That last spell took a lot out of me, more than likely because I haven’t fed in a while. I’m weakening. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop trying to protect Raven. Back before the curse, it used to be mine and Kingsley’s job to protect her. Raven was always doing things that’d get her into trouble—all of us did—but when it all came down to it, Kingsley and I did everything to make sure that, at the end of the night, she was okay, even if we had to suffer for it. Countless times Kingsley and I took the fall for something the three of us did. Raven being her sweet, kind, and caring self, tried to take the blame. But it was two against one so she rarely got her way, at least when it came to that. Everything else, though—everything she wanted—we tried to give her. Except on that final night when the curse was created. That night Kingsley and I were selfish. That night not only did we not think about what Raven wanted, we took away everything we’d ever given her.

And to this night, I hate myself for it. Which is why I’ll do—and keep doing—everything I can to protect her. I just wish all of my choices were mine so I could protect her better, but I can feel that the queen still has a bit of control over me.

Blood drips down my nose as I finish the freezing spell. I move to hurry and wipe it away with my hand before Kingsley notices, but apparently being weak means moving slower than I normally do.

“You need to take it easy on the spells.” He eyeballs the blood on my hand. “Well, either that or feed.”

“Feed on who exactly?” I question as I scoop Raven’s frozen body up in my arms. “Because we don’t have any blood supply on us and Harper isn’t an option unless I want to go mad.” Yeah, unfortunately, when a vampire drinks faerie blood there’s a risk that they could go mad due to the type of magic flowing in feys' veins. That only leaves Dex since vampires can’t feed off a vampire from their own bloodlines, but…” I lower my voice. “Dex won’t do much for me—as the king, you know I need more powerful blood. And Dex is… well, Dex. He’s never been very powerful. Does he have a good eye for style? Absolutely. But that’s about it.” I wipe the rest of the blood off my nose then carefully stand up with Raven in my arms.

“Yeah, I know. And honestly, what you need is…” he trails off, glancing toward Raven.

I quickly shake my head. “There’s no way I could ever feed off of her without her permission. Plus, she’s weak right now. Drinking from her could finish her off.”

“I know. And I’d rather you not drink from her while she’s like this, but…” He pauses as we start hiking through the snow again, which is now so deep it reaches the tops of my knees. “Eventually, you’re going to have to either find a way to get her to let you feed off her or find someone to feed off of like an Empress or another creature that’s powerful, or else you’re never going to rebuild your strength. And you need to be strong if we want to keep on fighting the queen. And with how things are looking, we’re probably going to also have to fight a damn army of Created as well.”

“Created?”

“What else are we going to call them? No one has ever taken the time to officially name them.”

“True.” I squint against the snow to keep my gaze on Dex and Harper up ahead. “I guess Created works.”

“Glad I have your approval, my king.” He bows his head and shoots me a smirk.

“You should be glad,” I quip, adjusting my body to the side to block the wind from directly hitting Raven.

“Always am.”

We grow quiet after that, focusing on moving forward, fighting our way against the blizzard. Every so often, I peer behind us to see if we’re being followed, but I can barely see and honestly, if anything is behind us, I won’t realize it until right before we’re attacked. Usually, I can rely on my other senses, like my hearing and sense of smell, to detect when other creatures are nearby. But the wind is howling too loudly and the smell of dust and snow engulfs my nostrils. We’re basically walking around blind and completely vulnerable, not just to the Created but to the moonlight creatures as well.

Sure, not every creature in this world is evil, but an extremely high abundance of them have gone insane from their power. And somewhere in the land, and I’m sure eventually we’ll discover where, a war is occurring. I’m not sure what’ll happen when we run into any of the creatures, good or evil. Kingsley seems convinced Raven will be able to persuade them to fight for us, that her blood tie to this world will be enough to convince some of the creatures to help us fight the queen. I hope so, but I’m worried. Not only could any creature be working for the queen, but Raven’s father is also banished from the Land of Moonlight for reasons that are unknown to almost everyone except his wife and my parents. The fact that they won’t tell us probably means it’s bad.

That is, unless Kingsley knows more than he’s telling me, which wouldn’t be the first time.

