23. Present Day
23
PRESENT DAY
Caly
“ W e need to speak with my mother before this gets out of hand.”
Eli had been pacing continuously ever since we had arrived in the queen’s chambers. Walter, ever the shifter, had returned to his rat form and escaped the guards, continuing his quest for my heart.
“I would definitely say this is already pretty out of hand,” I mumbled, still feeling the aftereffects of embarrassment at what had happened in the smoke room.
The Seelie guards at the back of the brightly lit room stood as still as statues. Every time I took a step near Eli, they swayed, ready to pounce.
When the guards had swarmed into the smoking room, I had been prepared to be killed on sight. I had been too afraid to look at Eli after what had just happened, assuming he would probably welcome my death by then. In his eyes, it would likely be preferable to being tied to me.
Instead, Eli had run in front of me protectively and, to my amazement, spread his wings to hide my naked body from the guards, allowing me to keep my dignity somewhat while he unbuttoned his mead-splattered shirt and tossed it over his shoulder to me.
Even when the guards had demanded they take me, Eli had taken my hand and walked with me to the queen’s chambers.
I couldn’t help but think everything could have been so much easier had I not made out with the enemy in front of the guards. Though it wouldn’t have changed the fact that they knew I’d not killed Mendax.
“You should leave. If you stay, your mother will think you are a part of this,” I whispered.
“There is nothing to be a part of. You tried to kill the Unseelie prince as ordered and failed. We have been trying to kill him for ages and have all failed. It was foolish of her to think you could kill him without powers anyway. If anyone is to blame, it is her for giving you such an outlandish test of loyalty,” Eli grumbled as he paced in front of a large mahogany desk.
“I don’t think that’s what’s going to be the problem,” I mumbled.
Eli plopped down to his knees in front of my chair, grabbing the armrests and making me jump.
“I’ll kill them—the guards that saw you with him. No one will ever know.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “You and I both know you aren’t going to murder an entire army of innocent Seelie,” I said.
He deflated slightly. “You know, I’m not as heroic as you apparently think. Which is really a shame, ’cause I quite like the thought of being the one who gets to save you,” he said with a small grin.
“I-I’m sorry about what Mendax did to you in there, and I’m sorry you had to see some of that…but I’m not sorry it happened. I know that’s probably not what you want to hear. Do you promise you’re not hurt?” I questioned.
Eli paused a moment before standing. “Not where you can see it.”
With a bang, the double doors slammed open, causing everyone in the room, including the guards, to jump and straighten.
The blond queen strode in with her large monarch wings billowing behind her, more beautiful than any faerie-tale painting I had ever seen.
My heart rate began to rise as it always did when I saw her, while I struggled to swallow the new lump in my throat. I’d only ever seen her wings spread a few times, and none of them were pleasant.
No matter what, I needed to convince her to let me stay until I was a Seelie royal. I had to.
“Your Majesty, I—” I began.
“Is it true?” Queen Saracen slammed her fist into the front of a glass display cabinet behind her desk, shattering the center shelves. The pieces fell to the white marble floor like crushed ice. “Is Tenebris’s son, the Unseelie prince , still alive? And on my side of the veil?” she shouted.
“She didn’t know he was alive. He followed her here—she told me, but I didn’t believe her. It’s my fault—” Eli took a step toward his mother.
“Leave,” Saracen bit out while she stared him down.
“I’d like to stay with Calypso. He tricked and manipulated her. It wasn’t her fault!” Eli tried again.
“Guards,” she called, keeping her scowl on Eli. “Take my son away from the traitor before she poisons his mind more than she already has.”
Eli turned toward the guards as they timidly approached him. His wings snapped out as he took a challenging step toward them. The way he towered over them in height and muscle was almost laughable, especially with the power he exuded with his beautiful wings spread.
How did I always manage to get myself into more and more trouble?
“It’s fine. You should go. Make sure Tarani is okay,” I said softly, still unable to find my voice.
“I suggest you listen, or your fate will be the same as hers,” Saracen said from behind the large desk.
Eli’s gaze volleyed between the two of us before he gave a small nod and walked toward the door. He stopped at its threshold. “Do not hurt her, or you will regret it, Mother,” he stated, not unkindly.
Her white gown rustled as she stood. Her beautiful orange-and-black wings fluttered dangerously.
