KARIS

“Apologize to Lady Karis. Now,” Finean upbraided in a voice that made my skin crawl. The scent of something deadly entered the room, clean and strong, like pure energy. I knew who I was now, and why Loftin had stuck with me for so long. And why everything in Faery was telling me not to trust him. My heart broke a little as the Leancan and Finean squared off.

Alistair inclined his head to me. “I offer you my sincerest apology, my Lady.”

“You didn’t hurt me.” Although he had thought about it, and the closer he leaned to me, the more rapidly my heart had called out to him, pumping a hot stream of blood through my veins and arteries. My own body had put me in danger.

“Leave us, Alistair,” Finean growled. “But stay close.” The Leancan didn’t so much as glance at me as he strode from the room and pulled the door closed behind him.

It was strange to see the Leancan King brought down a few dozen pegs, and by a man who was stuck in a mirror.

“I’m Nemain’s daughter?”

Finean’s shoulders stiffened at the sound of her name. “How did you know?”

“I’ve had visions.”

“Your memories are returning.”

I shook my head. “That’s not what I mean. I’ve had visions, where I know I wasn’t present, but I can see what happened.”

I watched Finean and he watched me, his eyes assessing. My face, my hair—I could almost feel his fingers toying with it, and then his gaze trailed slowly down my body. My skin heated under his appraisal and I clasped my hands in front of me. Would he really think I was disgusting because of the stains on my dress, like Alistair insinuated? Even if he did, why should I care? I would have been wearing worse if I was still locked in Ironton.

He extended a hand to me and I stepped forward, mirroring his movement. “Reach into the glass,” he instructed. His silken hair was pale; not silver and not white, but a translucent shade in between.

“I can’t,” I refuted.

His lips tipped up on one side. “You can. Just will it.”

I tried, and then growled at him in frustration. I didn’t feel the dark tendrils. I didn’t know how to make it happen. I just felt…human.

“Karis,” he addressed. I finally looked into his eyes. “Tell the glass you want in. You’ll find it anything but solid.”

I squared my shoulders and regarded the mirror. Let me in. Let my hand pass.

This time, when I eased my hand toward his, I didn’t come into contact with a hard, cold surface. Instead, it felt like I’d dipped my hand into a pool of warm water. I could see my fingers extend toward his, and when he clasped mine and brought my hand up to his mouth, I saw the mirror ripple just like water around my skin. On the back of my hand, his lips left a cool imprint.

He kept hold of my fingers as he slowly stepped forward, and I backed away at the same pace, drawing him toward me. One leg stepped through the mirror and into the room, followed by the other, until Finean stood before me.

This can’t be real.

“I know you have questions,” he began softly, reaching out to touch my hair. His fingers feathered over the strands, gently smoothing it. “I’ll answer all of them for you.”

I stepped out of his reach. His words were sincere, his tone reverent. In that moment, the emotion of the arduous journey finally hit me. My world and everything in it had been upended, and I had a feeling that I’d only brushed the surface of the truth and reality that waited for me. “I feel completely lost.”

He closed his eyes for a moment. “You’re anything but lost, Karis. You are found. You’re right where you belong.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

He pulled his hand away. “You’re so beautiful it hurts,” he beseeched, rubbing his knuckles across his chest. He wore fine clothes, the black fabric of his pants crisp. His tunic was dark gray, embroidered with silver thread in a swirling pattern. He was handsome as well. His pale skin was ethereal, seemingly lit from within. Any other female, fae or human, would have fallen at his feet. But he looked like he might fall down at mine, and I didn’t understand why. “I knew you’d look like this one day.”

“Who are you? When I saw you in the lake, you knew my name. You already knew who I was.”

He smiled. “I am the King of the Court of Reflections. I’ve known you since you were a child.”

“I don’t remember anything about my childhood.” And I didn’t remember him. I was sure that if I’d seen him, I wouldn’t have forgotten.

“You will. The bits and pieces that make up your history will slowly come back to you now that you’ve reached the age of maturity.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “How do you know?”

“Because it was I who glamoured your mind.”

My fists curled into tight balls. “And did you blind me as well?”

He raised his chin slightly. “I did.”

“Why would you do that?” I asked on an exhale.

“Because it was the only way to keep you safe, Karis. If there was any other way, I swear to you, I would have taken it.”

“What were you keeping me safe from?”

“Your mother. Nemain.”

The images of the queen I saw in the visions and memories of Loftin’s conversations about a dark queen filtered into my mind.

“What do you know of her?” he asked. I didn’t answer him. The visions had been sent to me, not him, and I didn’t know him well enough to trust him with them.

“Not enough, apparently.” My knees threatened to buckle. Bile rose up, stinging the back of my throat with its sourness.

“She is evil incarnate, Karis.”

Of course she was. I brushed a tear off my cheek.

“But she does not define you. You are her exact opposite, Karis. She sought to kill you before your powers could emerge and threaten hers. I took you away before she had the chance. You were nine years old, and she’s been looking for you ever since.”

“Ten years...” My mother scoured the land for me, searching for a decade. My mother, who was evil and wanted me dead.

“Yes.”

I blew out a tense breath.

Finean shifted his weight and called out toward the door. “Alistair, bring a chair for Lady Karis.”

A moment later, the Leancan returned carrying a settee, upholstered in a deep purple brocade. I thanked him for the seat as Finean gestured for me to use it. When Alistair left us again, Finean settled beside me.

“Do you know what powers I have?”

