Chapter 46
W e’ve barely gathered around the table before Selena is right in front of Matt and me again. “What do you mean they weren’t going to let you back?” she implores. “That wasn’t the plan. There was danger, of course—”
“The fuck?” Matt glares at her.
She winces. “But that’s why we had the Court of Air tracking you, to pull you out if things got rough.”
My eyes roll before she even finishes. “It’s those spies that nearly got me killed. You know, the ones no one told me about.”
“I told them they should have told you,” Wren glares at Selena.
Selena visibly bristles but keeps her focus on me. “We thought if you knew, you might accidentally give yourself away looking for the birds.”
I cross my arms. “Or because you didn’t want me to give it away to the Unseelie that they were being tracked? That taking me to their city might lead you all right to it?”
The tall male from the Court of Air with the long, pointed nose takes note from a few feet away. “A potential perk for the risk we took to watch you.”
“Hawke!” Wren smacks him hard on the arm. At least one member of the court seems sorry for their part in it.
Selena groans, rubbing her forehead.
“And what about whatever woman you all sent in before me?” I ask. “What, you thought I’d back out if I knew she’d been killed?”
Thankfully, John has already hurried off with May, so I no longer have to worry about scarring the poor girl. Hopefully, he took her straight home.
“We didn’t send her,” Selena says.
“Who did?” I demand, looking from one representative of a fae court to the next.
“Katherine applied for the task, but we rejected her.” Selena’s tone is more reserved, remorseful. “We knew she would not be suitable.”
“And while she entered through the Court of Air, we did not learn of her purpose until she’d fled our borders,” Hawke says. “Our king felt her cross the wards. Our scouts followed after we realized what happened but could not retrieve her.”
“Katherine,” Matt says with a glance at Mira. “There was a Katherine who competed with you in The Choosing.”
Mira nods, solemn. “One and the same. She’d been banished from Faery for bad behavior, and I think she hoped that, if she could kill the Unseelie King, she’d earn some measure of forgiveness.”
Instead, she’d gotten herself killed and nearly compromised my whole mission. Her death had bothered Elias, grating against his need to protect humans like his mother, no matter how vile the acts against him.
“Is that why you thought you wouldn’t be able to come back? Did the Unseelie tell you that?” Selena asks.
“A Seelie told me. A member of the Court of the Air.” I glance at Wren and Hawke. “Before they were killed.”
Hawke winces. Wren just looks like she might be sick and sits down.
“So I assume you knew?” I snap at them.
“We did not agree with the approach but were told as much by the coven,” Hawke admits.
Selena gasps. Could she really not have known?
“So the Court of Air takes orders from humans now?” I taunt, furious.
Hawke visibly bristles, almost puffing up like his namesake, ready to strike. “Humans are our lifeblood.”
“And you think you’re not theirs?” Matt says with sudden fury, surprising me.
“The covens rely on you, on fae generosity, for their way of life. They’re as dependent on you as you are on them.
But everything I’ve heard recently, from my sister, even reading your accounts of The Choosing”—Matt gestures to Selena and Mira—“it makes me disgusted to be one.”
I stare at him in shock. Matt has always been fascinated by the fae, intrigued by their world and magic.
He seemed to relish soaking in all the coven research he could get his hands on.
He loved to talk to me about it, and sure, he had his complaints.
Who wouldn’t about systems that sounded so archaic?
But to be disgusted to be part of it all?
That I never expected. Though after my recent experiences, it’s a sentiment I can’t help but share.
“We want to change things,” Mira says. “Selena and I, we’re working on it both within Faery and in the human world.”
“Really?” Matt crosses his arms, staring at the woman he’d once called his dream girl. “Because it sounds like you just duped my sister in a longshot attempt to kill off a threat, who might not even be a threat if you would all just start listening to each other for once.”
“Matt—” I start.
“And what was with all your messages to me? Did you really care about me at all, or did you just want to see if my sister found a way around the coven’s plans and got home anyway? Which, newsflash, she did, with the help of the man you all want to kill.”
