Raith had just left Kaelem. Why was he summoning him back so quickly?

All part of his games, Raith was sure. He stomped back to the dining room despite his annoyance.

Kaelem was leaned back in his chair, sleek black shoes on the table like some troll. Did the Unseelie Court have no etiquette?

Two brownies cleared the table, stacking the empty glasses and plates on trays that they balanced above their shoulders. For such small creatures, they were strong. It had taken a while for Raith to get used to the presence of other fae creatures around the Unseelie palace. It wasn’t as if Raith had never seen low fae before. They filled the clubs in the Unseelie Court that Raith had been to on a few occasions. But low fae were prohibited from the Summer Castle. Humans were used as servants instead. High fae superiority at its finest; low fae were too beneath them to even step inside the castle to cook and to clean.

“You called?” Raith asked as the door shut behind him.

“I’m feeling generous.”

Raith checked his mental shields, making sure they were tight. He didn’t want Kaelem inside his head. “And?”

“A simple exchange of information could be mutually beneficial.” Kaelem looked out the window to the right of him, seemingly uncaring.

It was an act. It had to be. Something had changed Kaelem’s mind, otherwise he’d toy with Raith longer. “You’ll tell me what I want to know?”

Kaelem’s head turned to Raith, eyes locked with his. “If you’ll do the same for me.”

“And what information do I have?” Something about Cade? Or the Summer Court, maybe. Raith had no allegiance to the court of his upbringing anymore, but would he betray it if it got him what he wanted?

With their trays stacked full, the brownies left the room.

Kaelem waited until after the brownies were out of hearing distance, then he said, “I need to know the whereabouts of someone.”

Even this conversation was a game to Kaelem. Could he get to the point? “And who might that be?”

“Scarlett.”

Raith sucked in a breath. What did Kaelem want with Scarlett?

Kaelem continued, “She was different after the battle, wasn’t she?”

“Yes.”

“I’d given her a pill to help her, should she choose to take the risk.”

That was what had changed Scarlett! Raith had noticed she was different, but he didn’t know why. “Maybe she didn’t take it.” Kaelem may not have known she took it. Raith didn’t want him to know. Taking something from Kaelem might make Scarlett owe him something in return. Fae bargains had many forms, not all of which were obvious.

“She did. I felt it.”

What kind of pill was it? “So what if she did. What’s it matter to you now?”

“The pill I gave her changed any part of her that was human to fae. She’ll be experiencing power she doesn’t know how to handle. She’ll need my help to learn to control it.”

Raith should have checked on her. He was an ass. She’d nearly died saving him and he’d just left. He could go back now and help her. Better him than Kaelem.

“You’re thinking you could go to her instead,” Kaelem said.

Raith checked his mental shields. Still up.

“No, I’m not in your head,” Kaelem said. “But seeing inside the minds of others taught me how people think. You could help her, sure. But then I’d never give you what you want.”

Raith knew what he should do. He should walk out of the Unseelie Court, straight to Scarlett. He may never get the answers he wanted, but at least he’d know he did the right thing. If, by chance, Scarlett didn’t owe Kaelem anything for the pill, staying away from him was her best option. Nothing good came from ‘help’ from the Unseelie Court.

Raith would be wise to follow his own advice. The desire to know about his mother burned through him, a thirst needing quenched. But bargaining with Kaelem? He knew it was a bad idea.

“You won’t be able to help her like I can.” Kaelem pulled his legs from the table and straightened his posture in his chair. “She’s part Unseelie.”

“How do you know?”

“If she didn’t have Unseelie blood in her, the pill wouldn’t have worked,” Kaelem said. “I could sense it in her the moment I met her.”

But Scarlett could heal and that was a Seelie Court gift.

Seelie and Unseelie? The two courts despised each other. It was unheard of for a member of either court to mate. It didn’t surprise him that an Unseelie fae would break the rule, but defying the rule of the Seelie court never ended well for the fae who dared. How had Scarlett ended up with the blood of both in her system? Maybe the Seelie Court didn’t know. Somehow, Scarlett’s abilities had been masked from her until she entered Faerie. Had it kept her powers hidden from the Seelie Court as well?

Raith considered telling Kaelem about Scarlett’s healing gift, but decided against it.

“So what will it be, Summer Prince? You get what you came here for and I’ll help Scarlett learn her new gifts. Do we have a deal?”

