Cast in Faefire: An Urban Fantasy Romance (The Mage Craft Series Book 3)

by SM Reine

  The words gnawed a black hole in the pit of her stomach. Such vulnerability and self-doubt hurt. “You’ve got no proof of that,” Marion said, a little more sharply than she’d intended.

  The kindness in Seth’s eyes never faltered. “Well, and you shouldn’t marry someone you’re not in love with.”

  “I love him,” Marion said. “I do.”

  “You deserve better than that. You deserve to be happy.” They weren’t whispering anymore, nor were they dancing, so they didn’t need to be standing as close as they were.

  “I’ll be happy when I’m truly in charge of the Winter Court.” Rylie wouldn’t be able to sit Marion at the end of the table with the vampires during future council meetings.

  “If you’re sure.” His callused hands were gentle on hers. “I hate to bring it up, but I still need the darknet servers. Now more than ever.”

  Cold reality jolted through her. “I can help with that.” Marion glanced around the dance floor. Between the music, the buffet, and the wine, nobody was looking at them. Konig also had yet to return from whatever state business he had been addressing. They had a few minutes.

  Marion was seized by a sense of adventure—a smaller one than that which had led her to follow Seth to Sheol, but adventure nonetheless. “Come with me.” She caught Seth’s hand and pulled him through fluttering veils behind the orchestra, cutting through the storage room to the hallway beyond.

  Konig returned to the ballroom in time to see a flash of red as Marion vanished through the veils.

  She wasn’t alone.

  Both Marion and her companion had vanished beyond the orchestra before Konig could tell whom she was with, though. The person didn’t appear to be wearing a hooded sweater. It wasn’t the intruder. Marion was likely just lobbying for votes, as a good queen-to-be should.

  He grabbed a glass of cordial from a passing waiter. “Have you seen my mother?”

  “That way,” said the waiter, nodding toward the opposite side of the room. Few of the sidhe from the Autumn Court bothered with formalities where Konig was concerned. They’d all grown up and trained together. The only difference between Konig and the waiter was that Konig wasn’t naked. “Something the matter?”

  “There isn’t enough wine,” Konig said. “Open another cask.”

  “I’ll see to it.”

  The prince sipped cordial as he weaved through the room, crossing to the pillars on the other side. He’d finished that cup and picked up a goblet of wine before finding her.

  Violet was separate from the rest of the party, surrounded in a ring of Raven Knights who were combing an empty hallway. His mother was safe. His momentary relief was overwhelmed by irritation when he realized that she was casting magic along the pillars.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” he asked in a low voice, stepping up behind his mother.

  She didn’t even glance his way. “What does it look like I’m doing, darling?”

  “It looks like you’re doing new wards, which will put you at the crux of the magic.”

  “Remarkable observation.” Violet swept her hands like a conductor in front of an invisible orchestra. Light warped. “Maybe you won’t waste my time asking inane questions in the future and instead employ your eyes and brain as you have just now.”

  He’d spent weeks trying to ignore that cloying tone she’d been using with him. Between the wine, the stress, and the adrenaline, he couldn’t handle it anymore. “Is this meant to be punishment for what you saw me doing with Nori?”

  Violet’s hands stilled. “Actually, it’s meant to save lives. Logan?” One of the Raven Knights walked over, carrying several stone spheres. “We found these affixed around the ballroom’s perimeter. They’re enchanted bombs. Don’t worry—I’ve frozen them.”

  “Gods,” Konig breathed, picking one up. It was heavy with magic. “How did these get into the world? The Knights checked all the guests.”

  “Your guess is as good as mine,” Violet said.

  Konig didn’t really need to guess. “I just spied an intruder who isn’t with any of the parties. I’ve sent Heather after him.”

  “That answers that.” Violet waved Logan off, and he went back to removing the rest of the bombs.

  “We should evacuate,” Konig said.

  “I think not. We’ve defused these. Let’s not create a stir when we’re already on such tenuous footing with the council.” Violet shot a venomous look at her son. “Although I really shouldn’t let you go through with the wedding at all. My counseling did nothing to instill respect for marriage.”