“No.” A sheen of tears fills Selena’s eyes, and I almost feel bad for her. “No, Matt. It… It was real. I never wanted to hurt you. I thought I was helping your sister save you.”
That confession seems to hit its mark.
Matt sniffs, his nose wrinkling. He wants to believe her. I can see it even if no one else can. But he’s hurting too. “You hid the truth from me.”
The bold woman I’d once thought of as a firecracker slumps down into a chair.
“I did,” Selena says as Mira places a hand on her shoulder in a show of support.
“And you’re right. Maybe I could have done more by now.
Maybe I should have. But these hierarchies and systems have been in place for ages. Not even I can upend them overnight.”
“Change takes time,” Mira echoes, her voice soft and comforting.
But Matt snorts. “Does it? Aimee changed my whole life in a moment. You are some of the most powerful people in Faery.” He stretches his arms to encompass those around us.
“You’re queens and future queens, for God’s sake.
It’s the responsibility of those in power to protect people and work toward a better future.
If you can’t change things, who can? You have information and connections that past generations have never had.
And you’re all here, right now. Do you think it’s a coincidence that so many fae monarchs have taken human mates in such a short time?
Or is it Faery itself shifting the pieces of fate and making change happen? ”
Stunned silence lingers in the wake of his question. A few people glance at one another, and others seem almost afraid to.
Finally, the quiet breaks.
“You’re right.” This comes from Lia, who hasn’t said much since her dad and sister left.
“You’re right,” she says again. “I don’t know much about the covens, but the things I’ve heard recently are not great.
No offense,” she says to Mira and Selena.
“Not all of us even knew about our gifts until recently.” This time, she looks at Wren, who nods in agreement.
“Who knows how many more humans like us might be out there? And it is strange we would all end up here and now when our courts need us.”
“Exactly,” Matt agrees. “You’re all here, now, for a reason.”
Solona clears her throat. “As important as this topic may be, there is a more pressing one at hand.”
Right. And every minute we sit here is one where Elias could be hurt or dying.
“We have to stop this war. Now. Before anyone else dies. Can you bring the kings here?” I ask no one in particular.
“They’re at the front,” Galen supplies.
My stomach turns over. Fighting. Of course. Or preparing to fight. I don’t even know.
“Get them.” Wren stands up. “If they’re not in the middle of a fight, bring them here. Galen. Hawke. Therin.” She looks at each of them in turn.
Therin recoils. “Only my queen can—”
“Do it,” Mira snaps.
Therin blinks at her, surprise evident.
But Mira is undeterred when she calmly turns to stare at him. “Lysandir does not want to fight. You know he never has. If we can stop this war, if there’s a chance, we have to try.”
He swallows thickly then nods once. “As my queen commands.”
“The other Seelie courts?” Matt asks.
Solona gives a curt shake of her head. “They did not heed our requests for aid.”
“We hoped perhaps the Court of Water may come, but…” Mira trails off with a downcast look.
No one seems all that surprised to hear that the Seelie themselves are still splintered. It’s okay. If we can get Forest, Air, and Fire to help us, that’s what matters. They are the ones who share a border with the Unseelie and are most involved in this conflict anyway.
The three fae males exit the room without further protest.
“Ah, I see,” Matt says, the moment they are out the door, a half-smile on his face. “Sending all the men away.” He grabs the armrests on either side of his chair like he’s preparing to rise. “Should I go too?”
“Don’t you dare.” I tug on his arm. I need at least one ally in this room.
He shrugs and relaxes back in the seat. “The Unseelie Queen has spoken.”
I blink at him, stunned. “What did you just say?”
“Well, aren’t you? You share his mark, and you’re in fitting company.” He gestures to the other women in the room with a sweep of his arm.
“I—”
To my surprise, it’s Selena who answers. “Long live the Queen.”
Maybe Selena only said it to earn brownie points with my brother, who does look mildly appeased. But no one rebukes it. In fact, Wren outright grins like this is the best thing to happen in a while. A groan catches in my throat as I fight the urge to bury my face in my hands.
The Unseelie Queen.
But will I be able to save my king, or will the others only see me as a pawn to be used against him?