by Everly Frost
Evander somersaults off her back as she flies overhead. He lands with a thud on Treble’s back directly behind Nathaniel, upsetting Treble’s balance so that we wobble in the air.
A dagger glints in Evander’s fist.
Before I can scream, he crouches behind Nathaniel, grabs Nathaniel’s hair, pulls his head back, and presses the blade to his throat.
“Move away from Aura!” Evander shouts. He isn’t wearing a facemask and his blue-gray eyes light up sapphire as the lightning from Treble’s wings mixes with Cadence’s. She’s rapidly circling back to us while the other thunderbirds take up formation at a safe distance.
A muscle ticks in Nathaniel’s jaw. “If I let her go, she’ll fall,” he shouts. “Do you want her to die?”
Evander’s eyes widen before they narrow with fury. He curses at Nathaniel more vehemently than I’ve ever heard him speak, telling Nathaniel to go to hell in as many different ways as he can. For Nathaniel to imply that Evander would ever want to hurt me is more than my brother will tolerate. But Nathaniel isn’t lying. My legs are weak. I’m still recovering. The amount of weight I’m leaning against Nathaniel is telling him that.
“Evander! Stop!” I rasp.
My fear is for both of them. If Evander sheds Nathaniel’s blood, he’ll die.
At the same time as I shout, another thunderbird darts toward us, closer than the others. Its rider pulls back her facemask, allowing strands of coral hair to escape from beneath her hood.
“Evander!” Talsa screams. “Remember the Law!”
Evander’s fury turns to worry as he glances at her.
I take advantage of Evander’s distraction to reach out and grab the dagger’s hilt, my hand closing over Evander’s. My legs are still like jelly, but my arms are finally working fully again. I grip the dagger hard, refusing to let Evander do anything with it.
“Aura, what are you doing?”
I glare back at him. “I’m stopping you from killing yourself.”
The wind snatches at my mouth. Evander’s expression shifts as he pulls my speech to his ears. The corners of his lips turn down, intensely unhappy.
“You need to tell me what’s going on,” he says, his power carrying his voice to me. “You’re flying toward the border. Why are you doing that?”
Toward the border?
I shake my head—no. Treble was rising into the air away from the burn site. Nathaniel shouted at Treble to fly and that was all I heard. Nathaniel wouldn’t tell Treble to fly to the border. That would mean he was taking me into Fell country.
I adjust my focus beyond Nathaniel and Evander, who are both facing me, both of them tense. In the distance, I can see Bright’s mountains. But I’m facing backward, so that means…
Twisting, I can just see the foggy marsh where I fought Nathaniel yesterday morning. It’s in the direction that Treble is flying.
I’m filled with confusion. Why would Nathaniel take me this way?
Nathaniel’s dark eyes reveal nothing as I turn back to him.
Still gripping Evander’s hand so he can’t use his dagger, I lean close to Nathaniel. “Were you taking me to the border?”
Slowly, very slowly, he takes a breath and starts to speak. “I need to tell you—”
An ear-shattering crack of wings echoes around us. Four more squadrons of thunderbirds burst from the cloud cover, descending to fan out and cover the airspace between us and the mountains.
My eyes widen to see the Queen herself riding her crimson thunderbird, streaks of lightning glittering around her slender form. She has swapped her ballgown for armor that catches the last of the moon’s light, her hair tucked away into a tight hood.
Nadina rides at the head of the oncoming squadrons, still wearing the golden rose that gives her power at night. She and the Queen must have come straight from the Ball.
Imatra leaves the main group, drawing level with us. Her thunderbird coasts on one side of us while Cadence flies on the other, waiting for Evander to return to her.
I sense the tug of the Queen’s magic as she uses it to slow our flight, manipulating the air to keep us aloft, but also to stop Treble from speeding away.
The tension in Treble’s body tells me he’s afraid, especially now that the wind around him is being manipulated, taking away his control of our flight. He bounces his head at Cadence, but she doesn’t look at him. He must be trying to talk to her, but she must not be listening. All of the other thunderbirds are avoiding looking at him too. My heart sinks at the thought that they’ve closed him out.
