Then Tabitha launched off the roof. Collith fell away.
And I swam amongst the stars.
Soaring over Munich on the back of a dragon was an experience I’d never forget.
Still holding onto Laurie’s waist, I leaned over Tabitha as far as I dared, peering at the network of lights below. She didn’t take us far—only a few neighborhoods, really, but I committed every moment to memory. Secretly I hoped I’d get some pictures of them, too. Even if they were likely to be fuzzy.
Tomorrow morning, human tabloids would be full of articles and headlines about the dragon hoax. They’d already been tipped off by a source that was highly respected, according to Laurie. It was the only solution we could think of if plan B had become reality.
Worth the risk, I thought.
All-too soon, Tabitha slowed and hovered over the house we’d first arrived in. She couldn’t land, I realized, peering down again. She was just too big.
So the dragon lowered her massive body toward the roof, her claws leaving marks on the shingles. The whole structure was slanted, making it impossible to linger and thank my rescuer. I jumped down, clinging to a drainpipe, and hauled myself gracelessly through a window. Tabitha thrust herself back toward the sky, and once she’d disappeared from sight, I went in search of Laurie.
He had already sifted inside, of course. We faced each other outside the Door, and I gave him a weary smile. “No need to walk back with me. Finn is waiting on the other side.”
“Stay with me tonight,” Laurie said. His voice was thick, laced with sex and promise. It made heat curl in my stomach, and just like that, I was feeling awake again.
Then I remembered the comment he’d made earlier. No one can doubt that you two have reconciled. I’d just had sex with Collith in an opera box—I still smelled like him. Jumping into bed with Laurie immediately afterward didn’t feel right, regardless of where I stood with each of them.
Unsure what to say, I hesitated. The invitation floated in the air between us. “Laurie, I…”
He saw the denial in my eyes and smiled. “Don’t worry. I may be a fool, but I’m not a blind fool. I knew we had a long road ahead of us.”
“How could you possibly know something like that? Do you have a time-traveling faerie in your basement, too?” I asked. It was meant to come out in a joking way, but my voice betrayed me by wavering. Suddenly I wanted to tell Laurie the truth.
“No. It’s just obvious to anyone who cares to see it that you’re in love with Collith Sylvyre.”
I didn’t respond, mostly because I was tired, but also because it was far more complicated than that. Especially after the painful realization I’d had tonight. It felt like that thorn in my heart slid deeper as I forced myself to say, “Good night, Laurie.”
He winked. “See you in your dreams.”
I didn’t respond. The truth was, I wouldn’t be seeing Laurie in my dreams, because someone else was already waiting for me there.
Then Laurie sifted, off to perform his tricks and schemes in some other part of the world. Hugging myself, I turned toward the Door. Something collided against my arm—there was an object in my fingers that hadn’t been there before.
Looking down, I somehow wasn’t surprised to discover I held a black rose.
CHAPTER THIRTY
They’d all waited up for me.
When I stepped into the loft, it was bright and busy. The counters were covered in fresh cookies. Gil closed the door to the oven, wearing one of Emma’s flowered aprons, and there was a streak of flour on his chin. Emma herself stirred a bowl of cookie dough, a cocktail resting on the island in front of her. Finn stood on the old woman’s other side, in his wolf form, watching her spoon with bright-eyed interest. Hello batted at the werewolf’s tail, which flicked back and forth against the floor. Lyari even sat on the couch, flipping through one of Emma’s Cosmopolitan magazines with a baffled look on her face. I hid a smile and hung my coat.
A second later, I turned from the hooks on the wall and discovered everyone staring at me.
“Well?” Lyari demanded finally, looking annoyed. “What happened?”
I held up one finger and walked backward, heading for my room. “Hold on.”
Their voices floated through the open doorway as I changed out of my heavy gown, switching chiffon for sweatpants. I did a breathing exercise and then rejoined everyone in the living room.
With the fireplace emitting light and heat, a massive wolf curled up in front of it, and people gathered all around, the scene felt like a postcard.
I ate seven cookies and told my family about how the opera had gone. In a word, disastrous.
The others must’ve sensed that I didn’t want to be alone, because they stayed up for hours after that. Talking, drinking wine, laughing. But eventually each one of them succumbed. Finn fell asleep in front of the dying fire. Emma went to bed next, then Gil left, Lyari sifted back to wherever she was staying, and Damon was the last.
Yawning, my brother squeezed my arm and stood. “Good night, Tuna Fish.”
“Good night,” I murmured back, watching him lumber blearily toward his room, where Matthew had been sleeping all this time. I lingered on the couch, reluctant to do the same. I didn’t want to find any more memories. Didn’t want to face Oliver and all the unanswered questions he represented. I was also trying to avoid thinking about the fact that my period was still late.
Hello landed on my lap, cutting the thought short, and I stroked her back absently. Maybe I should watch a movie, I thought. Then something shifted in the corner of my eye. I looked over without thinking about it, expecting to see a shadow. I almost leaped up from the couch when my eyes met someone else’s.
“Nym,” I breathed, holding a hand against my chest. “You scared me.”
“Someone wants to speak with you,” the faerie said, sounding way too calm about it.
I stood slowly, darting a look around the loft. Hello sprinted into the laundry room, complaining the entire way. “Who, Nym? Who wants to speak with me?”
He gestured toward the window at the end of the hall. “They wait beneath the tree.”
Someone was outside? Wondering if I should summon backup, I hurried over to the glass and peered down. A Guardian of the Unseelie Court stood beneath one of the big trees near the driveway. I recognized him. Omar. The tension didn’t leave my body, though—I had no idea why Viessa would send one of her Guardians. “Stay here,” I commanded Nym.
He watched me silently as I hurried to the door, grabbed my coat, and disappeared into the dark stairwell.
“What do you want?” I called without preamble, stepping into the open. This faerie hadn’t done anything to warrant hostility, I knew, but I didn’t like that he was here. I pulled my coat on and closed the distance between me and Omar.
“Queen Viessa has requested your presence,” he said, his breath swirling through the air.
Moving into the darkness cast by the tree, I frowned. The queen and I hadn’t spoken since Laurie, Gil, and I had broken Collith out of his cell. Was this a trap? Did she want retribution for humiliating her? “Why? Is something going on at Court?” I asked sharply.
Omar shook his head. “No. She’s at her family’s club in Ibiza.”