“Ravenna, Penelope is still asleep. I know we got her to the surface, why doesn’t she wake?” I panted and braced with my hands on my hips. That Fae that went into the pit, what did she say about the ward before they punished her?” Ravenna had spoken with my father in private, then dragged me back to the healers’ wing before I could ask him any more questions about Pen’s confessed attacker.

The healer looked at me with pity in her eyes. “You still have much to learn about Fae justice and politics, Princess.”

“Did they even ask?”

She shook her head. “Knowing light court politics, they likely refused to let her speak, so as not to implicate a member of the royal family.”

I punched the wall and swore as pain ripped through my knuckles. “I’m getting the answers I need to heal her completely, and I’m getting her the hell out of here.”

“I did my best, Morgan.”

I nodded. “I know. But you work under constraints that I don’t have to. After all, if I get banned from Fairy forever, I still have a home. When there’s nothing to lose, the only excuse for inaction is cowardice.”

Ravenna laughed, a tinkling of bells in the stark white hallway. “No one will ever accuse you of that, Princess.”

I left her there, watching over her wisps and the few Fae who needed her, not to save their long lives, but to strengthen their glamor. Yet I had heard nothing among all the gossip floating around the halls of my father’s mansion of high Fae magic failing.

They’ve convinced themselves it’s not happening, that their magic is as strong as ever. But any outsider can see that wild magic is being chased out of Fairy. That’s why I’m a danger to these people. Not because my wild magic is tainted, but because I’m proof that power is hemorrhaging from Fairy more as they tighten their fists around it.

“Thank you for your help, Ravenna.”

“You remind me of the humans I once lived with. They were fierce and passionate about saving people too. Of course, they were all doctors,” she chuckled, “I can’t imagine what they’d have thought if they knew I was a millennium older than all their ages put together.”

“You don’t sound like some of the older Fae.”

“I also like romance movies and pop music. Some Fae recognize the strength we gain from humanity. Others are still getting over the rejection of losing our status as gods and refuse to admit we need humans more than they need us.”

“You’re a better healer for it, Ravenna. I’ll come back to you once Penelope regains consciousness.”

“Please. I’d like to know what fiendish trap was laid for a witch/Fae. I might need that information in the future.”

I didn’t tell her how disheartening it was to know she was already considering future attacks she might heal me from. Penelope had taken the worst hit aimed at me up till then. My stomach cramped up thinking about what I’d say to her when she was better.

But at least she would get better. The worst was over, and I wouldn’t rest until I figured out how to get her back. With the pack, and maybe even my new hybrid friend, Penelope would be fine. My cousin will not if he continues down this path.

My phone buzzed at me, Grayson had arrived with the cavalry. My father had refused him entrance, explaining that Fairy would enslave or even kill non-Fae who tried to enter. The tattoo that had burned itself into my leg gave me, even more, doubt Gray and the shifters fell under the ‘non-Fae' category at all.

I jogged back toward the front of the manor, wishing that there was a magical shortcut to take. As if I’d made the request aloud, a door appeared ahead of me. Thank you, mind-reading fairy, I quipped silently. But that was how the mound was supposed to work, at least the old ones in the history books did. Every need of the Fae was provided by the wild magic of Fairy, from gardens overflowing with varieties of fruit never seen by human eyes, to doorways, to even sunshine and starlight.

The last were why Father’s home was above ground in America. The sun had stopped shining underground. The high Fae were forced to live almost human lives, growing their own food by the light of the same mundane yellow star as the people who had once worshipped them.

Gray was pacing the courtyard when I got to him. I imagined the gravel beneath his feet being ground to dust as he waited for me. “Hey there, good-looking. You waiting for someone in particular or can I have a little of your time?”

“Oh, God, Morgan. I was beginning to worry. Where’s Pen? Are they bringing her out?”

I kissed him soundly. “I need your help to get her, but yes, she’s resting comfortably in my,” I paused and swallowed a sigh. “The room I’ve been assigned.”

