CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
My heart hammered against my ribcage as Garrick, Kinsey, and I trekked through the snow, Garrick’s gloves and fur coat shielding me against the freezing wind. Garrick claimed his body heat would be enough to warm him in the cold, though I knew that wasn’t entirely true. He was warm-blooded, but even he could grow cold in the fierce mountain air. But I knew better than to argue. We’d also had to slice the hem of my ballgown higher so I could walk unimpeded through the snow, which unfortunately allowed for cold air to creep beneath the fabric. But I took comfort in the thick, woolen socks and leather boots we’d been gifted from the Ashwood camp so that I wasn’t forced to walk in my flimsy slippers.
Pausing to catch my breath and study how close the castle was looming, I glanced at the sky. Snow clouds blotted out much of it, already spitting scattered flakes, but the sun gleamed harshly in a bare patch to the west. It was sinking slowly but steadily toward the horizon, reminding me that the night of solstice was fast approaching. Time was running out to seal the underworld entrance.
Preston and Nerissa would be impatient. But how did they expect to force me to fully open an entrance I was determined to close? That was the flaw in our plan, the strategy none of us had managed to guess at.
All last night and well into the late morning, Garrick and I had planned with the Ashwoods. At last, to prepare for the long evening ahead of us, we’d all retired. With Garrick still a bit on edge and wary of leaving me alone, the Ashwoods had graciously offered us our own tent. I’d blushed despite the many times Garrick and I had been forced into close quarters together, but with two separate cots, Garrick had given me the space I needed. Instead, he’d stretched out on his cot, lying parallel to mine. While I’d tried to rest despite the wild thoughts churning in my head and the daylight seeping through the canvas, Garrick had reached across the gap between us to brush soothing fingers through my hair until I’d fallen into a dreamless sleep.
Now, with only a few short hours’ worth of rest and borrowed winter attire, I watched the snowflakes fall around Garrick, Kinsey, and me. Ahead, the hunter paused, his every muscle taut, his body alert. I watched him anxiously, already on edge. Already looking for any signs that our plan was about to fall apart, or that the trust we’d placed in the Ashwoods was about to go awry.
“We’re almost in sight of the sentinels,” Garrick announced, indicating that direction of the castle with a jerk of his head. My half-human eyes could only make out the parapets, and not the figures concealed and waiting behind them. If Garrick could pick them out with his keen wolf shifter gaze, then the fae posted there would surely be able to see us if we went any further. “It’s time to prepare.” His gaze flicked to me, even though this was possibly my easiest role to play in our plan. “Are you ready?”
Pressing my mouth into a hard line, I nodded.
“Now we can only hope the others are too.” Kinsey plucked a pouch from where it was strapped to his belt, smiling wryly. “In all my years as the royal healer, I’ve never done something like this. Least of all to myself.”
Hugging myself against the cold, I watched our Ashwood companion pluck several vials from his bag, downing each in swift gulps before returning the empty glasses to his pouch. With a wistful glance, he deposited the bag in the snow. He couldn’t be caught with it on him later.
“How fast will they wo—” I began, the last word dying on my lips as Kinsey started to sway, blinking his eyes blearily.
Garrick stepped forward, catching the healer before he toppled into the snow. “Out cold,” he murmured as he peered down at the slumped Ashwood. Garrick pressed two fingers to the man’s neck, frowning in concentration. “And like he said, I can’t even feel a pulse.”
I gazed in morbid fascination at the way Kinsey’s chest didn’t move, as if he weren’t even breathing. “How do we know he isn’t actually dead?”
Garrick smirked. “He healed you well enough. I think he knows his medicines. Plus, he didn’t strike me as the type to want to take his own life so young.” He winked at me, but I was too nervous to grin at his dark humor.
Lowering the healer to the ground, Garrick drew one of his knives and, without preamble, sliced it cleanly across his left shoulder, cutting through his shirt. Blood bloomed, staining the torn fabric and dripping into the snow, coloring it crimson.
I grimaced, hating to see him hurt at all, even if I knew he’d been cautious, only injuring himself enough to make a bloody sight. He withdrew items stored in Kinsey’s bag: a smaller pouch of herbs Garrick tucked into his pocket, and then a flask of blood—animal blood collected from a deer the Ashwoods had hunted for a meal. Enough for Garrick to pour over Kinsey, splattering it across his face, neck, and chest to make it appear as if the man truly had been fatally injured. Using the same knife he’d cut himself with, he sliced into Kinsey’s coat in several places, tearing the fabric so it looked like claws might have torn into it.
With a final reassuring glance at me, Garrick slung Kinsey over one shoulder, and we resumed our journey toward the castle.
Shouts erupted at Garrick’s and my approach, and the castle gates opened to usher us within the courtyard. Hurrying footsteps rang out on the cobblestones as guards and servants rushed to meet us, scowling at the bloody body Garrick carried and the gore staining his arm.
“Come, the king and queen will want to see you immediately,” one of the guards said, leading us toward the entrance.
“Summon them now,” Garrick ordered, his tone guttural. “King Preston will want to know his betrothed has returned safely.”
My stomach turned over at those words, even if I knew it was all what they expected Garrick to say. It didn’t detract from how nauseating it was to hear him call me Preston’s.
Fae scattered to fulfill his order, but by the time Garrick and I neared the double doors, they burst open. Preston and Nerissa stood in the entrance, adorned in silver and blue with their crowns on for full effect, their eyes fiery. Their rage made my heart skip a beat, but I sauntered forward anyway, playing the role of a submissive girl relieved to be saved from her kidnappers.
As I ascended the steps leading to the entrance, Preston forced his mouth into a wide smile, opening his arms like he was overjoyed to see me safe. “Florentia Silverfrost! It is a relief to see you returned to us.”