“Do you think it wise to threaten me, Son?” she challenged.
It felt like even the air in the room stilled.
Eli’s gaze hardened. “I’m not threatening you, Mother. I have tied myself to Calypso. Unless you wish to kill me as well, you will not harm her,” he said matter-of-factly.
“I don’t believe you. You would never be so reckless. Look what she’s done!” Saracen’s voice began to grow.
Eli nodded respectfully to his mother and me before stepping out of the room, apparently at ease that he had secured our safety.
The queen gave a nod behind Eli, and the guards filed out behind him.
A prickle of unease tickled my neck—I didn’t like that they had followed him. Something about it was wrong.
The last sentry left, and the doors closed, locking the silence back in place.
“Clever,” Saracen crooned.
“I thought I killed him,” I said flatly. “I stabbed him between the wings. He was in a lifeless ball on the dirt when I left.”
“Clever of you to bond yourself to the dark prince and tie yourself to the prince of light… Who could hurt you now?” she singsonged, ignoring my previous statement.
“Neither one of those were my choice!” I shouted, feeling the anger rise up.
The queen’s eyes dropped to the tips of my fingers, where they had started turning black as lines of smoke caressed my knuckles.
She fluttered her wings in an annoyed fashion, pushing the smoke away from her.
“You have two choices now,” she stated, still focusing on my hands. “You will either reattempt your task of loyalty and finish the job, or you will be sent to Malvar with the other traitors, where you will pay with eternal suffering for your lies and betrayal. Commander Von is in charge over there. You remember him of course.”
Shudders wracked my body hearing his name again. “No,” I replied softly.
“No?” She squinted until her pretty face looked like a raisin.
“That’s right—no. Had you actually wanted me to succeed and complete my hit on Mendax, you would have told me what I was stepping into. Empower me as an official Seelie right now, and I will do anything you ask of me, Saracen.”
She stared at me a moment before sitting back down at her desk. Her crinkled-up expression softened slightly under the glow of the ceiling.
“ No one understands the ease with which one can fall in love with the Unseelie royals like I do,” she said. Widening her arms in a stretch, she let a bit of tension roll off her shoulders, tucking her wings away as she looked around the room, as if checking for someone. “You, my dear, will never have the title of a Seelie royal now. Even as a child, you were too devious for your own good. I think it’s time you learned some things about our relationship, for after today, I will never see you again.”
No.
No. Don’t panic and do something stupid. Things could still change. Whatever it is can always change. I can still become a Seelie royal. I can marry Eli.
I was filtering my thoughts and actions so microscopically, it was like time stood still for a moment, like some other version of me was watching.
Fiercely needing comfort, my fingers trembled around my sister’s ashes.
“I was madly in love with Mendax’s father,” the queen continued.
“King Thanes,” I whispered, feeling foolish. The multitude of puzzle pieces began to fall into place, answering decades-long questions.
“Never in your life, Calypso, have you seen a pair more in love.” She smiled softly as she spoke.
Something in her eyes turned my stomach. “What about your husband? Eli’s father?” I asked wearily. The strange glassiness in her eyes warned me to tread carefully.
Her smile faltered, and she stared off into the empty corner. “She killed him,” she whispered. “Because of Mendax’s mother, I lost everything.”
“You forget who you converse with, my queen. You’ve already told me it was your hand that ended King Felix’s life,” I reminded her.
“You will kill Queen Tenebris, the Unseelie queen, or you will be killed,” she stated sharply.
“I—you can’t kill me; I’m tied to Eli. And I can’t kill Tenebris.” I gripped the chair.
“What is a loyalty task if it doesn’t prove one’s loyalty?” she bit out. “You want to be a Seelie royal, then kill Tenebris.”
“You know I can’t kill a Smoke Slayer. I’ve already proven that. But I know you well enough to believe that even you wouldn’t hurt your son,” I said.
She smiled so wide, I saw every one of her beautiful, white teeth. “You think you know me?” she laughed. “Not even my kingdom knows me. You will wish for your death, child. How long have you and the dark prince been working together?”