If Kaelem wanted Scarlett, he’d find her, especially if she had Unseelie blood in her. Raith could attempt to leave now and find Scarlett and, what, go on the run? Summer fae had powerful magic, sure, but since their magic had been bound, it was limited. Raith didn’t know how much Scarlett had now. Kaelem would be a better teacher for Scarlett.

If he truly wanted to help her.

But why did he want to teach her? That was the part that had Raith bothered. Kaelem never did anything out of the generosity of his heart. It was always a game or a ploy. But this was Raith’s chance. Every inch of him longed to learn more about his mother. Kaelem played games, but he wasn’t a liar. If he said he could lead Raith on the right path, then Raith believed him.

“I’ll tell you where she is, and you’ll tell me what you know about my mother?”

“Yes.”

Raith could come back for Scarlett. She could learn what she needed from Kaelem and, eventually, Raith would find her again.

“Deal.”

Scarlett sat at her computer desk and stared at the pen sitting on her closed laptop. She imagined it rising into the air, flying toward her bed, then landing gently on its fluffy gray comforter.

Nothing happened.

Ugh.

She gave a frustrated scream. The pen flew across the room until it hit the colorful mandala tapestry pinned to the wall then dropped to the ground.

“Having problems?” a familiar voice said behind her.

Kaelem.

Scarlett twirled her chair around. Kaelem stood in front of the door, wearing lavender dress pants, a white shirt with its sleeves rolled, and a gray tie. His navy hair was waved perfectly, still chin length on one side, the other now shaved. The Christmas lights hanging around the room illuminated Kaelem from above, making him look almost angelic.

What perfect hair. So luscious and…

Stop. God. Not this again. Scarlett pulled her thoughts in.

“Still think I’m pretty, I see.”

“Get out of my head.”

“I will, for now, but you need to learn how to keep me out.”

“What do you want?”

Kaelem smirked. “No, ‘Hi there, thanks for the pill that saved my life?’ I’m hurt.” He placed his hands over his heart and puckered his lower lip, tilting his head downward to look up at her through his thick, dark lashes.

He was right. The pill Scarlett took had given her enough strength to heal herself then Raith. Without it, they’d have been banshee food. “Thank you. But I imagine you had your reasons.”

She wasn’t an idiot. She’d known he’d find her someday. There was no way he’d given her the pill for no reason. That wasn’t how the fae world worked, and from what Cade had told her, the Unseelie Court was the most selfish and ruthless of them all. The chances that Kaelem had helped her solely out of the goodness of his heart were slim.

“Smart girl,” Kaelem said. “I like to make things interesting, and you are quite that.” He sauntered to her bed, sat down, then lounged back against her pillows. “I have a feeling you’ve been feeling powerful lately.”

Scarlett crossed her arms in front of her chest to hide the effect seeing him in bed had on her. Dirty thoughts kept sneaking into her mind, but she kept throwing them out. What was he talking about? Oh, yeah. Her feeling powerful. “Yes.”

“You’re fae now, whether you like it or not, and you need to learn how to control your power.”

She had been practicing. She’d learned how to glamour her ears on her own. If he’d really wanted to help, he’d have come to her sooner. Why the sudden interest in her well-being? “I’m managing.”

“You wanted that pen to fly into the wall?”

“Yep.”

“It’s only going to get worse. Your magic is still growing. Your power will get stronger. You need my help.”

Scarlett wanted to argue, but she remembered the pizza incident. She hadn’t consciously tried to get the pizza to move. She’d been so angry with the guy, it just happened. Her moods were more volatile all the time. What if she wished something really bad? What if Ashleigh made her mad? Scarlett and Ashleigh had gotten along great lately, but, heaven knew, they were capable of arguing.

But Scarlett wouldn’t hurt her own sister. No. She would just need to practice controlling herself and she’d be fine. She may be full fae now, but she didn’t want to be a part of that world. Not anymore.

“No, thanks.”

Kaelem pulled a sapphire out of his pocket, nearly two inches in diameter, and set it on the bed. “If you change your mind, squeeze it and think of me really hard.” He winked, then disappeared.

Had he meant for that to sound as dirty as it did? Scarlett was sure he did. Perv.

She went to her bed and picked up the jewel. The light shining through her window caused it to sparkle. Energy radiated from it—magic of some sort.

Scarlett put the sapphire in the back of her desk drawer and slammed it shut.

She wouldn’t need to use it.

She hoped.