Chapter 37
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
W e have a date. At last, after all my spying and sneaking around and all their plotting and scheming, we have finally decided when the heist is happening. During the grand ball that the Icehearts are hosting. Which is now only four days away.
Both anticipation and dread pulse through my veins as I sneak down the deserted street.
For weeks, I have felt as if I have all the time in the world to do this. To get it right. To think things through before I make any big decisions. And now, I’m suddenly out of time. In four days, the heist is happening. In four days, I’m escaping with Isera, Alistair, and Lavendera. In four days, I will destroy everything that Draven is working for and then leave him to be tortured by the Icehearts.
A cold hand grips my heart, squeezing hard.
But there is no other way. We need to do this during the ball, because it’s the only time when all the clan leaders, as well as Draven and the Icehearts, will all be occupied elsewhere. No one will be thinking about what the humans in the city are doing. All of their attention will be on each other. It’s the perfect opportunity.
It’s also so dreadfully soon.
Shaking my head, I try to push those uncomfortable feelings aside. I have already decided that I need to stop feeling guilty. That I need to start being a little ruthless. So I force out a determined breath and block out the doubt in my heart as I continue towards Nysara’s house.
Just like last time, the wide street is dark and deserted since it’s the middle of the night. Only the barren trees watch me as I sneak towards the grand house with the dark blue door. When I pass her neighbor’s house, I stop for a second and scan the windows. The last thing I need is him showing up again. Especially tonight.
But no candles are burning in the windows, so I hurry past his house and towards the gate in the low stone wall around Nysara’s property. It swings open on silent hinges as I sneak through.
The back of my neck prickles. My heart leaps, and I quickly cast a glance over my shoulder. But Draven isn’t there. He left our bedroom an hour ago, sneaking out to no doubt hunt the Red Hand while he thought I was sleeping. Which, admittedly, means that he is most likely somewhere here in the city. But I seriously doubt that he would be searching for the Red Hand in a fancy neighborhood like Ember Hill.
Still, I scan the empty street behind me twice more before I return my gaze to the house ahead.
Shaking my head, I skulk along the path and towards Nysara’s front door. I don’t know what it is about this street, this whole place, but I somehow always feel as if I’m being watched.
While I knock on Nysara’s carved wooden door, I can’t help but wonder if that is because of Nysara herself. She said that her mission here is to spy on the dragon shifters, so it wouldn’t surprise me if she has some kind of secret Unseelie power set up over this street.
Candlelight flickers to life in the same upstairs window as last time. I watch as it moves from room to room before it reaches the hallway. Then the door is opened and a blond dragon shifter looks out at me in confusion.
The moment her blue eyes lock on my face, that fake confusion disappears and a sly feline smile spreads across her lips instead. However, she doesn’t drop her glamour.
“Well, do you have a date?” she asks, getting straight to the point.
“Yes,” I reply. “During the ball in four days.”
She raises her eyebrows at me. “Which just so happens to be the exact same day and time that the human resistance will pull off their heist.” She gives me a knowing smile. “I’m sure that’s no coincidence.”
My heart jerks, and I blink at her in shock. “How did you know that?”
“I’ve already told you. It’s my job to know what is happening in this city.”
“Fair enough. We will be using a secret tunnel to get in and out. It leads to the east side of the mountain. Is there any chance that you could meet us there?”
“No.” She raises her chin and looks down at me. “If you want my help, you have to come to me.”
Disappointment washes over me. Though I can’t say that I’m surprised. During our brief interactions, I’ve gotten the sense that Nysara is an incredibly proud woman. Still, it was worth a shot. Getting four fae across the city unseen after the heist won’t be easy. But we apparently don’t have much of a choice.
“Fine,” I reply. “We’ll come to you.”
She gives me another one of those cat-like smiles. “Good luck.”
Then she shuts the door in my face.
I shake my head at the dark blue door and the Unseelie fae in disguise who is now heading back to her bedroom. She might be strange, and a little rude, but we will never make it out of Frostfell without her help.
After giving her a nod that she can’t see, I turn back towards the street.
And nearly leap out of my skin.
For one single second, I swear that I see a person standing behind me. But once the sudden panic has stopped screaming in my mind, I realize that it’s only a cluster of branches from the thick tree by the window.
Tilting my head up, I shoot a glare up towards Nysara’s bedroom. I swear I can almost hear her laughing at me. With a huff, I shake my head again. I really wonder what other abilities this odd Unseelie woman has.
As I hurry back to the street, I amend that statement.
I really wonder what other abilities all Unseelie fae have. Since we have been cut off from the rest of the world for so long, I have no idea what the Unseelie Court is like. They might wield some kind of powers or possess abilities that we used to have too before the dragon shifters took over and erased our history. Abilities that they could teach us again. They might be able to help us recover some of the power that we have lost, which will be crucial if we’re going to free our court.
A cold fall wind whirls down the street. I pull the hood of my cloak more firmly around my face as I start weaving my way through the city. And every time I pass any humans, I manipulate their emotions. I increase their anger and frustration and determination, making them furious and bold. Fanning the flames of rebellion.
And while I work, I let my mind churn, because this visit to Nysara and her little trick with the tree have given me an idea.
I didn’t really have much of a plan after the escape, apart from somehow getting word to the Seelie Court about what is happening out here. But now I’m starting to think that the best course of action would be to make my way to the Unseelie Court.
Nysara said that the Unseelie Court doesn’t get involved in other people’s problems, so I doubt I will be able to convince them to help us fight the dragon shifters. If they had been inclined to do so, they would’ve done it millennia ago. But they might still be able to teach us things so that we can fight the dragon shifters on our own. Not only teach us about magic or whatever other powers we fae might have, but also about our history and what the political situation is like across the rest of the continent. There might even be others who?—
I stop dead in the middle of the street as a memory hits me like a lightning bolt.
A memory of a creature shaped like a woman but made of the woods, and her sharp voice as she hissed two sentences at me.
You hate the dragon shifters. We hate them more.
The dryads.
Mabona’s tits, we might be able to get the dryads to help us!
A sudden burst of excitement explodes through my chest. And for the first time in a long time, I feel hope. Hope that we might actually win. If I can get the Unseelie Court to teach me and the dryads to help me fight, we might actually stand a chance against the Iceheart Dynasty.
As I start walking again, I let a wicked grin spread across my mouth.
In the taverns I pass, humans, who are still refusing to work for the dragon shifters, are drowning their rage and resentment in alcohol. I increase those emotions, turning them into wildfires. Angry voices spill out from the windows. Human voices demanding an end to oppression. Declaring that this is their city. That they are the silent majority. That they need to stop being silent. That they need to resist. To fight back. I keep pouring my magic into them all as I pass, until the emotions are so strong that I can almost see them burning in the darkness.
That smile on my mouth turns vicious.
I can feel it with every step. This entire city is on the brink of war. A furious uprising bubbles like acid among the whole human population. All it needs is one spark. One person to light a match, and then this entire city will go up in flames.
This heist in four days will be the event that pushes them all across the final line.
And then I will be that spark.