The leaders of the various supernatural races did a quick headcount to take stock of who’d made it down—and who hadn’t. With that grim reminder, Kat and I led our half-army that remained through the narrow passage, Merc, Knox, and the others right on our heels. As we walked, I tried not to think about the carnage we’d left behind in the strange pocket of Faerie called the Ether. Or about those who’d likely leapt to their deaths when the portal had closed.
I wondered if some had realized what had happened before they took that fateful plunge—and if they knew it hadn’t been a trap.
“Thinking of all the ways you can kill Mommy?” Kat whispered in my ear. “Or are you having a bad case of déjà vu like I am and waiting for some gnarly creature to jump out of nowhere and tear our heads off with its enormous teeth?”
“Well, I wasn’t until now…”
She tossed her head back and laughed in the face of danger, as only Kat could.
“You needed a distraction.”
“I’m not sure that one was ideal.”
“Unfortunately, fucking one of your boys to take the edge off isn’t really a possibility right now, or I would have suggested it.”
I barked out a laugh and coughed until I caught my breath. She’d caught me off guard with that one, for sure.
Before I could come up with a worthy reply, I saw light in the distance. It grew brighter with every step we took.
“We are nearly there,” Etherian said, as though he’d sensed my thoughts. “Remember what I said. Stay within the barrier.”
“Can they hear us outside of it?”
A rumble that felt a lot like laughter vibrated around us. “I guess we will soon find out…”
“Time for your inside voices, boys and girls,” Kat called out over her shoulder before going deadly quiet herself.
I looked back to where Merc and Knox walked shoulder-to-shoulder, both of them staring at me. The vampire king nodded reassuringly. The double alpha’s eyes flared gold. I turned back around and took a deep breath. I could feel the hum of Faerie’s magic calling to me the closer we got to the exit.
Kat reached over and squeezed my hand. “No matter what happens, Piper, you take that cunt out, got it?” She shot me a sharp look out of the corner of her eye. “At any cost.”
Her grip tightened to the point of discomfort; then she let me go and slipped backward between Merc and Knox to disappear behind them, where Grizz, Reinhardt, and the Originals walked. I tried to ignore her absence and the strange, ominous things it did to my mind, as though it were a premonition of some sort. A glimpse of things to come.
“How close will we be when we emerge?” I whispered to the omnipresent being guiding our quest.
“Not far, from what I feel,” he replied. For once, there was no emotion in his tone, just concentration and a hint of anticipation.
“Good. We don’t have any time to waste.”
“Hungry for the kill, are we, bastard princess?”
Anger swelled in my chest. “Since the day she entered my life.”
“Remember that when she’s trying to kill you,” he replied. “Use it to fuel you.”
“Piper has me to do that.” The irritation in Knox’s tone was plain and strong. “Besides, she’s not the only one with a bone to pick where the royal assholes are concerned.”
“No,” Merc added, the dark tenor of his voice as sexy as it was terrifying, “she is not.”
“Then this should be incredibly enjoyable to watch…”
Just as he finished his sentiment, we reached the end of the corridor. Beyond its open maw was the evergreen of Faerie—my mother’s realm—waiting for us. The sun shone brightly, and the realm teemed with vibrant life. It was everything the Ether was not.
“Time for you to keep up your end of the bargain, bastard princess,” he whispered in my ear.
In front of the opening, the air rippled like a heat mirage. As I moved to leave, it pushed forward in front of me, elongating to create an enclosed passage all its own. It was unnerving to be able to see the land that lay beyond Etherian’s barrier, but not well enough to know what was there—what might be coming. It was a blindness of sorts, the loss of a sense that I needed, and I couldn’t shake how vulnerable it made me feel. I didn’t have the vampires’ or werewolves’ sense of hearing or smell, or the witches’ and warlocks’ magic to rely on. All I had was my connection to a land that I didn’t dare draw upon for fear that it might trigger some kind of warning to my mother.
Everyone in the group was painfully quiet, none of us willing to bet our lives and the mission on Etherian’s ability to contain our voices. So we walked on in silence, packed in close together, waiting for our opportunity to present itself.
And it did so soon enough.
We’d only been trekking along for about fifteen minutes when even I could make out what looked like perfectly aligned objects in the distance. Like rows and rows of trees—or soldiers. I slowed a pace and Merc slammed into me, scooping me up so I wouldn’t eat dirt or cause a pile-up, which would have been a disaster for sure.
“I see them,” he whispered in my ear.
“But I can’t smell anyone,” Knox said softly. “This barrier is blocking me, so I don’t know what they are.”
“And I cannot hear them.”
“Etherian.” My hushed voice seemed to reverberate through the magical cage. “What’s out there?”
“An army,” he replied matter of factly.
“And the royals?”
“No…I don’t believe so, but they will not be far away from their forces. We will need to get past them to find where Larken and Phineas are stationed and take them out. Quickly.”
“Then we should hurry,” Merc replied, setting me back down on my feet.
As we approached the army, it became clear even through the distortion that it was Larken’s crew. Their bright green uniforms were burned into my memory from the last time we’d met. I could only imagine how those that had heard about what I’d done to their fallen brothers would feel about me being so close to them—the revenge they’d seek if given the chance. And this time, my mother would have her husband’s power to help her. I wondered if I would be enough against them both; if our army even stood a chance.
Doubt clouded my mind as we edged past the outer boundary of the legion, Etherian not leaving nearly as much of a buffer between us as I’d have liked. But we were safe in there. We would be all right.
I dared a glance back at Merc to seek reassurance in his eyes. But while I found it in his expression, my foot found a root in the path and stubbed it hard. I flew forward, biting my tongue hard so I wouldn’t cry out—so I wouldn’t draw attention to our hidden entourage. Merc or Knox or someone caught my leg and hauled me backward, but not before my top half hit the ground.
I looked up to see hundreds of royal fey guards and militia, armed to the teeth like they were about to go to war. Their heads turned in eerie unison to stare at me right before I was yanked back into the Ether. But it was clearly too late. The way the fey had all smiled like beautiful wolves who’d trapped a lamb told me all I needed to know.