He stared at the arched double doors in silence until I nudged his elbow. “Will Fairy itself really keep me from entering?”

I shrugged and followed his gaze. “On the upside, only Fairy can keep you out. No Fae can usurp that power for their own gain.”

With a deep breath and an exhale that sounded suspiciously like a sigh, Grayson stepped on the lowest stone stair leading up to the doors. Ahead of us, they opened in a yawn that made him hesitate before continuing. He paused again at the opening, staring into the blackness that hid Fairy from any mortal sight. It had been unsettling to me when I first stepped through, but I hadn’t had any doubt that I belonged. I couldn’t imagine what Gray was feeling.

“Take my hand, Gray, there’s no shame in it.” I threaded my fingers through his and stepped into the darkness, which dissipated immediately. It was like stepping through a sheet of black tissue paper, gone and forgotten the second you took that step.

Gray hung back a moment longer, and I wondered if he could see me since I held onto him, or if it looked like his arm was missing from the elbow down. One more heartbeat and he was panting and swallowing hard, inside the wide front hall.

“See? I knew you’d be accepted.”

“Your palm’s damp.” The extra gravel in his voice betrayed his relief.

“I was ninety-nine percent sure.”

Finally, I caught the ghost of a smile from him. "Let's just get Pen and get out of here, before Fairy changes its mind." He didn't move, and I realized he was waiting for me to lead him. I tugged his hand to my left and escorted him down the corridors toward the guest quarters Pen, and I had occupied.

I couldn’t make myself stop prattling about the art on the walls. Famous Fae had posed as humans, worshipped as geniuses and celebrities when they could no longer gain power from acolytes as gods.

The world moved forward, leaving my people behind. Those like Ravenna, who adapted to human life, have gained power, while the rest clutch desperately at what little they have.

“The Fae who set the ward, Gray, she’s in a literal pit they use as a prison, and she refused to name my cousin for his part in it.”

“Loyalty, or fear?”

"I wish I knew." I thought for a moment and grabbed his arm, pulling him closer to me. "I can go down and ask her." His eyebrows drew together, eyes darkening with concern or the beginning of anger, but he didn't answer. "I need the answer to what exactly happened to her before we can take her out of here. I don't want to carry her out that door, just to find out that Fairy was keeping her alive."

He shuddered, the fine tremor of his disgust made me shrink back. “Morgan, honey. Don’t do that. It’s us against them, remember? Not me against you.”

The light in the hallway brightened slightly, reminding me of the wisps. In Fairy, there were tiny ears all around. "But not us against Fairy, just the high Fae that are making the magic fade, I know." He arched an eyebrow at me, and I glanced up at the tiny floating lights above us.

“I don’t want you going into a pit to get your answers. Surely there’s someone else who can…magically discern what happened?”

“Probably, Gray, but they’ve closed ranks. No one is talking, not even to their own healer.” The softly lit hallway with its priceless works of art no longer drew my eye. Damnable glamor. Even Fairy itself is vain. I didn't tell him that I'd been under the influence of fairy glamor, he was too twitchy even to suggest magic could infiltrate his reality without realizing it.

“This pit, are there magical monsters in it? Do I have to worry that you’ll get eaten by a dragon or turned into a flower by some mischievous elf?”

But the Fae prison might have been the safest place for me to venture inside Fairy. There were no cells and no weapons. It was a magicless colony where Fae were left to fade without the wild magic that kept them alive and healthy. It had to be terrifying for them, and I sure as hell wasn't planning a long stay for myself.

Grayson clenched his jaw but executed his protest in stony silence as we walked the rest of the way to the guest wing, a corridor that Millie told me could make itself as long as needed, adding rooms as more guests arrived. No room was added for Gray, either because the magic knew he had no intention of sleeping so near full-blooded Fae, or because Fairy herself was less prudish than her king, who had expressly forbidden my “shifter lover” from sharing my bed in his kingdom.

“I’ll go with you,” he was still arguing when we reached the throne room.”

