It wasn’t until my goddess stone began to pulse erratically that I realized what was wrong. My body was too weak from days of abuse and lack of nourishment to channel the ke’tain’s full power this long. Not even the goddess stone could protect me from that much power indefinitely.
I took a step toward the dais and staggered, falling to my knees in the same spot I’d knelt before. I lost my grip on the staff, and it clattered to the floor. The ke’tain slipped from my other hand and rolled to rest against the side of the box Aibel had carried it in.
Behind me, the doors crashed open, and court guards poured into the room. I lifted my head to look at Queen Anwyn, who stood in front of her throne.
“Seize her,” she commanded victoriously.
Two guards grabbed my arms and hauled me to my feet. I stood between them and watched her step down from the dais and stalk toward me. I expected her to strike me, but she leaned in to speak in my ear.
“You should have killed me when you had the chance. Your humanity made you weak, Jesse James. You should know by now that you cannot win against –”
The ceiling exploded. Queen Anwyn screamed, and the guards released me to cover her body as glass rained down on us. I dived for the ke’tain and snatched it up, bracing for the jolt of power that never came. Someone shouted as I got to my feet, but nothing was going to stop me.
The queen saw me coming, and she screamed at the guards to move, but they were too intent on protecting her from the glass to notice the real threat until it was too late.
“You want this?” I shouted at her over the screams and sounds of shattering glass. “Take it.”
“Noooo!” Her eyes went wild in terror, and she bucked her guards off her as she tried in vain to get away from me.
I shoved the ke’tain at her, and her hands came up instinctively to protect her face. The ke’tain touched her palm, and for several seconds, we were fused together until a blast of energy sent me sprawling on my back.
In front of me, Queen Anwyn stood with the ke’tain in her hand and her mouth open in a silent scream as she experienced the power of the goddess. Blue fire poured from the ke’tain and engulfed her body as it had with Bauchan. There was a blinding flash, and the Seelie queen was no more. In her place was the ke’tain lying next to a blackened crown in a pile of ash on the floor.
“Mother!” Rhys cried out.
“Get her,” Conard shouted.
A roar shook the room. I stared up at where the roof used to be and met the eyes of one very pissed off drakkan. He growled, and flames shot from his nose and mouth.
“Gus!” I scrambled to my feet.
He folded his wings and dropped down to the floor, making the guards scatter. I ran to him and threw my arms around one of his forelegs. “I have never been so happy to see you.”
I looked for Rhys and found him and a few others taking cover behind the throne. He stood, staring in shock at what was left of the queen, and the anguish on his face was unbearable. Queen Anwyn had been a horrible, ruthless person, but she had also been the only mother he’d ever known.
“Your Majesty!” Aibel ran around the dais and stopped short at the sight before him.
If he was awake, the others would be soon. It was time to go. I ran to the ke’tain and picked it up. Placing it in the box, I went back to Gus.
“Jesse?” Rhys asked, confused.
“I have to go, but I’ll see you soon,” I said as Gus wrapped his claws around me and rose straight up into the air. There was barely enough room to accommodate his wingspan, but he managed it.
I looked down at the stunned faces below and waved to Rhys as we cleared the roof. I wished I could stay for him, but it wasn’t safe for me here. He gave a tentative wave as Gus flapped his wings, and the room disappeared from sight. I tucked the box in beside me and settled in for the long flight. I was exhausted, but I kept my eyes open long enough to see Gus put Seelie far behind us.
It was dark when we landed on the island. I patted Gus’s leg and headed to the temple. I was in a hurry to return the ke’tain so I could go home to Lukas. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and never let him go.
I didn’t bother to create a glamour before I entered the building. The first thing I saw when I descended the steps to the outer room was the four Unseelie guards posted at the entrance to the altar room. They all watched me approach with similar hostile expressions.
One of the Unseelie guards opened his mouth to speak. The words never came as his eyes glazed over, and he stood as if he had been petrified. I looked at the other three guards, and they were in the same state.
“Hello, Jesse.”
I spun to face Aedhna, who smiled at me like my mom had when I’d gotten acceptance letters to Cornell, Stanford, and Harvard. The pride in her eyes made me feel like there wasn’t anything I couldn’t do.
She held out her hand to me. I took it, and we entered the main room together. I gasped at the sight of Korrigan and at least a dozen others from Unseelie who were frozen like the guards upstairs. Korrigan was hunched in front of the altar, examining the spot where the ke’tain used to sit.
I turned to look at the back wall where the guards on duty always stood. I put a hand over my mouth at the sight of the four cloth-covered bodies on the floor. I had been so happy to leave Seelie that I’d forgotten about the temple guards who had lost their lives here.
We walked to the altar, and she released my hand. I took the ke’tain from the box and placed it on the altar.
“Faerie and your world are healing now.” Aedhna touched my hair like my mother used to, and it made my heart ache. “You have done well, Jesse.”
“What if someone tries to steal it again?” I asked. “Wouldn’t it be better to hide the ke’tain like you did with the others?”
Aedhna touched the stone. “This is more than a source of energy for Faerie. It is an object of worship that helps the people of this world feel connected to each other and to me. It does not matter if they are from Seelie or Unseelie. The ke’tain tells them they are a part of something greater than all of them.”
“We have religious symbols in my world, too,” I said. For the first time, I understood the true power of the ke’tain. Unlike the human world, Faerie had one religion and only one sacred symbol of their faith.
I pointed at the altar. “Unseelie and Seelie created the strongest ward they could around the altar, and someone used a drakkan hide to get past it. Can’t you create one that no one can get through?”
“I cannot.” She smiled at me. “But you can.”
“Me?” I gaped at her. “How could I possibly create a ward like that? My goddess stone helps me create glamours, but it’s the ke’tain that has the real power. It’s only when they’re together that… Oh.”
I pulled the stone from my hair and cupped it in my hand. It had come to me when I needed it, it saved my life during the conversion, and it had done its part to save Faerie. The thought of parting with it saddened me, but I didn’t need it anymore.
I held my hand over the altar and looked at Aedhna for guidance. She nodded in approval, and I placed the stone on the altar beside the ke’tain. Immediately, the stone changed from the color of my hair to iridescent blue to match the ke’tain. Then it slowly sank into the surface of the altar and disappeared.