As soon as we slow down, all of the other thunderbirds begin to circle us, maintaining their flight by spiraling around us like predators.
My ears pop as Imatra reduces the wind to a whisper, dropping us into silence. It reminds me of the silent wind tunnel we were caught in before the Vanem Dragon sealed the Law.
She gives us a serene smile, her voice effortlessly audible now. “Evander, remove your dagger and return to your bird. I would hate for Aura to get hurt.”
Evander gives her a reluctant nod. “As you wish, my queen.”
I ease open my fingers to allow my brother to slide his weapon free. He can’t be aware of what’s going on at the Grove or the threats against his father, or he wouldn’t be so trusting of the Queen right now. With a nimble leap and flip through the air, he leaves Treble’s back, his flight powered by his magic as he lands comfortably in Cadence’s saddle.
Imatra gives him an indulgent smile across the distance and I sense the quiet space around us expand to encompass Evander and Cadence. “You’re one of my best warriors, Evander of the Frost. A blessing to me.”
Evander gives her a stoic nod. He hasn’t had as much practice reading the subtext in everything Imatra says, but I’m sure he doesn’t miss the way her gaze flickers to Talsa. Unlike the circling birds, Talsa’s thunderbird is coasting high above us, dipping when it needs to maintain its position. She won’t be able to hear anything we’re saying, but she seems determined not to take her eyes off us.
My heart turns cold. If Imatra is serious about her intentions toward Evander, then Talsa is in her way.
Still holding on to me, Nathaniel remains quiet, but the tension in his body and the flicker of his gaze tells me he’s counting every thunderbird surrounding us, every guard, and every possible blade that could cut us down.
Imatra leans in my direction with a conspiratorial whisper that travels with her power. “Talsa has such beautiful hair, don’t you think, Aura? I should give her a violet rose to wear in it. It would suit her perfectly.”
I grind my teeth, my hand easing toward my hip and the dagger that rests there. I suddenly find myself the center of Nathaniel’s attention again. He knows that the violet roses are poisonous so he didn’t miss the Queen’s threat, but he gives me a quick shake of his head. I shouldn’t engage her in battle.
I snap, “What do you want, Imatra?”
At the side, Evander jolts in alarm. Speaking to the Queen like that is a punishable offence.
Imatra gives me a sweet smile. “I want you to come home, Aura. That’s all. I just want things to go back to the way they were.”
She reaches out across the distance, even though she’s too far away to touch me. Even wearing armor, she’s covered her hands with rings, dripping rocks that glitter and distract from the way her fingers form claws that want to latch on to me.
“Come, dear,” she says. “Come away from the Fell creature. Evander can help you across the air safely. You can ride with me. You don’t need to worry about the Fell anymore.”
Around us, the thunderbirds circle more closely, ready to strike.
I suddenly see Imatra’s plan too clearly. She sent reinforcements to the border, but she didn’t do it to keep Nathaniel’s people out. She did it to keep Nathaniel in.
Somehow… she knew he would try to bring me here.
The way we’re sitting, Nathaniel is facing his home while I am facing mine. Two polar opposites, light and dark.
>
Behind him, Nadina’s thunderbird is drawing into position. So are the other Solstice fae. Flames grow around their hands and arms, an unnatural fiery glow in the dark of dawn.
The moment I leave Treble’s back, they’ll strike Nathaniel dead.
It doesn’t matter that whoever kills him will die. The Queen has ordered them to do it, and they’re prepared to die to carry out her wishes.
Imatra isn’t here to take me home.
She’s here to have Nathaniel killed. This time, she’s not taking any chances that she’ll fail.
Chapter 22
Strands of my white hair trail across the space between us as I leave my dagger on my hip and slide my arms around Nathaniel’s waist. He tilts his head to mine, the dark threads of his hair pressing to my cheeks. We are both darkness and light, somehow connected despite our differences.
My starlight bursts around us as soon as our foreheads touch, my power glowing across the night sky.