  So this was about Nori, in part. “Please. As if you care about whom I screw. I know what you’re always up to during our parties.”

  “With your father’s consent,” she said. “I don’t care what you do with your future wife’s assistant or anyone else, whether they be servants, gentry, or demons. Even if you’re engaged to someone who isn’t sidhe, it doesn’t change who we are or what we do. But you must do it with consent.”

  “Nori’s very consenting,” Konig said. “And I won’t need her anymore after my wedding night with Marion.”

  Violet dropped her hands, but the magic remained thrashing around her. She turned chillingly empty eyes upon him. “At this point, you have a better chance of getting elected President of the North American Union than becoming King of the Winter Court.”

  Her words were well-targeted daggers into Konig’s breast. Was that why she was casting wards on Niflheimr? Because she didn’t see this as her son’s home? “So smug,” he growled.

  “Smug about what? My son’s failure to seize a kingdom? I’d take a lot more pride in being the mother of a success than I will in being right.”

  “And you wonder why I’ve fought to get out from under you for so long.”

  “I’ll love you no matter how many ungrateful things you say to me. You’ll still have a place in my court when your fiancée leaves you.” She took Konig’s hand. “A mother’s love is inviolable.”

  He shook her off. “She’ll never leave me.”

  “Where do you think she is now?” Violet asked. “Who is Marion hiding in shadowy corners with while you’re tangled up with Nori?”

  His fist clenched on the goblet’s neck so suddenly that wine slopped over the side, wetting the wrist of his shirt.

  He needed a refill.

  Konig stalked away from his mother, and she went back to casting wards outside the ballroom.

  She’d get more respectful once he became king.

  If he became king.

  Konig returned to the party. He was greeted warmly by the Oceania Witches, whom he knew on a social level. People he should have enjoyed talking with. He barely heard them.

  Anger vibrated through his bones.

  He caught sight of Deirdre Tombs alone near the buffet. She wasn’t eating or drinking.

  “Excuse me,” he said, dismissing the Oceania Witches.

  Konig refilled his goblet and joined Deirdre.

  She rolled a glowing blue cube of lethe between her forefinger and thumb. When he leaned against the wall beside her, she clutched it in her fist. “If you’re going to be taking drugs, you may as well do it with the rest of the sidhe,” Konig said. “Nobody will judge you here.”

  “I don’t use anymore,” Deirdre said, pocketing the lethe. “I like looking at it. The pretty colors help me think.”

  “What a waste of good lethe.” The wine was hot in his veins, emboldening him. If his mother didn’t believe he could take over the Winter Court, then the surest way to prove her wrong would be to confront the problem head-on. “Let’s talk somewhere alone.”

  “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

  “You don’t want anyone else to hear what I have to say,” Konig said. He gestured at the dancers just a few feet away with his goblet. “Wouldn’t it be terrible if all these people learned the truth about you?”

  Deirdre’s eyes darkened. “You don’t have the stones to bully me.”

&
nbsp; At that moment, Konig felt like he had the “stones” for anything. All the rage that he couldn’t take out on his mother was clawing at the inside of his throat. “I know you’re connected to the Stark terrorists,” Konig said in a low voice. “I know you’re spending months at a time on their property in Africa. If you don’t want everyone else to know that, you’ll cancel the vote.”

  Deirdre folded her arms. “Oh yeah? Is that what you know?”

  “Cancel the vote,” he said more firmly.

  Her flesh shimmered with faint flames. It lifted her hair around her shoulders as though a breeze blew in her face. “Or else what? You think I’m afraid of you telling people I like to vacation in Jo’burg?”

  “I could have old investigations into you reopened.”

  “I doubt that. I seriously do.” Deirdre leaned on the buffet table, which had been grown out of ice. She was hot enough that the surface began to sweat. “You’ve got no idea what you’re talking about, pretty boy, and there’s nothing you can do to me. But there’s a lot I can do to you if you piss me off.”

  “I’m not afraid of you.”