“Wait a second…” Kingsley mumbles, surveying the stretch of snowy field in front of us. “I think I see something.”

I tense, reaching for my sword. “What?”

“I think I see…” He relaxes, straightening, his grip on his sword loosening. “A forest.”

I track his gaze and sure enough, just ahead of Harper and Dex, the snowy field fizzles out into towering trees that rise toward the stormy sky. “And that’s a good thing because?”

“Because it’s not the same damn field we’ve been staring at for over a night now.” He quickens his pace, taking long strides.

“But we don’t know what’s in there,” I warn as I rush after him. “You know as well as I do that anything can be hiding in a forest.” It’s where the fey queen first discovered that Raven and I, the soon-to-be king, were more than friends. And where the curse happened. Where Raven forgot everything.

Where I betrayed everyone I love.

“We’ll be on guard,” Kingsley poises his sword in front of him. “But it’ll also give us shelter from the storm and from being spotted.” He slows down as he nears the line of the forest, while Harper and Dex stroll right on in. “I hate that we’ve been out in the open yet we can’t see a damn thing. For all we know, we could be being watched right now.”

“I know. But that still doesn’t mean I’m thrilled to be going into an unknown forest.” I pause. “Too much bad shit has happened in forests.”

“Yeah, I know.” He throws a glance at me and then at Raven. “A lot of good stuff has happened there too, though.”

True. Back before the curse, Raven, Kingsley, and I spent a lot of time in the forest near our houses, hanging out, getting into trouble, and making plans of our futures. Teasing Raven was one of mine and Kingsley's favorite things to do. Kingsley was usually the instigator, but I’d play along too. Fortunately, Raven would too. She was good at that—dealing with us, our occasional moodiness, and our constant joking around. It’s why we both fell in love with her, even though Kingsley will never admit it. But I know he loves her, has for a while, since before the curse.

“Are you guys coming in or what?” Harper calls out from the trees. “Seriously, vampires are as slow as fungus demons. And about as attractive as them too.”

Kingsley’s lip curls. “Okay, I know it was my idea to bring her into this mess, but she’s really starting to get on my nerves.”

“Well, you did make fun of her skipping,” I remind him. “Pixies pride themselves on their skipping abilities. You should know better than to go there.”

“She was moving too slow,” Kingsley grits through his teeth. “Skipping is slow.”

“Skipping is awesome,” Harper snarls. “It’s vampires who are slow… In the head.”

“That’s it.” He storms forward with his sword positioned in front of him.

I bite back a laugh as I follow him into the trees, my gaze scanning the area as snow falls from the branches and onto my head. Nothing about this is really funny, but Kingsley rarely gets pissed off. Usually, he’s cheery even during times he shouldn’t be, so seeing him like this, all because a half faerie, half pixie called him slow in the head, is pretty fucking amusing. It makes me wonder why she’s able to get under Kingsley’s skin. Harper has been part of the curse since the beginning, and for the most part, she’s been extremely friendly. So where is this animosity suddenly coming from? From Kingsley insulting her skipping? Or is there more to it?

Shit, did he fuck her?

Fuck, I hope not, but that does kind of sound like something my brother would do.

“Oh good, you managed to find your way through the trees,” Harper sneers as Kingsley and I approach her. Dex is off to the side, leaning against a tree, his eyes half shut, as if he’s about to pass out from exhaustion. “I was worried that maybe your stupid vampire brains weren’t going to be able to figure it out.”

Kingsley stalks up to her, only stopping when he’s right in her face. “What’s your deal? Because you’re starting to act as bitchy as Nadine.”

“My deal is you’re completely ungrateful.” She pokes him in the chest then reels around and marches further into the trees, muttering, “Insulting my skipping, saying it’s slow, when I’m busting my ass and risking my life to help you out. How dare you, Kingsley, you ungrateful… Ogre.”

“Oh, she so did not go there.” Kingsley chases after her, throwing down his sword.

That’s when it hits me, the realization that their fighting might not be under their own freewill. Because if there’s one thing I can be certain of, it’s that Kingsley would never abandon his weapon if it meant risking Raven getting hurt. And since we’re currently being hunted by the Created…

Shit, something is going on.

Something I’m betting has to do with the queen.