CHAPTER FOUR
“Well, that went better than expected.”
The sound of Laurie’s voice was jarring. All of us had been completely silent, even after we’d left Honey at the elevator. I shot Laurie a look of disbelief as I held up my skirt again, preparing to ascend the steps.
“Were we at the same meeting? You beheaded someone,” I reminded him.
“Exactly. One person, and no one is going to miss that little pimple. I’d say everyone was downright civil,” Laurie said cheerfully. He started climbing the steps beside me, despite his ability to sift. He kept his hands in his pockets, and every so often, his elbow gently brushed mine.
On my other side, Collith remained silent, a frown hovering at the corners of his full lips.
I knew he was thinking about our task—finding Oliver before the Order did.
I watched the slight nuances in his expression as he went from thought to thought.
Planning. Weighing. Calculating. Once, I’d resented the way his mind worked.
Now I admired it.
I opened my mouth to ask if we had a plan, but in the next breath, I realized that I didn’t want to talk about Oliver anymore.
I didn’t even want to think about him. It had been a long day, and there wasn’t anything we could do about the Beast right now.
As I searched for something else to say, my mind went back to the meeting, and I remembered my curiosity when Dracula had arrived alone.
“Where was the Vampire King?” I asked abruptly.
Collith’s expression was still distracted.
“Other than Dracula, no one has seen him in centuries. It’s widely believed amongst the Fallen that he may be the oldest of us, older even than the fae elders.
Some think the Vampire King predates the Fall.
I wonder what that might do to someone, living in the shadows for so long. ”
I knew what it did. Collith did, too. I could tell from the way his jaw tightened that we were both remembering the Dark Prince and everything he’d done to us.
I didn’t want to think about Lucifer, either. I returned my focus to the conversation. “If no one has seen him, how do you know the Vampire King is real?” I pointed out.
“How does anyone know the Nightmare Queen is real?” Laurie’s voice murmured in my ear just as we stepped out of the cave and into the night.
Before I could answer, I felt his lips nip at the tender outer shell of my ear.
I made a startled sound and shoved him away. Laurie’s laugh rang out into the night.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard Fortuna squeak before,” Collith said, watching us with a smile.
I rolled my eyes at Laurie. “You are such a child.”
When we reached the beach, I expected the Seelie King to vanish.
But he stayed at my side, talking easily with Collith.
Not about the Order, or Lucifer, or Oliver—they talked about books and art, music and distant cities, politics and old films. I listened, interjecting now and then with questions.
Both of them had been alive so much longer than I had, and they’d seen things I could only dream about.
Maybe someday, I told myself silently. If we survived the coming months and all the enemies that were trying to kill us.
Collith and Laurie walked with me to town, where we found the Door and made our way through the woods.
Night had fallen, but neither of my companions seemed worried about what might be tucked in the darkness.
It was because they were together, I thought, watching their expressions in the moonlight.
They didn’t worry about creatures like wendigos or werewolves when the other was near.
In spite of everything they’d been through, and their long, tragic history, Collith and Laurie had found their way back to each other.
Strangely, the thought stirred no jealousy in my heart.
Collith and Laurie walked me right up to the barn.
As I reached to pull the door open, both of their scents wafted past, soft and fleeting.
I turned to say good night. But when I faced them, the words faded in my throat.
The water nymph king’s remark came back to me, faint and haunting.
Arriving with a faerie king on each arm.
I looked at Collith first, and I thought about how kind and patient he’d been this summer.
I looked at Laurie and remembered every small act, every painful sacrifice.
They both loved me and I loved both of them.
We had never really talked about it, the three of us.
What we were or what we could be. But it needed to be talked about, because my silence wasn’t fair to anyone.
I gathered a breath, and my heart rivaled the thunder of the wild horses Laurie had taken me to see once.
“I know you deserve better,” I said, glancing between them again. “Both of you. I wish I could offer more. Be more. I just … I can’t …”
I kept fumbling over my tongue, so eventually, I gave up and fell silent. Frustration simmered in my veins. Then Collith surprised me by smiling. A soft, tender smile. “You are exactly who you’ve always been, Fortuna, and that is more than enough,” he said.
Laurie took my hand and pressed a kiss against the back of it. “Get some sleep, my lady. Our quest can wait one more night.”
They each bowed to me, and I watched them walk away together.
Seconds later, Collith and Laurie disappeared into the woods.
If either of the faeries looked back, they were too far away for me to see it.
I wondered where they were going. Knowing Laurie, they’d probably end up on the other side of the world somewhere.
In a London pub, maybe, or a rooftop restaurant in Tokyo.
Smiling at the thought, I began to step inside.
At the last second, I drew back for a double-take—there was a figure at the edge of the trees again.
But it wasn’t Laurie or Collith.
Mab stepped into the open, the long sleeves of her gown swaying in a breeze.
“It’s happening again,” she called, her voice drifting across the yard.
I knew faeries and their games—the old ones had become especially predictable. Mab wanted me to ask, What’s happening? She hoped I would step right on top of the invisible net she’d placed between us.
But I wasn’t playing tonight.
“It’s been a long day, and I’m tired,” I said. I didn’t bother raising my voice. I didn’t want to wake anyone up, and Mab’s fae hearing was so sharp she could probably hear my heartbeat from across the field.
I started to turn away, and suddenly the ancient faerie was in front of me. A jolt of terror rushed through my frame. I felt my power snap up like claws, and only the knowledge that this was Laurie’s mother stopped me from tearing through her brain.