  “That’s not what it looks like. You wouldn’t be in my face if you weren’t.” Deirdre sniffed him, and she recoiled, nose wrinkling. “And you really wouldn’t need liquid courage to do it if you weren’t afraid.”

  “The Secretary of the Office of Preternatural Affairs is here,” Konig said. “I’ll tell him everything right now.”

  “He already knows. Surprised? You wouldn’t be if you’d done real research.”

  The melting table dripped cold onto Konig’s shoe. He twitched.

  Deirdre smiled. “I joined the terrorists because I was undercover for the OPA. We moved Stark’s family to South Africa under protective custody, and I check in on them all the time. Have you met the Alpha, Rylie Gresham? You know what a soft spot she’s got for family bullshit? And you know how kindly she’d react to you threatening this family I’m taking care of?”

  Konig didn’t know. He knew very little about that, in fact. Rylie was a matter that Marion handled.

  Deirdre flared until he could feel the sheer heat radiating from her shifter-flesh.

  “Right now, Rylie’s the only ally you’ve got for this wedding because of that soft spot of hers, but it’ll vanish if you flap your mouth,” she said softly. “And for what? I can’t even cancel the vote. It’s locked in.”

  He was getting hot now too, but not from her fire—from frustration.

  Konig should have gotten more information from Nori. Shouldn’t have jumped the gun. Should have waited.

  “I’ve been reading up on you, too, Prince ErlKonig,” Deirdre said. “I know you’ve got this election rigged.”

  He took care not to show his surprise. “You don’t know anything.”

  “You’re hours from having the wards on Niflheimr fail completely because a non-sidhe steward’s been in control for so long. If you don’t take control, then the whole Winter Court’s going to be exposed—and the steward will have to surrender control of Niflheimr to your parents. They couldn’t even set foot in the palace until recently. So either way, the Autumn Court’s going to end up in charge.” She leaned in close, glowering at him. “I’ll have an army ready for when your parents move their angel allies into this plane.”

  Konig emptied his cup and slammed it on the table, splashing water over the side. “That’s not true. My parents never took Niflheimr because they didn’t want it.”

  “They wanted it all right,” Deirdre said. “They even gave aid to the Summer Court’s invading forces back in the day. But the Winter Queen had them locked out until Marion took over. Now all they have to do is wait.”

  That wasn’t what his parents had told him.

  “They were friends with the Winter Queen and King,” he protested. “You’re lying.”

  “Bet I know more about sidhe history than you do. I get around more than your average shifter.” She shoved the cube of lethe into his hand. “Take this and enjoy a few numb hours. We all know this is going to end in war before the week’s out.”

  15

  The music from the ballroom was much quieter with a couple walls of ice in the way. It faded quickly as Marion took Seth toward the bedrooms. The temperature also rapidly dropped. By the time they got to the staircase, she was shivering. “Why’s it more urgent to get into the servers now?” Marion asked, teeth chattering.

  Seth jogged to keep up with her. “Lucifer says there’s information about the location of a mysterious weapon on there. And I don’t know if you noticed, but there’s a lot of people in your palace right now who shouldn’t have mysterious weapons.”

  “What kind of weapon?”

  “The mysterious kind. That’s seriously all I know. He thinks everyone’s after the servers so that they can find it in this other dimension, this missing ethereal plane.”

  “Could the weapon be balefire?” Marion asked. “It must come from somewhere strange, since pure balefire burns through everything.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that.” Seth grabbed her elbow. “If there’s information on balefire on the darknet, we could get into Duat.” Which meant they would be able to save Charity.

  “Then let’s hope you have more success finding the darknet servers than I have.” Marion stopped in front of a towering bedroom door carved with the image of elaborate circuitry. She unlocked the handle with a wave of her hand. The cogs along the hinges clicked and thumped, whirring into motion so that the doors could swing open. “This is where the Hardwicks lived in the Winter Court. They started the darknet. One of the refugees suggested I might be able to get server access through here, but I already searched these rooms once and didn’t find anything.”