Imatra recoils, retracting her hand before my light can touch her skin. Evander, too, leans away, urging Cadence to float farther from us.
I’ve bought us a little space, but it won’t last long.
“Nathaniel,” I whisper in the quiet. “You made me a promise.”
He grips my shoulders, a firm hold. “I promised you I’d tell you what I really planned.” The flecks in his eyes always seem to darken in my light, while the depth of his thoughts remain a mystery to me.
“I didn’t come here for revenge,” he says. “I didn’t come to kill your Queen. I didn’t plan to invoke the Law. I had the spells cast on my hands because it was the only way I could think of to force you to come with me. To make you choose to come with me. I was going to take you into Fell country and then come back to the border to heal your friends.”
The darkness in his gaze draws me in and won’t let me go. “I came here for you.”
My breath catches. “Why?”
“Because I promised my father I would.”
Imatra’s angry shriek cuts through the quiet. She surges forward, crimson light growing around her fingertips. It pushes at my starlight, carving enough safe space around herself to move closer to us.
“I knew you were going to try to steal her the moment you reminded me of your father,” she screams. “Where do you plan to take her, Nathaniel? Into the darkness, where she’ll suffocate without the light?”
Nathaniel’s arms tighten around me as he turns toward Imatra. Other than the way he holds me, he appears unaffected by her rage. He wears the mask of a man who knows he’s about to die and all he wants is the truth before he goes.
“Did you hold the dagger that struck my father in the back?” he asks her.
Her upper lip curls. “You’re too much like him. You believe in truth and goodness. You think peace is possible—”
“No,” he says. “Peace is impossible. All I can do is tip the balance in favor of justice.”
She lets out a disdainful breath. “You are your father’s son.”
Nathaniel’s indifference disappears. “Were you the one who struck him?” he roars. “Three blows to his back. Shallow enough for his horse to drag him back alive. Deep enough that he couldn’t be saved. Did you kill him?”
“Me?” She laughs. Loudly. Her giggles rise into air, elevating the tension around us.
Behind Nathaniel, Nadina’s thunderbird edges closer as it circles, the flames growing around her sun-kissed hands. The other Solstice fae follow her lead. Soon, the first rays of daylight will strike across the horizon and they won’t need the Queen’s power anymore.
Imatra laughs so hard that she grips her side, but she stops just as suddenly, raising her voice as if she’s announcing crimes to the world. Her shout echoes out and beyond the cocoon of silence she created for us, far enough that the fae circling us turn their heads to listen.
“I didn’t kill your father or his army,” she shouts. “I wasn’t the one who burned a thousand human warriors to dust. I didn’t shatter the bodies of Evander’s mother and her squadron.”
She shakes her head. “It wasn’t me.”
Her gaze settles on me.
She smiles.
The lifting of her lips is like a knife through the foundations of my world.
Nathaniel turns to me, his neck stiff.
Evander is frozen on Cadence, snow gathering around his hands, his power rising as he stares at me.
Every fae follows Imatra’s gaze to its unnerving point of focus.
Me.
“Only one other person survived the blast,” the Queen shouts. “Only one other… powerful… girl.”
I taste ash in my mouth as Nathaniel draws away from me, the smallest distance that feels like a chasm opening up between us.
I struggle to find my voice, to think clearly. My heart hurts, a sharp pain, an endless ache.
“Oh, but you don’t remember,” Imatra says, lowering her voice again. “Let me tell you what I’ve been keeping to myself all these years, Aura.” Her thunderbird coasts closer as she speaks. Dangerously close.
“Your parents came to me when you were born, afraid of their newborn daughter’s uncontrollable power. I helped them put you into a deep sleep in which you would continue to grow until you were old enough to learn control.” Her soft voice turns into a snarl. “They failed to tell me that the spell was wearing off. The night that the human army came to negotiate peace here at the border, you woke up. It was sudden and catastrophic. You destroyed everything.”
I press my hand to my forehead, rubbing hard, needing the memories to surface, but all I remember is the pain in my chest, sudden and sharp. Even the Vanem Dragon said that his sight went dark for hours—that he couldn’t move until the explosion happened.
