Chapter 38
Homeward Intruder
First to our meeting spot, I took in the stars, which were at their brightest. There was this magical moment once in the moons’ cycle that the Summer Court called pre-dawn—the moment when all three moons had fallen over the horizon, the sun slept for another half hour, and the stars competed with no one to claim the sky.
It reminded me of the void, how it was like there were so many stars that the sky would lose its tenuous grasp on them and the glittering masses would break free at last.
I sensed Caius’ presence before he stood beside me. “The most peaceful thirty minutes in existence,” he said.
Keeping my gaze skyward, I said, “It reminds me of the void.”
“Every time since, it’s all I can see.”
Swallowing, I looked to him and said, “Thank you for the leathers, Caius. They’re beautiful.”
“They look like they fit well. And you can move in them?”
I shook my head fervently. “Are you kidding? It’s gonna feel like I’m topless when I throw.”
The side of Caius’ eyes crinkled a fraction as a wide smile bloomed on his face.
“Well, that’s a visual none of us are going to be able to get out of our heads anytime soon, Spark,” Artton quipped.
Flushing red, I turned to find the four of them walking down the wide staircase. All laughter was stolen away as we all took each other in—which had me turning scarlet for wholly different reasons.
To see the three summer fae in leathers, fully armed, powers thrumming as if continually tapping into the magical space of threads so they could pluck at will, was something to behold. Like it had when I saw Endymion in the same state, it reminded me of just how lethal the fae were.
Fighting. Battle. Killing. It’s a different side of ourselves we have to tap into. A side I hadn’t seen from them. A side I never wanted to oppose—Tarrin included.
Tarrin was lethal in his own right, having gained back his previous stature. Until then, I’d never realized just how human he looked. Even though he was relatively the same height and carried more bulk than his male counterparts, he was a warrior, but they… they were predators.
I noted then how Tarrin looked at me like I looked at the towering fae in front of me, and I realized that it wasn’t just my fae counterparts that looked that way, but that I was now a predator among them, because I was fae.
How jarring it must have been for him to see me this way.
No longer the doe-eyed girl in love wearing skirts and playing possum for Thaddeus, but something more. Something lethal.
“Do you like them?” Kaelun broke the silence, practically brimming with excitement.
“The leathers?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’ve known forever, but Uncle Artton said he’d demote me to mess hall janitor for”—he threw up air quotes with his hands—"the rest of my miserable life." His mock accent was bang on, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Is that so?” I said with a raised brow at Artton. “I don’t know, Kaelun. I still think it’d be a better job than being stuck with his miserable ass.” I tipped my chin up, indicating his uncle.
“Ha. Ha. You two,” Artton deadpanned, which had us all smiling.
“She’s not wrong,” Tarrin threw over his shoulder, coming to stand by my side.
“I’d threaten you with demotion,” he snipped back, “but I’m pretty sure human is about as low as it gets.”
“Hey,” I said in protest, throwing a hand on my hip, “I’ll remind you that your precious Spark chose to incarnate into a human.”
Sidrick gripped both of Artton’s shoulders. “She’s got you there.”
“You’re all going to get fucken demoted if you keep this up,” the second commander grumbled, shaking his friend off and taking the spot next to Caius.
Kaelun leaned into me. “Soooo? What’s the verdict?”
“I love them,” I said back with a wink.
“See, Uncle C? I knew she would.”
It was Caius’ turn to go crimson. “Um,” he said, needing to clear his throat before he continued.
“You guys need to get going to stay on track. Remember the plan. Stick together. Follow the chain of command. And no matter what, if you run into trouble, you get back to the safety of our borders, or Myron’s. Understood?”
The three fae stood at attention and bowed their heads for a moment before standing tall and saying, “Yes, High Lord.”
Caius dipped his chin in acknowledgment, then placed a hand on Artton’s shoulder. “You bring her back…”
“Or we don’t come back at all,” the High Lord’s second-in-command finished without missing a beat, and my heart jumped into my throat.
Looking his best friend and commander in the eyes with his grip still firmly on his shoulder, Caius nodded, indicating for Artton to speak.
“From the molten at our core,” he began, “to the skies above, to everything between, we thank you, Mother, for sustaining our lives. May we be continually blessed by our sacred connection to you, and may your power be at the ready to aid us in this first true step in our journey to mend what was broken so long ago.”
“My Mother,” they said in unison, and remembering the words Caius and I had spoken before crossing into the sacred cavern during the solstice, I bowed my head and finished the sacred words with them. “Our Mother. The Mother.”
I sensed her as if she was watching, and I could’ve sworn her the threads of magic went taut, as if she had granted our prayer.
Stepping away, Caius said, “Artton and Sidrick, you go on ahead with Tarrin. Kaelun will bring Nyleeria in a moment.”
“Be well my lord,” Sidrick said before placing a hand on Tarrin’s shoulder and disappearing. Artton shared one last look with his High Lord before joining them.
“I wanted a moment alone with you two,” Caius said.
“Nyleeria, I know we haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, and you have every reason to be wary.
But I need you to hear me when I say you must come home.
Please know that I don’t say this as a High Lord, or even as a fae.
I say it as a son who sacrificed everything because I believed that you existed.
No matter what, you need to remember the stakes.
Tarrin was right the other day, though he was wrong in who we’d wouldn’t risk—and that’s you.
I know the guilt you harbor for the twins.
