A craving.
“Think of the Unseelie Court when you step through,” I told the vampire behind me, realizing that he had probably never used a Door before. “You don’t need to know what a place looks like. You just need to express your desire to get there.”
“Since when did you become an expert on interdimensional travel?” Laurie asked the moment I stepped into the dirt passageway.
I was surprised he’d heard me, and I coughed to hide my reaction. I didn’t know how to answer, or maybe I just didn’t want to. But I needed to say something; Laurie was too smart for his own good, and any sign of hesitation would pique his interest more. “Uh…” I started.
Luck was on my side, because Gil appeared a moment later. Light from distant torches flickered over his angular face. The vampire looked around us instantly, his nostrils flaring. Within seconds, fear came off him in waves. He could sense them—the fae. Don’t worry, I’ve been there, I wanted to say. It had only been earlier this year I entered the Unseelie Court for the first time, too. It was thanks to that visit I’d bear the marks of a cat o’ nine tails for the rest of my life.
I realized Gil might not find this comforting, so I tried a reassuring smile instead. He gave me a look that said I hadn’t succeeded. His brown eyes were still dilated, I noted with a pang of worry. We really needed to get him to Adam.
Laurie had already started down the tunnel, and as soon I realized this, I jolted into motion. It was too narrow for all three of us, but Gil filled the space at my side again. For his sake, I forced my own dread into a dark, secret place he couldn’t reach from the bond. For a few minutes, I focused solely on Laurie, who walked with an urgency he hadn’t shown before.
Collith is here. The thought came from nowhere, and I almost stumbled. But it was true—far, far below our feet, the faerie king Laurie and I had both loved and been betrayed by sat in a dungeon. Considering Collith had the ability to sift, the cell was either bespelled or they’d put him in chains drenched with holy water. This was the Unseelie Court, so my bet was on the latter.
“What happens now?” Gil asked, keeping his voice low. There was something about this place that instinctively made you want to whisper. To avoid detection of the creatures lurking in the dark.
Pushing Collith’s face out of my head, I cleared my throat and spoke at a normal volume. “Word will reach Viessa in a minute or two. She’ll either meet us in the tunnels or order her Guardians to escort us to the throne room. It all depends on how she decides to play it.”
“Play what?”
“The game.” I said this with a rueful smile, thinking of a time when I hadn’t been quite so good at it. Something in Gil’s expression made my smile diminish. “What’s wrong?”
“You mean, besides that we’re surrounded by vicious, incredibly powerful faeries? I’m just… coming to terms with it. The fact that this is my new reality. A couple days ago, I was sitting on my stool at the stop, tattooing a skull on some guy’s shoulder.” There was a wistful twist to his lips as Gil refocused on me. His eyes were clearer now, and when I saw that, some of the pressure in my chest eased. Talking about his old life helps, I thought. I remembered a beat too late that Gil might be able to hear it. Would he see my fear as mistrust? What if discovering my doubts fed his own, and he lost control because of it?
Fortunately, Gil was so preoccupied with his own thoughts that he didn’t hear mine. I felt him misinterpret my silence as awkwardness, probably because I’d already displayed it earlier. The vampire shrugged and added, “It makes me wonder if I was wrong about Him, after all, and maybe He does take an interest in us. Manipulate us. Because I refuse to believe my luck is this shitty.”
My nose wrinkled. “You really think God instrumented it so we’d meet the Rat King?”
For a moment, I thought I saw a glimmer of Gil’s crooked smile. “Yeah, you’re right. Probably not,” he admitted.
I was about to laugh when his expression shifted again, this time to one of concentration. I followed Gil’s gaze down the tunnel and instantly spotted the figures that he must’ve sensed—there were three of them. Torches flickered on both sides of the tunnel and shone upon their unnerving beauty. I didn’t hold back a resigned sigh at the sight of Nuvian. He stood where the path widened, flanked by two Guardians I’d never met. Both of them had unsheathed their swords, and the glass-like edges shimmered in the firelight. Nuvian’s yellow dreadlocks hung free and framed his sharp face.
Laurie had halted a safe distance away. I came up behind him and stood so close I could’ve rested my hand on his back… then I caught a whiff of the smell stuck to his clothes, and the temptation to touch Laurie evaporated.
“Miss Sworn,” the queen’s Right Hand said, reclaiming my attention.
To faeries like him, dropping someone’s title was an insult. I pretended to gasp, and my hand flew to my chest. “Nuvian. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”
“We haven’t received a formal invitation from Her Majesty,” Laurie interjected, his gaze darting downward before smoothly rising back to Nuvian’s. He’d seen the Guardian touch the hilt of his sword, too. “But we come with no ill will toward this Court. We simply seek an audience with Queen Viessa.”
“You seek to start a war,” the other faerie said, his remote expression at odds with the fury in his eyes. “Do you think we’re completely cut off from the outside world?”
“Yes,” I answered flatly.
Laurie rushed to speak again, but the corners of his mouth were tilted upward, and I knew that he was enjoying this. “So you’ve heard that I hosted Lady Sworn at the Seelie Court tonight, what of it?” he questioned. “That doesn’t make her your enemy. She’s still unclaimed. A sovereign nation, as it were.”
Nuvian’s nostrils flared now. “I will not have the bloodline heads questioning Queen Viessa’s loyalty to this Court. Your presence will cast doubt upon her, not to mention what the presence of a vampire will do.”
He glanced at Gil long enough to show a flash of disdain and hostility. Only a promise stopped me from bringing the faerie to his knees. For whatever it’s worth, you have my promise that I will never use my abilities on you again, I’d once told him. The words echoed through my head as I strove for control. Gil’s side of the bond was dim and quiet. Knowing Nuvian’s comment hadn’t hit its mark helped me control the dark power rumbling inside.
After a few seconds I said, raising my eyebrows, “You better let your queen decide that for herself, Nuvs. I may not know her as well as you do, but I do think Viessa would be unhappy to find out you turned her ally away. Her very powerful ally.”
Tension in the tunnel thickened. If Nuvian had hated me before, there was no word for the intensity of his loathing now. He knew we had him. The fae were brutal, at times even gruesome, but they followed the rules when it came to politics. Even Laurie.
As we waited for his response, the seconds thudding in my chest like a countdown, I watched a crafty gleam enter Nuvian’s eyes. And I knew, before he opened his mouth, that I wouldn’t like what came out of it.
Then Nuvian threw me off guard even more by saying, “Forgive me. You’re right, of course. We should go without delay. Queen Viessa is in the throne room.”