“We haven’t been working together, Saracen! I thought he was dead! We were bonded?—”
“That explains why you still hold his powers,” she said, nibbling on her lower lip. “It’s a shame they got to you, Calypso, though I can’t say I’m surprised. You were always a monstrous little thing. I loved you like my own child—perhaps more than my own children. An unascended Artemi with no one but me and my son?” A frown pulled at the corners of her mouth. “I had imagined you would be powerful, but I was naive to think that your evil could never be turned on me. I had such hopes for us. Too bad you’ll be of no use to anyone now.”
“You—what?” I thought the faerie mead was mostly out of my system, but I was struggling to make sense of what she was saying. “You don’t mean that. You’re upset with me, and I’m sorry,” I stated firmly. “I messed up, but you can’t just kill me because I couldn’t complete an impossible task! I have done everything you have ever asked of me just so I could be here with you and Eli and become a Seelie royal. You can’t take that away because you sent me to kill a fucking Smoke Slayer and I failed!” I shouted. “Family doesn’t do things like that.”
“I am not your family, Calypso,” Saracen said. “Your family is dead. Their remains disintegrated into the soil after the crash. You have nothing and no one, and do you know why? Because fate gifted me an opportunity, and I took it. I killed your little human family,” she said.
I was trembling. Hearing her words made my insides fill with explosive, hair-trigger anger. “Why did you have to kill them? Why not just steal me away?”
Flashes of Saracen telling me about the accident played like a movie in my mind. The way her vibrant wings fluttered slowly behind her. How much it hurt my ears and heart when I hugged her. The knit purple hat with the cartoon ninjas I wore.
I remembered everything.
“How else was I going to get you pliable and willing? I’m no imbecile; take a powerful creature and use them against their will, and they will hate you, turning on you the moment their leash slips.” Saracen straightened proudly. “Take that same powerful creature and become the only one they rely on for everything, craft and knead their little clay mind until they love and cherish you, and they will do anything for you—including dominating all the realms.”
Her words struck a thousand nerves as they poured into my head. I was going to be sick. I couldn’t let everything fall apart like this. Not when I was so close!
“Send me to Moirai with the Ascendants. Let them deal with me!” I tried.
“You would have made Thanes’s and my dreams a reality. You could have salvaged what was lost to the Fallen.” She turned and ran her finger over the books on the shelves to the right of her desk. “You could have been everything.”
“You’re upset with me, and I understand, but the plan isn’t over. I’m not working with the Unseelie. I-I can still take them out!” I cried, scrambling to fix things. In the end, I would destroy anything and anyone if I had to.
“The plan is over.” She nodded. “It has been for a while. I was just too set in my ways to realize that. I am old and tired. The time for a new generation is upon Seelie. Tarani will take the throne as queen. She has the guile needed. We will exist within our own realm. I’ve decided after all these years, I am without the need of an Artemi weapon.”
Tears blurred my eyes as angry panic surged through me, threatening to still the mangled heart in my chest. I threw myself to the ground at Saracen’s feet with a frustrated scream while salty tears ran down my cheeks..
“She screamed, you know.…your mother. She sounded a lot like you,” she whispered.
I couldn’t take any more of this.
“I remember bracing myself to see what horrifying wrath your father would send down upon me for killing his lover and child.” Her smile widened as her head canted to the side. “I suppose that’s foolish though. Why would he care? His Artemi blood only went to you, and he obviously didn’t want you either. Though I suppose without your full heart, there’s nothing he can do anyway.”
She patted my head like a dog before walking to a shelf and running her fingers over the old leather tomes there.
My hand instinctively skated over my hip for my karambit, only to graze bare skin—I was still wearing only a tank top and underwear. How could I kill her?
I knew she was stronger than she looked. All fae were.
If my training had taught me anything, it was that you never struck out of impulse or outrage.
“Your head should be so full of planning and calculating, you don’t have space in there for emotions.” Commander Von’s shrill voice crawled through my head.
I would do anything to never see that fae ever again. I had been ten when he arrived in the human realm to begin my training. I was also ten the first time he broke my nose and fed me the fae we had killed for dinner.
“Don’t look at me like that. You would have done the same to get back at your enemy. I guarantee you would have. How else was I to get my revenge on Tenebris?” She clucked at me.
Sounds muffled. Colors blurred. I backed farther away from the woman.
What could I do now? Even if I abandoned everything, I would be wanted and recognized all across Seelie. The tie to Eli wouldn’t matter now; he had doomed himself from the start.