“Prepare her rooms,” Nerissa barked at the nearby servants, who began to scatter. “It is the solstice, after all! We must prepare her.” Her dark eyes flicked toward me, and I smiled demurely, as if I were content and ready for what came next. As if they really were preparing me for a heroic act, and not hoping to use me as a way to unleash destruction.
I stepped into the castle as all but the posted guards vanished, and Garrick halted behind me. Nerissa ordered the guards to close the doors, but as they thudded shut, Preston’s attention shifted from me to Garrick. He reeled back, his expression marred with disgust. “You stupid mutt! Bleeding all over our entryway. And what is that?” He drew back, his face paling.
Garrick stepped beside me, shifting Kinsey’s weight, who still hung, limp and unresponsive, from his shoulder. “One of Ren’s kidnappers.” His voice was cold, ruthless. “If you desire, you can use his body as a reminder that those who oppose your will receive no mercy.” He dipped his head in deference.
My skin prickled. Even when Garrick wasn’t under the siblings’ control, he played his role well.
“And what do you expect me to do with a corpse?” Preston snarled. He whirled on Nerissa, who, though she’d schooled her features into a look of careful boredom, kept her distance from Garrick and his burden. “Why don’t you keep a tighter leash on your pet? Tell him we have no use for the dead things he drags to us. Unlike him, we aren’t animals.”
I bit my inner lip, temper flaring. I wanted to rebuke them, but now wasn’t the time. Everything was going the way Garrick had anticipated it would, and my rage would only derail our plan.
Nerissa rubbed her temple before sighing and glancing at Garrick. “Dispose of the body.” Her lip curled as she noted the blood staining his arm. “And get yourself cleaned up. I expect you to be present for our grand show.” She lifted her head toward one of the high windows in the great hall, through which twilight’s violet glow was shimmering. “You have one hour. By then, Florentia will be at the entrance, prepared to save us all.” Her eyes flicked to me, silent laughter dancing in them as if daring me to refute her claim and call out her lie.
“Come, I’ll escort you to your chambers myself,” Preston said.
As Nerissa turned away, she tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Don’t lose her again, brother.” She sauntered off down the hall as Preston glowered, offering me his arm. Apparently he was in a good mood, ready to pretend to be an amiable fiancé. Maybe he was enjoying the game they were playing, up until its very end.
Behind me, Garrick turned and spoke to the guards, requesting they open the door for him once more. But I knew he wasn’t going to take Kinsey’s so-called corpse off the grounds. I wished I could linger and help, but my duty was to keep Preston distracted, so I settled my hand on his arm and let him lead me up the stairwell.
“Aspen won’t be here to help you wreak havoc,” Preston murmured as we passed the second floor and rounded a bend in the staircase, climbing higher.
“But you don’t know where she is, do you?” I asked smugly.
It was only a hopeful guess, but I injected confidence into my tone, praying I was right. Despite Garrick’s fear of being involved too heavily in any of the rebels’ plans, he had known of one contact outside the castle. Last night, the Ashwoods had sent a messenger to that rebel, requesting he gather as many as he could that had escaped the ball and prepare them for tonight. None of us had any idea if Preston and Nerissa had restrained or hurt Aspen, or if she’d escaped in the chaos following the Ashwoods’ invasion and my kidnapping.
Preston froze, seizing my arm in a painful grasp and whirling on me. “What do you know?” he bit out. “Did the Ashwoods take her too?”
I smirked. “She’s safe from you. That’s all I know.”
Nostrils flaring, Preston drew a deep breath, visibly calming himself. He turned, dragging me up the steps behind him. “It doesn’t matter. Prisoner or not, she can plot all she wants. Tonight, you’ll fling the entrance to the underworld open wide and the demons will overtake everyone, including the Ashwoods and rebels. They won’t matter anymore. The living souls will face our torment, and the dead will taste life’s pleasures fully again.”
“You can’t force me to do your bidding,” I protested, fighting against Preston enough that I forced him to a stop in the middle of the hall leading to my rooms. Anything to grant Garrick more time. “You can’t glamour me, and you can’t hold back my magic. I’ll resist you, every step of the way.”
Preston sneered. “Yes, I’m sure you will.” He yanked me forward.
I dug the heels of my boots into the plush carpet. “And you won’t win.”
Preston’s grasp on me tightened, making me ground my teeth against the sharp stab of pain from his bony fingers squeezing my wrist. “It takes more than idle threats to strike fear into a soul that’s endured hell, Snowflake.”
“But I know what can strike fear into your heart,” I said quickly. “The knowledge that I have the power to send you back and close the door. That as long as I draw breath and this blood flows through my veins, I can continue to seal the entrance tightly shut, leaving you there to your eternal torment.”
Preston tugged one more time, so hard I could no longer resist, and he forced my feet along after him. “This grows tiring. If you want, keep hurling your threats as we walk, but nothing will change your fate, mortal. Power has gone to your head, but yours will always be limited. Lesser.”
I let his words roll off me, trailing him as we neared my door. All I could hope was that my delay had given Garrick and Kinsey the time they needed...and that Preston would descend the steps too distracted to notice anything was amiss.
When we reached my chambers, the king swung open the door, offering me a view of the glamoured humans already waiting for me, their blank eyes turning to study me without emotion. “They’ve been ordered to only dress you in what Nerissa and I gave them,” Preston said, his sharp eyes dragging over my forget-me-not dress, half-concealed by Garrick’s coat. “Arrive wearing anything else, and there will be consequences.”
With that, he shoved me into my chambers and slammed the door.
My heart thundered in my chest. Had our walk taken enough time? Should I have tried to stall Preston further? I glanced out the window, looking at the moon already climbing in the darkening sky, and prayed all our careful plans wouldn’t unravel.