  The Hardwicks had been rich in taste, and much less blue-collar than the king, who had decorated Niflheimr in icy cogs and chains. Their furniture was high-end Danish stuff. It must have been difficult to import to the Middle Worlds. There was a reason that the sidhe mostly grew their furniture using magic.

  Seth shut and locked the door behind them before starting to search.

  “I believe there are secret passages throughout Niflheimr,” Marion said, scuffing her feet along the tiled floors and listening for hollow parts. It was hard to tell with all the ice. “One of the other refugees, Ymir—he’s been sneaking around somehow.”

  Seth started feeling along the bookshelves. “Makes sense. It’s not a good castle without secret passages.”

  Marion watched him methodically investigate the sitting room, the dining room, and the attached kitchen. She hugged herself, trying to rub warmth into her upper arms. “Does this mean you’ve decided to become a vampire?”

  “Probably,” Seth said without looking back. “Did I ever tell you I tried to become a werewolf once?”

  Marion’s heart flipped. “So you could mate with Rylie?”

  “Yeah, but it turned out I was immune to the curse. Vampire’s not that much worse than werewolf, and miles better than being a god whose job is to kill people.”

  “Rylie wants to kill me.” The words leaped out unbidden.

  Seth turned from inspecting the underside of a lamp. “What? No she doesn’t.”

  “When I was looking up information on the OPA databases, I looked into my file as well. Rylie recorded testimony saying that I’m dangerous. She believes that it’s important to have plans in place to kill me.”

  To his credit, he didn’t try to deny it again. He raked a hand over his hair. “Jesus, Rylie.”

  “Just think,” Marion said, trying to make her tone light, “in another universe where you mated to Rylie, you’d probably be planning to kill me, too.”

  Seth set the lamp down. “Listen, Marion. There’s no universe in which I’d try to kill you. Not if I was a werewolf, not when I’m a death god, not even if I was possessed by a demon. None.” He took her by the elbows, and his brow furrowed. “Damn, you’re cold.”

  “Sleeveless dress.” Her chin quivered. “Doesn’
t look good for the future Queen of the Winter Court to be freezing in her own palace, does it?”

  “Nobody’s going to judge you while we’re sneaking around in condemned parts of your palace.” He slipped the jacket off of his shoulders and settled it over Marion.

  The right pocket weighed heavily against her side. She slipped her hand in. “What’s this?”

  “A wedding present,” Seth said. “I almost forgot.”

  She pulled it out.

  It was a water bottle with the label ripped off.

  “Oh my,” Marion said. “You know, when you do a gift registry, you always realize that you must have forgotten a few things, but water bottles… I suppose that is the gift you get the mage who already has everything.”

  He didn’t smile back. “That’s from Mnemosyne. The river of memory in Sheol.”

  It suddenly felt much heavier in Marion’s hands. “Oh.”

  “I don’t know if it’ll work. Everything was supposed to be in the Canope. But I thought, if there’s a chance…” He shrugged.

  Marion returned the bottle to the pocket. “Thank you, Seth. I’m not going to drink it. But thank you.”

  His eyebrows lifted. “Why?”

  “I’ve spent weeks coming to terms with the fact that the woman I used to be is gone. Dead, in a way. But nothing was lost when the Canope broke. I truly believe that.”

  “Hey.” Seth’s tone was sharper than a knife. “Don’t talk about yourself like that.”

  “Very well. I won’t say it out loud where you can hear me.”

  He shoved her shoulder, gently. “Be nice to yourself. Out loud and in your head. I’ve got enough self-loathing for you, me, and everyone else in the Winter Court.”

  Marion’s heart unknotted and turned inside out and back-flipped. “You have self-loathing?”

  “I drank Mnemosyne,” Seth said. “I wanted to know what kind of god stuff I’d forgotten becoming avatar. And now I know why I came back.”

  She didn’t need to drink any water out of the Nether Worlds to know that. “To save Rylie from Deirdre.”

  “That’s the thing, Marion. I didn’t come back to save Rylie. I saw her die and…I didn’t do anything. I didn’t care.”