Chapter 30
Chapter
Thirty
I’d never heard a banshee wail. One star. Would not recommend.
The sound was indescribable. It echoed through my bones, vibrating my very cells with a shockwave of power.
Everyone except for my mother went down. In a graceful leap straight out of some kick ass spy novel, my mom vaulted over the table straight for me. Her eyes were wide with terror.
I slammed my hands over my ears and fell. My heart hammered against my chest, and I couldn’t think or do anything. All I wanted was for Tess to stop screaming.
Three masked fae appeared behind my father’s prone body, armed with glittering swords. To my horror, all three raised those swords high above their heads, aiming straight for the Fae King.
Before I could shout a warning, Mom’s arms wrapped around me, and all I could think was that she smelled like flowers.
She yanked Tess close and a moment later we stood outside the wards of my home.
Except … there were no wards. Someone had torn them down.
Mom was saying something, but I couldn’t hear her, Tess’s scream still infused into my veins.
Evangeline came the whisper of Mom’s voice inside my mind. Why are your wards down?
I—I don’t know.
The sound of snarling and an explosion of blue light came from the front of the house. I took off running.
Three Lords stood on one side, three on the other.
Ben, Rowan, and Caelan stood closest to me. Ethan, Thorvin, and Soren stood on the other side, but behind them stood a tall, pale woman with hair so light it could be mistaken for white.
Mom touched my shoulder. My ears popped and I could hear again.
“Thanks,” I whispered.
She didn’t respond, her attention fixed on the woman. “Titania.”
I went still. Titania was a figure of lore that I didn’t think existed, but if there was a true fae queen, this woman looked like she could be it. Pale hair, bright green eyes, fine features and a gossamer gown of pink and green, Titania was just as tall as the Lords, but she vibrated with magic.
Her lips curved when she spotted my mother. “Cliona. How wonderful for you to come. I see you’ve brought me a pet.”
Tess was silently weeping behind us, her small frame shivering with exhaustion.
“Why are you on my daughter’s property?” Mom snapped.
“No one owns property,” Titania said with a laugh. “Not on this plane. It belongs to us. Your daughter lives on our land.”
What an entitled ‘pick me’ girl. “The hell I do.”
Titania’s eyes narrowed as they focused on me. “You must be the sniveling brat I’ve heard so much about.”
Ethan held a hand up. Mom’s eyebrows hitched when the fae fell silent. “On a Lord’s leash, Titania? Oh, how the mighty have fallen.”
“You know nothing,” Titania hissed.
“We’re here for Evie, Caelan. If she comes with us, there will be no bloodshed.”
Caelan’s gaze flicked to Soren. “All of you? Or just you? Soren, have you chosen a side?”
Soren’s lips thinned. “I don’t like any of this.”
I moved to stand next to Caelan. A proprietary hand snagged me around the waist and hauled me close. Ethan’s lips curled in disgust. “You continue to choose the mongrel over your own kind.”
Fury bristled from Caelan, but he calmed when I smiled.
“Aww, Ethan. Are you still butt hurt over getting smacked around by a girl?” I clicked my tongue. “We can go for another round if you’d like.”
Caelan’s hand tightened around my waist in approval.
Ethan’s eyes flashed the gold of the Lord’s. “If you’d like to go again, little girl, I’d be happy to oblige.”
“No need,” Titania said. “We aren’t here to kill you, Evie.”
“Evie,” Tess said quietly.
What did Titania mean by that? I did a quick scan of my land. Nothing seemed amiss except for the wards, and the reason for that was standing in front of me looking like a fae cosplayer. Did fae really wear glitter or was Titania just a poser?
“Then why are you here?”
“Evie,” Tess said, a note of urgency in her voice.
I turned.
“We’re here to crown you,” Titania said.
Mom sucked in a shocked gasp.
Caelan froze. “What?”
“Don’t look so surprised,” Titania said. “Cernunnos made quite the statement with his little introduction party. You’re his heir. All the fae know it. I’ve been sent here to speed up the process.”
“Mom?” I whispered.
One sharp shake of her head, and I believed her. Mom knew nothing about this. “Evie was just at the Hall of Fae. No one said anything about it.”
My father had said nothing either. He’d agreed to me waiting to give him a firm answer, and he had never backed out of a deal with me before. What, if anything, had changed?
Titania rolled her eyes. “Because we needed the land open to recognize the crowning, and we all know how…reluctant Evie is to trust anyone on the property.”
This smelled rotten. My land should have nothing to do with wearing the fae crown. “If what you say is true, there’s no need to do this right now. I still haven’t said I’d take the crown.”
Mom stepped closer. She had never given me comfort during our relationship. Everything regarding her felt like a test, but in this moment, we felt united.
Titania’s eyes gleamed. “Normally you’d be right.” She studied her nails, a satisfied smile curving her lips. “But with the odd appearance of the World Tree and your continuing connection to it, your safety is at risk if we don’t move the schedule up.”
“Cernunnos has said nothing about this,” Mom snapped. “Perhaps we should bring him here to settle things.”
“You can if you’d like, but he will be overruled.”
“Cernunnos is the Fae King,” Mom said. “He is the final authority.”
Titania snapped her fingers. Caelan’s hand was ripped from my waist. He, Ben, and Rowan were tossed away like bowling pins, Caelan’s snarl ripping through the air.
“Evie!” Tess grabbed my arm. “Don’t—”
Titania knocked Tess away, the banshee hurtling through the air, her scream short and shocked.
Standing my ground, I reached for my power. Boosted by being on my property, my magic rose, tingling against my palms. “I refuse.”
“Titania, there’s nothing more for you here,” Mom insisted. “Do not make me come for you. There’s no need for this to be a fight.”
Titania smirked as the other Lords closed in on me. Soren was the first to reach me, his calloused hands closing around my arms. He leaned close and whispered something for my ears only.
“It’s a trap.”
Titania’s eyes flashed. Soren’s hands were ripped from me, his snarl as he struggled to maintain his footing helpless under Titania’s power. I sent magic tearing from the ground, vines dripping with thorns and poison wrapping around the fae’s legs.
Titania laughed and shook them off.
Mom held her hand up. “Titania! Enough!”
But Ethan’s hands wrapped around me next, his grip punishing. Vines tore from the ground, but Titania pushed them away with little effort. Thorvin approached carrying something glittering and covered in bone.
His steps were jerky and halting, his eyes glowing burnished gold. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, hands rising to place the crown atop my head.
I didn’t understand what the fuck was happening, and why she was so insistent I take the crown. It didn’t matter if I did today or tomorrow or two years from now, did it?
A flash of silver blew past us and slammed into Titania.
Tess. The fae’s mouth opened wide, her eyes glowing a familiar icy pale shade.
She swayed on her feet, Titania’s golden beauty in stark contrast to the death that had invaded her bones.
Her cheeks hollowed and sank into her skull.
Pale skin turned the gray of death, and her mouth opened, Tess’s banshee scream shaking the world.
“Oh,” Mom breathed, eyes wide as she watched a fae queen die right before her eyes.
Tess’s flickering form appeared from the ruins of Titania’s body, relief spearing through me, but when she lifted her head and opened her mouth, her form went transparent before disappearing in a pop of sound.
The rest of Titania’s skin flaked off, blowing away like ash in the wind, and just as her bones sank to the ground, I realized it was too late.
Thorvin slammed the crown atop my head.
Betrayal. I remembered Thalia’s prophetic words as the crown’s magic snaked into my soul.