Chapter 32
W e’re back in the bedroom, the demons still lurking within its walls. Micah has joined the unwelcome gathering, although it’s hard to see him clearly in the shadowy corner he’s nestled in. “Where are Shiva and Abnehor?” I ask, my voice tight. I’m angry with Shiva for telling Dae, but I’m growing to understand, too. And something about the visitors being in this room, but not them, feels… off.
Kaya says, “She’s giving you space.”
“Oh.” She doesn’t need to do that anymore. I’ll tell her when I see her. It’s not like I’ve always made the right decisions in life. “Okay, here’s my plan. I don’t want my mother dying, or Ellyllon falling?—’’
Lilith sneers, her voice dripping with disdain. “Ellyllon is as good as dead, little girl. Accept it.”
“Maybe,” I say, refusing to be intimidated. “But maybe it doesn’t have to be.” Lilith goes to interrupt me again, but I just keep talking, my voice growing stronger with every word. “If I wasn’t getting killed, I could be in line for the throne, right? I don’t have any other brothers or sisters. I mean, that’s how they do things here, isn’t it? That’s what the talking to the trees means, right?”
Micah nods, his form shifting slightly in the shadows. “It works that way in Ellyllon and Arcadia, too. It’s just been so long since a ruler there died.”
A lump forms in my throat, but I swallow it down, powering through. “And the heart needs a sacrifice, one powerful enough to feed it.”
Dae smiles, a small tug at the side of his lips that lights up his face, transforming him from a fearsome monster into the mischievous trickster I first fell in love with. A forest child. A little sprite. He says, “Are you saying we kill Aberith? Use him as the sacrifice to power the heart. His only sibling is dead, anyway. We position you as the next ruler of Ellyllon. Then, you release Callacombe and Luna’s sisters, and let us pass into Arcadia.”
Luna’s sisters? Who are they?
I laugh, a dry, humourless sound. “Nice try. Everything other than the last bit. You stay here, and I withdraw the Nightelves from Callacombe.”
Dae’s eyes narrow. “We want into Arcadia.”
“Why?”
“We’re at war,” Micah’s soft voice carries across the room.
“And I’m giving you half the fight.”
Lilith scoffs. “A fraction.”
Trying not to fidget, I lay out my terms. “I kill Dad, I release Callacombe, and you leave Ellyllon alone.”
At this point, fuck Dad. The hag showed me the truth a month ago and I closed my eyes to it. Dad tried to kill me, put a curse on me from the day I was born. He’s enslaving billions of piskies. He’s killed a sibling of mine every few decades. And he wasn’t going to fix Mum when she took the curse on herself, he was just going to go right and let her die, and then kill me too.
When I drive a dagger into his chest and feed his heart to Ellyllon, I hope it hurts.
Micah steps out of his shadow, his expression unreadable. “Then we have to reject them.”
“This is a good plan.” My voice is rising in frustration.
“You’re offering things we already have. We already have the key to Ellyllon’s collapse. We will free Callacombe very soon. As of today, you have no way to get home,” Micah says, his voice calm but firm. “If we take this deal, we’re just potentially positioning someone in the way between us and Arcadia.”
“Sorry, just to clarify,” Dae says, “ I have the key to Ellyllon. If I want to give her whatever she wants, I will.” Dae’s eyes meet mine, a challenge in their depths. “But no, love. You’ve never even been to Arcadia, or Ellyllon. What do you care?” Once, I would have argued—of course, I’ve been to Ellyllon—the prophecy happened there. Now I realise it was all a farce.
I sit down on the bed, defeated. Dorian edges towards the door, his eyes darting nervously between us.
I say, “What is it you want there, exactly?”
“The—’’ Dae starts talking, but Lilith quickly snaps at him to shut his mouth. He ignores her. “The Heavenly Flock. We want them dead. And there are people trapped there that we want freed.”
My traitorous, murderous father loves the Heavenly Flock. He’s told me thousands of stories about their bravery and goodness. But I’m not exactly in the mood to believe him right now. “Okay, I agree to work with you to kill The Heavenly Flock. If the best way to do that is to march into Arcadia, then I agree to open the gates on the condition that I come with you. If there is anyone there deserving of protection, I want to be there to protect them.”
The words taste like ash coming from my mouth. It’s not like I’m signing in blood. I just need to get on the throne of Ellyllon. I just need to free Callacombe and save my world. But once I’m there?—
Dae gives me a long look. He knows I’m lying. He’s known me for so many years. It’s impossible to slip anything past him. “What’s your plan for killing your dad?” he asks, leaving the liar’s part of my deal behind.
Besides, it’s not like I’m completely lying. I thought Dad was a good person. I’ve just found out he’s a villain. Who knows what Arcadia has done to earn Hell’s wrath? Maybe I really will help them put the Heavenly Flock down.
What’s funny is, I know in my heart what I’ve found out about Dad is true. I don’t need to go and ask him. I know he’ll lie—that’s a trait we were gifted with. Something we have over the fae. The ability to spin words. And that’s what he’ll do to me if I give him a chance to justify his actions.
“I go to Ellyllon?—’’
“No.”
My eyes narrow. “I go to Ellyllon, I give myself over. I go ahead with the sacrifice. I gain his trust. When the knife is within reach, I turn it on him.”
“Come here,” Dae says, walking to a cupboard. He opens it and pulls out a knife before turning to me. “Let me show you something.”
I manage three steps before Dae grabs me by the back of the neck and twists me around. I wince as my body is held, half-floating above the ground, my feet dangling uselessly. With quiet precision, Dae places the tip of the jewel-encrusted knife right above my heart. “Go on,” he says, his voice low and dangerous, “try to kill me.”
I aim to shove him away, but he only twists my body further, the pressure on my neck increasing. Grabbing his wrist, I try to twist the knife up to face him, but it only moves closer to my chest. “Put me down,” I snap, my voice filled with panic. He does, releasing me with a gentle push. “That’s not fair. You were expecting me. It’s not the same.”
He puts the knife back in the cupboard. “No, it’ll be worse. You think he’s not expecting you to fight? He’s sacrificing you. He’s brainwashed you. And now you’ve lived in Faerie for over a month. He’ll see you coming a mile off. I’m all for Aberith taking your place as the sacrifice, but not if the cost is your life.”
“War it is,” Lilith says with a smile, her eyes gleaming with anticipation.
Dae frowns. “You’re a hateful little bitch, you know that?” Lilith laughs, a harsh, grating sound. “Sorry, Elly,” Dae says, turning back to me, his voice softening. “It’s not going to happen.”