But I also know the love you feel for them and your propensity to sacrifice yourself for others.
You must keep hold of the bigger picture at all times.
They are your family. But you are the spark.
I’m not saying it’s fair, but you must choose to survive over all else. ”
My throat made an audible sound as I swallowed the lump that had formed.
“Even over their lives,” I said, already knowing the answer as I tilted my chin at Kaelun.
“Because they either come back with me or die trying to get me back? That was what the exchange meant between the two of you, isn’t it? ”
Caius nodded, his features hardening. “Artton and Sidrick’s mandate extends well past recon.
They have orders to execute that will help us immeasurably moving forward.
The only reason I’ve been forced to consider letting you go, Nyleeria, is your ability to get them through the border and the wards waiting for them on the other side.
Otherwise, you’d let them into autumn and come straight back here. ”
“Don’t be stupid. Stay alive. Come back,” I summarized.
A tiny smile formed. “Yes.”
Feeling helpless to soothe his worry, I slid my hand in his and squeezed.
His eyes slid down to where we were connected, and like him, I realized that was the first time since coming here that I’d be able to touch a male without a utilitarian purpose—like valenning.
He offered me a soft, knowing smile as I slipped my hand back and took a step away, knowing he wanted a moment with his nephew.
Watching his attention shift to Kaelun was unexpectedly heartbreaking.
All pretense. All authority. All masks melted away as he looked at the kid with so much love it melted my heart.
And stars did Kaelun’s love and adoration for his uncle make him look so innocent as he looked up at the male he idolized, and not because of rank or title.
“Your brother’s and uncle’s job out there is to protect you as well. Do you understand me, Kaelun?”
A thousand emotions flashed across his face as his mind raced to understand the implications.
Caius was telling him that in a choice between those he loved with all his heart and himself—like me—he must choose himself.
My eyes prickled as I watched Kaelun physically wrestle with each objection he wanted to hurl at his beloved Uncle C.
Painfully, he swallowed them, looking as if each new one was sharper than the last.
Slowly, so slowly, he nodded.
“I want you to know how proud I am of you, and while I am eternally proud as your High Lord for you stepping up when duty called, that’s not the kind of proud I mean here. The male you’ve become, Kaelun—” Caius cut off, choking on his emotion.
Stepping into his uncle, Kaelun wrapped his arms around his waist, pressing his cheek into his chest. “I love you too, Uncle C.”
Tears rolled down my cheeks as I watch them embrace, each afraid they’d never see each other again.
Caius kissed the top of his nephew’s head before pulling back. With big thumbs, he wiped away Kaelun’s tears, then said, “I love you so much, Kaelun. Please, be safe.”
Turning his attention to me, Kaelun held out a hand, and I took it. Flashing Caius a brilliant smile, he said, “See you on the flip side, Uncle C.”
And then, we valenned away.
We arrived at the northwestern edge of Summer’s borders, and it took me a moment to orient myself after all the emotions their exchange had stirred.
Kaelun went to release my hand, and I tightened mine, looking up at him.
He offered me a small smile as he squeezed my hand back, then released it to join the others.
I followed after him.
“All good?” Tarrin asked, shifting his attention from the conversation he was in to me, most likely noting the brightness of my eyes we both knew indicated tears.
“All good,” I said, shaking off the memory and stepping into the present moment.
“The four of us,” Artton began, the command in his voice setting the tone, “can cross in and out of summer from the human realm without issue. Because you’re human”—he nodded to Tarrin—"you’ll always need to be in physical contact with one of us, like when we valen."
“Understood,” Tarrin said with a nod, and honestly, I was surprised he hadn’t chosen some snarky response instead. Maybe there was hope for them yet. Or maybe that was wishful thinking.
“Any questions before we cross over?” Artton asked.
We all shook our heads. We’d been through the plan a dozen times over the last few days—although the word plan was generous.
Without knowing exactly what we were getting ourselves into when we hit the Autumn Court—not to mention the secret orders the summer commanders were under—it was more a mandate of don’t fuck shit up than anything else.
“Okay then. Sidrick already checked the other side, and it’s clear.
Remember, when the trail is narrow, travel single file.
I’ll lead, then it’s Nyleeria, Kaelun, Tarrin, and Sidrick.
When the path allows, we’ll be able to have a more relaxed structure.
For now, though, single file.” Artton turned his back to us and began walking. “Let’s go,” he said over his shoulder.
He was there one moment, then the facade of never-ending summer shimmered like rippling water before he disappeared, and in that moment my legs became leaden, and I couldn’t make myself step forward.
The human realm, my homeland, was mere steps away, and crossing that threshold was like stepping back into the past that haunts my dreams, granting them flesh once more; because that’s exactly what I was doing.
“Are you okay?” Sidrick’s low voice asked.
“I haven’t been back since turning fae,” I said, voicing a fear I hadn’t realized I’d been harboring.
“Forgive me,” he said, “but I don’t understand the significance.”
Tarrin sidled up beside us. Addressing Sidrick, he said, “If you were now human, on human lands, staring at the path back to the fae realm, how would you feel?”
It was Kaelun that answered. “Like an intruder in my own home.”
I nodded, grateful for the clarity his words brought to the strange mixture of feelings I wasn’t sure I’d be able to name so eloquently, and a part of me wondered how acutely his unara tuned into emotions.
Regardless, it was time to intrude.