from the ground and stood next to him. She’d faced Poppy in the coliseum with courage, and she’d do the same now, despite the less than favorable odds.
“A mortal at the side of the Unseelie King,” Kassandra said. “I’ve never seen anything as blasphemous.”
“I’m not a human anymore,” Scarlett said. “I’m not easy prey.”
Scarlett’s mind exploded. Pain shot through her body. She fought the urge to puke as Ashleigh’s face surfaced, blood dripping from her eyes. Her sister wiped the tears of blood from her face as they fell to the ground.
“No.” Scarlett forced her mind wall up. The pain subsided. She knew it was just in her head, but it felt so real. What if Kassandra found Ashleigh in the mirror? No, Kaelem said he was the only one who could release her. But could Kassandra get in?
“Learned a few things, have you?” Kassandra said.
The Winter Queen took a step forward. “I’ll give you one more chance. Leave now and watch your sister die, and I’ll spare your lives.”
“Never,” Kaelem snapped.
“She will die either way. You’re too late.”
A band of shadow shot from Kaelem’s hands and wrapped itself around Nevina.
She cried out as it wrapped around her like a snake and constricted.
Kassandra shot out a ball of green energy from her hands that cut through the shadow, releasing its grip on the Winter Queen.
Panic swam through Scarlett. Kaelem was strong, but she wasn’t. How would they get out of there, past the Winter Queen, Kassandra, and the guards?
The thought of dying scared Scarlett, but worse, she knew that if they didn’t make it through this, Ashleigh would spend an eternity living the same day over and over again inside of a mirror.
Scarlett couldn’t let that happen.
She’d felt stronger every day. As much as she missed being mortal, her best chance of protecting her sister came from the magic that now buzzed through her veins.
Kassandra and the Winter Queen had underestimated her.
If Scarlett was going down, she would find a way to take them with her.
If something happens to me, promise you’ll take care of my sister, Scarlett thought, hoping Kaelem was listening.
His eyes met hers and he nodded.
Raith froze when Scarlett’s fear shot through the bond, electrocuting Raith’s nerves.
Sage had just cooked dinner for them as she listened to Raith tell her about his life in the Summer Court.
Another jolt spread through Raith. Something was wrong.
“I have to go,” Raith blurted.
Sage set the bowls in her hand on the table. “What’s the matter?”
“Scarlett is in danger.”
“The girl you went to before?”
“Yes.”
Raith’s body cringed as another wave of panic hit him. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the bond between them or simply because of how fond he’d grown of Scarlett, but everything inside him screamed to hurry toward her.
“You’re better, but still not fully healed,” Sage said.
“It will have to do,” Raith said as he reached for Scarlett. “Thank you for everything.”
Sage grabbed Raith’s wrist.
“You can’t stop me,” he said.
“I’m not. I’m going with you.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Kaelem dodged a ball of Summer energy as he flung his Unseelie shadow at Nevina again. The guards approached him and Scarlett, weapons of ice in their hands.
One shot an arrow at Scarlett. Her hands shot a ray of light, slicing the arrow in half from its tip to its end. It fell to the ground.
Kassandra and Nevina froze, confusion on their faces.
Light magic was from the Seelie Court, and since the Seelie Court weren’t supposed to take humans as lovers, Kaelem was sure they were wondering how a mortal girl had Seelie blood in her veins.
Using their shock as a distraction, Kaelem reached out his mind magic. Four of the six guards had no shields. Rookies. Within a breath, they fell to the ground, dead.
The Winter Queen didn’t know the capabilities Kaelem possessed. She’d messed with the wrong king. He’d broken rules by coming in to take his sister back, but if Nevina thought going to war with the Unseelie Court was a good idea, she’d soon learn how mistaken she’d been.
Wrath charged through Kaelem like a bomb ready to explode, refilling the magic he’d used to take down the guards. Nevina had set them up. She’d weakened his sister—or, more likely, had someone else do it, a sly way around the fae bargain they’d made—her body so close to death, as a ploy to get what she wanted. Kaelem would rather die than leave his sister behind—or to do the unthinkable and fulfill his promise to end her life. Power grew inside him. He’d warned Scarlett not to use her own emotion as fuel, but in that moment, he let his own anger explode.
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 inside her mind. Blocked. If he could get completely through, he could take her down within 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 in 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 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 some day.
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 leapt 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.
With 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.