“He’s distracted,” Mab said bluntly, her green eyes bright with anger. “At a time when he should be fully present, completely dedicated to his Court, Laurelis Dondarte’s mind is elsewhere. And others are beginning to notice.”
Normally I would be pissed at this point.
But Mab’s lithe form was wrapped in another black gown, her skin smooth and pale against the velvet backdrop of night.
It was almost identical to the one she’d been wearing the day Belanor died.
The gown was a stark reminder of what this faerie had recently lost, even if her son had been an evil psychopath.
Mab was grieving, and I knew a thing or two about grief.
Which was why my voice was mild as I said, “Maybe he has a good reason to be distracted. Did that ever occur to you?”
“You are the reason. He’s already sacrificed himself once, Fortuna Sworn, and even that didn’t win you. How long do you intend to torment my son? Until he’s lost his throne forever? Until he’s dead?” Mab paused. “When will enough be enough?”
I looked back at her with the face of the Unseelie Queen, but Mab’s words slid through my veins like poison. “Laurie is a big boy. He makes his own choices,” I answered.
She raised her chin, her nostrils flaring. “His Majesty is many things. He is clever, and kind, and brave. But he has a weakness, and I fear that it will lead to his ruin—his heart. My son loves you. As long as you continue to let him, he will continue to abandon his duties to be by your side.”
This time, I didn’t respond. I went inside and shut the door with frantic, unnecessary force.
All the lights were off inside. I fumbled around for the switch, so affected by my conversation with Mab that I couldn’t seem to remember where it was. Suddenly I was so eager to get upstairs that I decided to skip the light and head straight for the stairs.
But even though Mab was gone, the door between us firmly closed, her voice followed me into the barn. It trailed after me through the darkness.
When will enough be enough?
I dreamed of a glass ceiling.
Daylight shone through all the dirty planes, bouncing off green plants and vibrant trees. I was in a greenhouse, I observed numbly, staring up at all those sunbeams. No, wait …
Oliver was in a greenhouse.
He was the one staring up at that glass ceiling.
His arms and legs were stretched out on either side of him, secured with ropes that had recently been doused in holy water—I felt the telltale burn across Oliver’s wrists and ankles.
His body rested against a stone surface.
He was splayed like a lamb ready for slaughter, I thought.
There was a slight wheeze to Oliver’s breathing.
Suddenly I could feel his pain like it was my own, as if I were the one who had just been stabbed in the lungs.
“You’ve displeased me, Beast,” a familiar voice said.
Oliver was silent. Despite the pain, the rest of him had completely shut down, and his mind felt like a dark, hollow land. I stumbled around in search of him, but there was only emptiness. What had driven Oliver to this place?
“You know how this works,” the voice murmured. “All of the pain can stop, and we can go about our lives. All you need to do is answer a simple question. Where is it?”
From somewhere near Oliver’s head, there came a clinking sound. The moment I heard it, I knew what was coming. I could picture exactly what Lucifer was doing and which tools he was touching.
Just as the devil loved his witches, he loved his shiny toys, too. He liked how they dug into flesh, making it tear and bleed.
I knew all this about him, because I’d felt it, too. For one night, I had luxuriated in Lucifer’s torture chambers and basked in Belanor’s pain like it was paradise. I’d done everything I had seen Lucifer do with those tools, and more.
But why do this to Oliver? How had he “displeased” Lucifer?
Whatever the devil wanted to know, Oliver wasn’t giving an inch. I could feel lingering whispers of pain throughout his body. Lucifer must’ve stopped for a while to let him heal, and now here they were, back at it again. And I was about to get a front row seat.
If I’d had a stomach, it would have rolled at the thought.
Suddenly I couldn’t bear to just sit there and do nothing, regardless of what Oliver had done. I wanted him to suffer … but not like this. I wouldn’t wish Lucifer on my worst enemy.
Lie, I urged Oliver. But we weren’t in our dreamscape, and whatever connection we shared didn’t seem to let us hear each other. Oliver didn’t acknowledge me, and he stayed hidden in the barren wasteland.
“Very well.” Lucifer’s face appeared within Oliver’s line of sight.
Beauty sharpened to a blade, all angles and allure.
His eyes met ours, and somehow, I felt colder.
There was absolutely nothing within those depths as he continued, “I will remind you once again that this can stop at any point. The power is in your hands, Beast. Let us begin.”
Oliver still said nothing, but I felt something stir in the wasteland.
It wasn’t fear—it was sorrow. Oliver gazed up at the glass ceiling and imagined what it would be like, flying that high.
He’d only been amongst the clouds of the dreamscape, a place where nothing counted.
Oliver would’ve liked to do one thing that counted before he died.
You’re not dying, I tried to tell him. I knew Lucifer, and he would never kill the Beast as long as it was still useful to him. And if Oliver had valuable information, Lucifer would never give up trying to get it out of him.
I remembered the question he’d asked at the start of this dream that wasn’t a dream. Where is it?
My focus sharpened. What was the devil looking for? Did this have something to do with the killings, or the mark Laurie’s spies had found in those faraway crops?
Lucifer gazed down at Oliver with a calculating tilt to his mouth. I recognized that look. Suddenly I was glad Oliver was in that distant place. It would help him bear what was about to happen.
Barely a second after I’d had the thought, something sharp sliced up the length of Oliver’s arm.
His skin began to sizzle instantly, and smoke rose from his flesh as if Lucifer had touched him with acid.
But Oliver held fast to his silence, twitching from the agonizing pain.
The Dark Prince bent and put his mouth next to Oliver’s ear.
“I’m going to skin you alive,” he whispered.
And then Oliver began to scream.