by Skye Horn
“Everything happens for a reason, Thea. We will figure this out.”
She swallowed back her argument and looked at Haven with the smallest spark of hope. “Did Iris have any ideas?”
Haven hesitated, earning both Thea and Kieran’s attention.
“What is it?” Kieran asked. “Do they have a plan for how we can get to Ainé?”
“Well, Amara volunteered to not only be the one who takes Ainé’s place, but also to perform the spell that opens the portal. As long as Thea gives her blood willingly, the spell should work the same way as it did for Malachi.”
“But what happens after that?” Thea asked. “What if Ainé isn’t on our side, or if she’s angry that I’m not there like she asked? We can’t just send Amara in alone…”
Thea’s mind was racing. The council would expect every one of her friends at the wedding ceremony, and she couldn’t afford to raise suspicion.
“What if I go with her?” Kieran said, lifting an eyebrow.
“That was what Iris suggested,” Haven agreed. “You and Amara would go after Ainé while Thea and Declan stalled the wedding for as long as possible.”
“How in the world am I supposed to stall my own wedding?” Thea asked, frowning as she turned her attention from Haven to Kieran. “And even if I did, do you think Ainé is going to come tell the council I don’t have to marry Declan? Who knows what will happen when we let her out! You and Amara can’t do that alone.”
“What other choice do we have, Thea?” Kieran asked, looking at her with sympathy, but she was back to being angry with all of them. This was supposed to be her sacrifice to make. It had taken everything in her to allow Amara to take Ainé’s place, but now to risk both Amara and Kieran’s lives while she and the rest of their companions were stuck playing dress-up with the royals? This was getting out of hand.
“Thea, think about it,” Haven said, trying to calm her down. “If Kieran and Amara get Ainé out, the council will be so happy that they won’t even care if you marry Declan—just like we originally planned. You won’t need an alliance if you have the Goddess on your side.”
“And what if she isn’t on our side, Haven?” Thea demanded.
“Then we know we made a mistake trusting her,” Kieran said. “That part of the plan hasn’t changed. We don’t know whom we can trust, but so far, it seems like Morrigan is the one who has been telling us the truth. Don’t you want to know why?”
It was then that Thea remembered something she and Morrigan had spoken about, something that had seemed so important at the time. Why had she forgotten? She’d been so caught up in everything going on that it had completely slipped her mind.
“Son of Darkness,” she said suddenly and watched Kieran go as still as a statue. “She called you a Son of Darkness. She said that unless a soul bond is broken, darkness will consume you.”
“When did you…? How did you…?” Kieran stared at Thea.
Anger flared within her. “You knew! And you weren’t even going to tell me, were you?”
“Whoa…guys—” Haven said, but Thea ignored her and glared at Kieran.
“I don’t know what it means, Thea, but that’s even more reason for me to talk to both Ainé and Morrigan. If I’m under some curse, the only way to break it is either break a soul bond, which we know is impossible, or convince a Goddess to break it for me.”
“Kieran, you can’t make deals with them!” Thea snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Are you really going to lecture me on making deals?” He scowled.
“GUYS!” Haven yelled.
“WHAT!?” They both looked at her furiously. She had both hands on her hips and was red in the face.
“Can we please deal with one issue at a time?”
“Kieran isn’t going into that prison realm without me,” Thea stated, stomping her foot into the dirt. She felt ridiculous, but there was no taking it back—even if she did look like a child throwing a temper tantrum.
“If it’s the only chance we have at stopping this wedding, I most definitely am,” Kieran retorted.
Haven seemed to be counting the seconds to calm her temper.
“You two are the most stubborn Fae I’ve ever met! I swear it’s amazing you haven’t killed each other yet.”
They all glared at one another.
Thea wanted to believe there was a way to stop the wedding, but this felt wrong. If something happened to either Kieran or Amara, it would be her fault for not being there to help. Sure, they’d both proven themselves as powerful Fae—trained soldiers—but her magic was the leverage they needed. She couldn’t just ignore that and wait around for them to hopefully save the day, stop her wedding, and earn the Goddess’ trust.
“Thea, we need to open that portal and you can’t exactly do it in your wedding dress,” Haven said slowly, as if considering each word carefully. “If Kieran and Amara are willing to venture into the unknown while the rest of us try to stall the wedding, then why don’t you let them be the ones to risk their lives for once? Don’t you think you’ve done enough of that?”
Thea wanted to scream, but Kieran had reached for her hand again and was pulling her to face him.
“Let me do this for us, Thea,” he said, cupping her face in his hand. Her entire body trembled and she thought she might break into tears again, but there was nothing left in her to cry. Her eyes were desert-dry. She felt the hopelessness settling over her as she stared into the sea-green eyes of the man she trusted with her life. If anything happened to him, she would not survive. She knew that.
“If you don’t come back, I swear to whatever Goddess hurts you, I will kill her,” she said, biting her lip as she stared up at him. She squared her shoulders, lifting her chin just a little, and settled the tremble in her vocal cords. “I can’t lose you.”