"No, you will not. I need you topside, so there's no chance I just get conveniently forgotten down there."

He growled, and power began to rise off him in hot waves. "I'm getting you both out of here, and if I have my way, your father will have to beg you to return."

A mental image formed, my father, in sandals and khaki shorts, scanning the crowd at the Oakland airport terminal looking for me. “Hey, maybe he can come stay with us sometime.” Gray didn’t laugh.

Finally understanding my place in the politics of Fairy, I forced my way into the throne room and called out for silence among the bickering advisors that huddled in small groups arguing law or why I could still gain admittance to the manor.

"I need you to call the pit, please, Father," I shouted across the room. It did the job of ending the cacophony of dialogue, and a dozen pairs of eyes stared at me in equal parts annoyance and shock. "I understand you wish to protect the Fae who tried to kill me," I continued. "We'll have to settle that later. For now, I need to speak to the one who set the ward so I can heal my friend."

“I will not…”

“Stop, Father. That is an unacceptable answer, which if you persist, I must take to the governing body of this country.”

He knew I worked for law enforcement but hadn't understood when I explained my job, that bounty hunters had limited authority. I hoped that he still inflated my personal importance and power, enough to make him acquiesce. Gray stiffened next to me, probably thinking about how much it would cost to bail me out if my father decided to call my bluff.

"Very well. Take her to the Hall of immortality and lower her into the pit." Even for me, he wouldn't watch. I exhaled hard, biting back my anger. He'd given me what I wanted, yet I couldn't explain why his lack of concern for me stung so much. We were strangers connected only by the DNA he'd contributed to my makeup. I wanted him to care, for some living being with my blood and my chromosomes to give a shit about me.

“Do you want me to report back to you?”

He shrugged the careless lift and fall off one shoulder, barely moving the long hair that swept behind him. Beside me, the waves of metaphysical power were hot enough to scald my skin where it brushed against me. The cat was pacing just under Gray's skin, and I could see it in the place where I conjured my magic, just behind my eyelids. His indignation calmed me, reminded me that I wasn't alone. I had chosen a far better family than I'd been given at birth.

"Then I won't bother you. Thanks for…what I've learned here, Father." I prayed that Gray was enough of a presence to prevent anyone from stranding me in the prison. I headed toward and followed the guard from the room, my boyfriend towering over me, his heat still warming my back long after I felt the cat's pacing and agitation slow to a manageable level.

A rough, musty smelling rope vanished a few feet into the hole in the center of the room, devoured by an unnatural darkness. Figures. The Fae don’t get to keep their magic, but they’re surrounded by a malevolent magic for all time.

The opening of the pit was several feet across, plenty of room to push a pack of your enemies in at once. It was level with the floor, with no rail or wall to keep curious onlookers from falling in, but Millie had explained that the pit wasn’t always there. The guards had to summon the opening and closed it behind new prisoners to make the room safe to walk through.

I hadn’t told Gray that, either. He was already brimming with protective rage. If he thought they could close the hole behind me, he’d never let me go. So I murmured a quick prayer, thankful at the warmth that enveloped my calf. The Goddess was in Fairy, with me, and if she wasn’t sanctioning my actions, at least she wasn’t angered by them.

Emboldened by the love of my patron deity and my guy, I took a deep breath and lowered myself to the rope climbing down it like I was in gym class. The path down was impossibly dark, and my feet banged into the ground before I realized I’d reached the bottom.

"I expected something deeper, and at least some torchlight," I muttered aloud. Instantly, flames sprang to life on the walls. More magic, what the hell?

I took one of the torches from its sconce and followed the only path out of the small, circular room I'd found myself in. My heart pounded at the moans and cries that lay in my path, and only the warmth of the Goddess' blessing kept my feet moving toward the sounds. But that was where my answers were. I forced my heart out of my throat and back into its cage and continued into the unknown, one foot in front of the other, as I felt my Fae magic leak away from me as if ahead of me was my next duel.