All I remember is ash and heat.
“No.” I shake my head.
“You killed them, Aura,” Imatra says, her eyes gleaming. “All of them. Even your own parents.”
“Please, no.”
Around me, the fae are closing in. Nadina soars closer and the accusing stares of the Border Guards who used to trust me are like knives cutting through me. When I look to Evander, he has withdrawn, his cheeks ashen with shock. Imatra said I killed his mother—a mother he mourned with his father. She said that I destroyed an entire army. Killed my parents. I have no memory of the event to dispute what she’s saying. I have no defense, no proof, no claim to innocence, but there’s one thing I do know. One glimmer of hope.
I’ve lost Evander’s trust, but I close my eyes, hoping that Nathaniel will hear me. “I didn’t have a dagger.”
Nathaniel said his father was stabbed in the back three times. His father was left alive for his horse to drag him home.
I wait for his response, my shoulders slumping with every passing second.
Nathaniel’s voice washes over me like a lifeline. “You didn’t kill my father. He didn’t have any burns on his body.”
Warm, gentle hands slide across my cheeks. His thumbs graze my temples and coax me to open my eyes.
“When I walked out of the fog yesterday morning, you didn’t strike first.” His eyes search mine. “The past is complicated. You’re complicated.”
He turns a hard glare at the Queen. “The past can be fabricated when only one person remembers it.”
Imatra recoils. “Are you accusing me of lying?”
“You’re a practiced liar, Imatra. You lured my father here by lying about wanting peace. Why not go farther and wake a sleeping girl to destroy an entire human army for you? Even if it means losing a squadron of your own people. You’re still alive. That means you were prepared.”
At the side, Evander’s focus shifts to the Queen, a darkness entering his eyes. If what Nathaniel is implying is true, then the Queen chose to wake me and willingly risked his mother’s life.
Nathaniel slides one arm around my waist, gripping tightly as he places his other hand on Treble’s neck. It’s the kind of move I make when I’m telling Treble to prepare to fly.
“I came for you, Aura,” he says, brushing a kiss against my cheek. “I don’t intend to fail.”
How can he still believe that I have any goodness inside me now that he knows what I did? Even if the Queen woke me deliberately, my power apparently burned through a thousand humans. How is Nathaniel still so determined to walk the path he chose for himself?
“Enough!” Imatra screams, her features twisting. “If you want to die, then so be it.”
Her thunderbird rears up as she drags at its reins, driving it abruptly to the left and away from us.
Her power over the air breaks and the wind suddenly rushes in.
At the same time, flames rage toward Nathaniel’s back as Nadina and the Solstice fae let their power loose. I jump to my feet, both of my hands shooting out above Nathaniel’s head, my power shrieking through me and bursting across the air. Fire and starlight collide, tearing at the sky. My heartbeat rises with my fear—fighting one Solstice fae is far less daunting than fighting ten. What’s more, my back is vulnerable.
“I need a weapon,” Nathaniel shouts.
“Daggers at my hips. Sword at my shoulder,” I cry.
Remaining low, Nathaniel grabs the weapons, not as practiced as me at peeling them off, freeing them just in time to duck past me and deflect the downward cut of a Dusk fae’s blade. The Dusk fae control animals. They move as one with their thunderbirds, giving them supreme agility in the air, but their only attacking ability is their blades and physical skill. One of them has already jumped off her bird to land on Treble’s neck, viciously swiping at Nathaniel before she leaps off again. Her jump is perfectly timed so she can land in her bird’s saddle as it flies beneath us. Another Dusk fae immediately takes her place.
Nathaniel and I stand back to back, our knees bent to keep our balance as Treble takes control of our flight once more, darting between attacking birds.
The sound of clashing steel is the only indication I have of how the fight at my back is going. The danger for Nathaniel is if he hurts one of the fae—a danger they will no doubt be counting on. If they can force him to cut one of them instead of only deflecting… he’ll die like they want him to.