“You’re worse than I even thought!” I shouted, barely recognizing my voice as everything I’d planned unraveled before my very eyes.
“Says you,” she laughed. “How many kills did you make without a purpose or for training, and guess what?” she whispered with a smile. “You loved doing every one. Your darkness exceeded my every expectation. Except when it came to Mendax, of course. I should have known. You were the perfect little me in every possible way. It’s only fitting that you want Thanes’s son,” she laughed. “Truly, this is my fault for training you so well. You now think you can betray me and join the Unseelie?”
“That’s not what happened!” I screamed.
“You are lucky that you are tied to my son and he may be needed, or you would be dead right now, Artemi or not.”
I looked around for anything I could use for a weapon, but all logic vibrated out of my head with rage.
“You will never get the other half of your heart. It will be destroyed the moment you step foot in Malvar,” she said. “Or maybe I’ll keep it as a reminder on my bookshelves—a conversation piece, if you will. You foolish child, had you not betrayed me, everything in this land could have been yours. You never should have crossed me.”
Standing up, I caught the glint of a letter opener in a cup sitting on her desk.
Her dress swished against itself as she walked over to the corner of her mahogany desk, where a beautiful clear- and frosted-glass chess board sat.
“Let me see Eli,” I said. I needed to tell him everything. He needed to know.
Suddenly the door burst open and the guards poured back in, all circling me this time.
“Goodbye, Calypso. Too bad you didn’t get to tell everyone goodbye.” She tsked, moving her frosted queen on the chessboard. “I’ve taken matters into my own hands. The Unseelie castle is crumbling to dust as we speak. You see, while the future Unseelie king was galivanting around my castle trying to breed with you, I was placing my pawns.” She nodded to the open doors. “Do you know what happens when the opponent leaves their queen unprotected?”
One of the guards stalked toward her carrying a burlap sack, stopping just in front of her. Another small nod from the queen and the armored guard opened the bag, pulling out a large, hairy stump. Pale-green moths scattered, escaping from the burlap.
“They get overtaken, leaving their would-be king an easy target.”
The guard readjusted his grip on the thing, collecting more of the black hair to reveal a beautiful, pale face with icy-blue eyes and red lips.
Queen Tenebris.
The guard held Queen Tenebris’s severed head out at me.
My stomach cramped, and its contents spilled out of my mouth, dribbling down my chin as the taste of acid coated my tongue.
“It wasn’t the Fallen fae that attacked the Unseelie castle, it was you,” I whispered, gripping the wall behind me to steady myself.
“Do you know the best part of being queen?” she asked. “My people believe anything I tell them. The Fallen have long been trying to gain a hold on either of our castles. It was hardly a stretch for everyone to believe it was them. When they find us at Unseelie, we will yet again be saving the day and claiming it as Seelie to keep the evil Fallen fae from gaining control.”
Queen Saracen smiled wide as she grabbed ahold of Tenebris’s bloody head.
I brushed off a tickle on my face and realized the luna moths had flocked to me, all landing on my body as if I were their owner.
“We intercepted the dark prince just prior to departure. There wasn’t much left of his head, but we grabbed this.” The guard shuffled to dig through the burlap sack.
His meaty hands landed on their prize and he lifted out a chain.
A chain with my tooth attached to it.
“Noooo!” I screamed.
I landed on the floor, but it felt like my heart had dropped further. Agonizing sorrow took hold of me while I struggled to breathe. My mind eventually defaulted to an all-too-familiar numbness as I stared at the dangling tooth— my dangling tooth.
“Fantastic. I want whatever is left of his head. Tell Victor to make a display by the throne so everyone can see the Smoke Slayers are all gone for good—well almost,” she said, looking at me with a smile. “Take her to Malvar.”
The guards stalked to where I had backed myself into a corner. I let them take me without a struggle, scenes from my childhood and my time in Unseelie playing over and over again as I stared at the woman I had fought so hard to please all these years for nothing. Nothing.
One of the guards roughly gripped my bare ass as they shoved me out the door. I didn’t care.
Tenebris was dead. Mendax was dead. My mother was dead, Adrianna was dead, soon I would be dead.
Eli would be dead too.
I wasn’t an official Seelie, and my time was running out. I wouldn’t get my heart back in time.
I had nothing.
I was nothing.