“I won’t tell Amara you didn’t make that same promise about her,” Haven teased, but she was also blinking more than usual.
“I always come back for you. Haven’t you learned that yet?” Kieran grinned, but Thea couldn’t shake the worry she saw behind his gaze. He leaned down to kiss her cheek, throwing one arm over her shoulder and the other arm over Haven’s. “Now… I think it’s time you girls got your first tattoos.”
“Are you sure there is no magical way to do this?” Thea asked, eyeing the archaic-looking needle between the artist’s fingertips. A small hammer was gripped in his opposite hand, giving Thea the urge to walk straight out of the room and never come back. The Fae hardly looked old enough to be in charge of something so permanent.
“I can go first if you want,” Haven suggested, but she looked just as uneasy about the young Fae as Thea felt.
Kieran had already left, claiming he needed to work out the details of their plans with Iris and Amara, and although Thea had wanted nothing more than to request he stay, she’d put on a brave face. That was until the tattoo artist actually showed up.
“No. You wouldn’t even be doing this if it weren’t for me.” Thea sighed, glancing at Haven. “It’s only right that I go first.”
“I will make it as painless as possible, Princess Thea,” the artist said, smiling kindly as he motioned her toward the wooden table at the center of the room. It looked not only uncomfortable, but unsanitary too.
What would her parents say if they saw her now?
The artist had explained upon his arrival that they had a choice of where they wanted the tattoo placed, and Thea had chosen the middle of her upper back, between the base of her neck and her wings. Now, as she lay on the table in front of him with her hair pulled around her shoulder to expose her spine, she wondered about her decision.
“Are you ready?” he asked, and Thea nodded her head, not trusting her voice.
It’s not going to be that bad, she told herself. You’ve been through worse.
And then the first wave of agony rushed down her spine with the initial blow of the hammer against the needle. She groaned, biting down on her tongue until it bled.
“You hair would just cover it if you did that.” Haven laughed, turning her head to look at Thea. “Plus, I like where yours is.”
“I’m just glad your wedding dress won’t rub against it,” Ethel said quietly, setting the tub of ointment aside. “Do you need some as well?” she asked Haven.
“I’m all set. Thanks, though!” Haven replied.
Thea eyed the elegant wedding dress hanging on the door of her wardrobe. She’d been surprised when Lord Brennan had showed up with the dress, explaining that the council had ordered the dressmaker to design it as soon as Thea had departed for Gimmerwich. Thea had needed to bite her inner cheek to keep from exploding with anger at the assumption that they’d made, and could still taste blood in her mouth from it.
The dress was unlike anything Thea would have picked for herself. It was layers of lace that would make the itchiness of her tattoo seem like a minor irritation. However, she would look like a princess while her skin felt as if it were set on fire.
Thea turned her gaze away from the dress, fearing she might be sick if she looked at it for too long, and watched the sun begin to set through her window, listening to the caw of the crows in the evening sky.
Everything inside her wanted to jump out the window and fly away from the miserable days ahead, but there was nothing she could do now. Thea winced as she shifted, feeling the tug of her skin against the already-scabbing wound.
“I hate to do this, but I need to go,” Haven said, looking at Thea guiltily. She stood before Thea could even open her mouth to respond.
“Where in the world could you possibly need to go?” Thea asked, arching of her eyebrow. “It’s not as if you know anyone in this castle.”
“I’m meeting with Declan to discuss some arrangements.” Haven shrugged, but Thea tilted her head in response.
Why would Haven and Declan have any arrangements to discuss? As far as Thea knew, the two had nothing in common. Haven had lived in a town near Gimmerwich, but was not technically one of its citizens—a fact she’d learned during their joint tattoo session. So she hadn’t been locked away all these years like Declan had. She stared at Haven, waiting for an explanation, but her friend only gave her a not-so-innocent smile. “Just let it go, Princess. I’m not going to tell you.”
Thea frowned as Haven headed toward the door. She wanted to get up and go after her, demanding to know what the secret was, but she controlled herself, settling on a small glare of disapproval instead.
“What am I supposed to do?” Thea asked, trying to disguise her shallow bewilderment about the exclusion. Kieran was off on whatever business he needed to attend with Amara and Iris, Haven was disappearing with Declan, and by the look in Ethel’s eyes—
“Don’t you dare,” Thea warned, staring at Ethel with disbelief.
“I promised I’d meet Mica!” Ethel said as her cheeks tinted pink. “I’m sorry.”
“We have two days before we need to literally save the world, and you are all ditching me?” Thea said in horror.
“It’s not that we’re ditching you,” Haven mused. “We just have things that need attended to. Plus, have you ever thought that maybe you should get some sleep? You won’t want those bags under your eyes on your wedding day.”
Thea tossed a pillow from her bed as hard as she could toward the door where Haven stood, but her friend caught it easily with a smirk.
“I hate you both,” Thea groaned, lying back onto her bed.
“You’ll get over it,” Haven laughed and opened the bedroom door. “Now, really, get some sleep. Come on, Ethel. Declan and Mica are sharing a room.”
Thea shot another pillow toward the door with a frown, just missing both Ethel and Haven as they disappeared from the bedroom, leaving her alone with her misery.
Chapter 29
Callused fingertips trailed Thea’s spine to the curve of her lower back as lips pressed against the hollow base of her neck. She arched her back into him, trembling when a low growl reverberated against her collarbone, caressing her skin with fiery breath.
“Kieran,” she breathed, but when he pulled back, she screamed.
His eyes were soulless depths of darkness. They devoured her as he smirked, gripping her arms with bloodstained fingers.
“Don’t fight me, Princess.”
Then she awoke in a pool of her own sweat.
“You were either having a really good dream, or a really bad one,” Haven mused from her perched spot on Thea’s windowsill. The sky outside was still dark, but Thea knew daylight approached if Haven was in her bedroom, fully suited in her newest armor, which had been marked with the seal of Ivandor. There wasn’t a single strand of her perfect blond hair out of place, and she even seemed to have had time to do her makeup.
Thea thought she might be sick at how put-together her friend looked.
“Really bad dream,” she groaned, pulling the pillow over her face in hopes that maybe she could suffocate herself and get out of what the day ahead of her held.
The mattress shifted as Haven sat beside her on the bed, but Thea didn’t move the pillow. She’d hardly seen Haven since she’d left to meet Declan two nights earlier. The only time she’d managed to grace Thea with her presence was to bring her a piece of chocolate from the village. Despite being furious that Haven had been exploring Ivandor while she was holed up in her room, Thea had truly enjoyed that piece of chocolate later in the night. She’d just never admit that fact to Haven.
It wasn’t that anyone was physically locking her in her bedroom, but the lords of her High Council had insisted she remain there—probably afraid she’d run away before the ceremony—and Iris had claimed that she and the others had everything else under control. It made Thea’s blood boil.
“The same as before?” Haven asked, but Thea only grunted her response. She didn’t want to talk about her recurring dream. The one that started beautifully and ended in horror.
In fact, all she wanted to do was bury herself beneath the covers and sob.
“I got you a present,” Haven said quietly, tugging on the pillow Thea hid beneath, but not removing it.
Thea folded the pillow to the side and looked at Haven with a raised eyebrow. “The plan is for Kieran to return with Ainé before I marry Declan. So you really didn’t need to get me a wedding gift.”
Thea knew that the possibility of Kieran not getting back in time to stop the wedding was high. And then, there was the chance that Ainé would be angry Thea hadn’t been the one who showed up to free her… but they had no other choice. She could only pray that the Goddess would be forgiving and that Kieran wouldn’t be late.
“It’s a coronation gift,” Haven clarified, walking toward the wardrobe where she’d apparently hid the gift while Thea slept. “Remember? The whole reason I’m here before the birds are even awake dressed like this?”
Haven wiggled her eyebrows at Thea as she pulled a large bag from the wardrobe. Thea wondered how it had even fit inside to begin with as Haven dropped it on the bed beside her. Sighing in defeat, Thea propped herself up onto her elbows to look more closely at the package.
She hadn’t forgotten about the coronation. The butterflies in her stomach were enough to be a constant reminder. The High Council would crown her Queen of Ivandor today, just after the break of dawn. Then, her wedding would be at midday—the most powerful time of the Summer Solstice. While Thea would be stressing over Kieran and Amara’s safety in the prison realm and whether or not Ainé would help them, the rest of the village would be enjoying the Midsummer Festival to celebrate the coronation and matrimony of their queen and king.
Typical that the rest of the world would feel happy while Thea sacrificed everything
for them, she thought bitterly.
“Just open it,” Haven said excitedly, and Thea did her best to bury the depressing thoughts.
Haven appeared to hold her breath as Thea untied the string that held the brown paper packaging together and let it fall aside to reveal a beautiful carved ivory bow within. Beside it was a quiver of arrows that made Thea’s eyes grow wide.
“How did you afford this?” Thea asked in awe of the intricate detail sculpted into the ivory bow. A dragon had been carved into it to represent Thea’s family. She traced her fingers down its tail until she found the bushel of thistles exactly where she’d expect it to be.
“We all have our secrets,” Haven smirked, and Thea recalled the pouch of coins Haven had carried when they’d first met. Perhaps she’d been wrong to assume her friend was penniless. Haven was a skilled soldier who’d made her money making fools of men in the street. Maybe she’d saved it up, but either way, a gift like this would have cost her far more than a pouch of coins. Thea also realized this must have been what Haven had been so secretive about the past couple of days.
Had Declan helped her acquire such an intricate weapon?
“And before you say anything about not being able to accept such an awesome gift, realize that I’m doing this as much for you as I am for myself,” Haven said.
Thea tilted her head, as if to say, “And how is that?”
“If the plan goes to hell today, you’re going to need more than a few guards to protect you.”
Haven’s usual teasing tone was replaced by a look of complete seriousness, and Thea knew she was right. There were many things that could go wrong with their plan today, but the scariest one of all was Ainé’s anger.