He studied me, narrowing his eyes. “I knew what you could do before I took you away from her, but I imagine you’re capable of much more now. That’s what we need to find out. Your mother is coming for you. She wants to kill you and take your power, like she’s done to so many others. She will stop at nothing now that she knows you’re in Faery. No one and nothing is safe. There’s nowhere you can hide now. The only option is for you to learn your powers and use them to defeat her, once and for all. I can keep you hidden while you train. Alistair will help as well.”

I shook my head, gritting my teeth. “I can’t stay here. I can’t do this yet. First, I need to find Iric.”

“The human boy?”

“He left Ironton to get the smoke we thought we needed to bolster the wall. He’s here, and I don’t know how, but I feel like he’s still alive, but I don’t know for how long. I need to find him and get him home before I do anything else.”

“I’ll search for him. I, too, have a gift. If he’s in Faery, I’ll find him for you.”

“Do you give me your word?”

“Of course.”

I could finally breathe easier. It felt like a small weight had been lifted from my chest, although I wouldn’t feel steady until I knew Iric was safe, until I saw him with my own eyes.

I didn’t know if I could trust Finean yet. If he didn’t find Iric, I’d leave as soon as I could, but I wasn’t leaving Loftin behind in the lair. I knew Alistair planned to kill him. He would have already, if I hadn’t demanded to see him when I did.

“Where is Nemain?” I asked.

“She rules the Court of Ash. It’s near the center of all the courts, closest to the Court of Winter. But she rules every Unseelie in Faery. She unleashed many of the Unseelie fae onto the earth when she made her bid for power. She and her beasts have ravaged and ruined the four faery kingdoms.”

“You said she unleashed them. Where did she unleash them from?”

“Long ago, the Seelie rulers banished the Unseelie to a hellish place under a great mountain so they could no longer hurt and kill their kind. For years, the land of Faery thrived. Until Nemain came into power.”

“How did she?” I asked.

“Legend says there was a goddess called The Morrigan whose essence was split between three sisters; Badb, Macha, and Nemain. They watched over the land, chose sides to favor in the great wars of the fae, and reveled in the thrill of victory and the feel of nature at their fingertips. But one’s heart became corrupted.

“Nemain craved power. Somehow, she found a way to consume her sisters and their powers. I think she was trapped with the Unseelie, bound to the mountain, and when she grew in power, even the magic of the four courts couldn’t hold her back.

“She established her own kingdom, and for years, the rulers of the Seelie tried to appease her. But when her daughter was taken away, she went berserk and swept over those courts like a dark wave, killing everyone in her path. There is only one who can stop her now.”

“Me,” I whispered.

“Yes.”

“I’m supposed to stop a goddess?”

“I don’t think she’s truly a goddess,” he observed carefully, watching me out of the corner of his eye.

“What is she?”

“I think she’s something else, something ancient and powerful, but not a goddess. She might be one of the first fae, from a time before the division of the Seelie and Unseelie. I think she just sided with the Unseelie after the divide, and after, she was trapped with them.”

Oh, for faery’s sake. So my mother was some sort of ancient evil creature who was preying upon the land. Of course she was. And I was her offspring. The people of Ironton were right all along. Those names I thought were slurs were simply truths. Their gut instincts saw right through Finean’s glamour, potent as it was.

“It troubles you to have come from her, but you aren’t like her. Do you know why she wanted to kill you when you were only a child?”

“No.” I had no idea. My fingers twisted into the fabric of my skirts as I awaited his explanation.

“You have something she doesn’t. Something she needs.”

“What’s that?”

“You have every power she possesses, as well as its exact opposite to counteract her darkness. You’re stronger than she will ever be, unless you refuse to fight. Make no mistake – she is coming for you. Now that she knows you’re here, she’ll stop at nothing to find you. I took you away so you could mature, learn your power, and ultimately defeat her. And I believe you can.”

My eyes flashed to his. I sounded like a monster. “But you didn’t teach me about my powers,” I countered bitterly. “You blinded me and hid me among the powerless.” What a hypocrite.

A muscle ticked in his jaw.

“Did you glamour Iric into caring for me?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I didn’t have to. The boy found you while you were trying to find your way just inside the wall.”

“How did I get inside? I thought it was impenetrable to the fae.”

“It isn’t impenetrable to the one who made it, Karis. You made the wall around Ironton. I simply multiplied the illusion, but your magic was so powerful, the domes were nothing but a trick of the eye. Every dome held your magic and kept the fae out of the human cities. Add that to your list of powers,” he joked, taking my hand in his and stroking the back of it. I pulled it away from him.

“You couldn’t enter into Ironton to glamour him, could you?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t expect you to lock me out after you made the dome, though I’m glad he found you. And as hard as it is for you to hear it, I’m glad you wound up in the Trenches. I know your life wasn’t easy. I watched you through Vivica’s mirror, and through all the mirrors you passed on the way through the market, in front of the homes in the Trenches.

Did you know that the humans think the fae hate their own reflections? I might have been the one who planted that seed. It was easy to persuade them, even through the mirrors. Especially the Governor. That man is ridiculously easy to sway.”

“I thought the walls had been there for hundreds of years.” It was what we’d grown up understanding.

“Humans are so easy to manipulate, Karis. I was the one who gave them their histories and superstitions.”

“Did you tell them about the iron? Is that why my head wanted to explode from the incessant ringing of the tinkling bells?’

He smiled. “No, some things they already knew. That was one I left alone. Though maybe for your sake, I shouldn’t have.”

My brows pulled together. “Why were you glad I was in the Trenches? Why not the Slopes? And why did you blind me?”

He slowly stood up, pulling me to stand with him. “Karis, the people on the Slopes are wolves. They form packs where the strongest leads and the others mindlessly follow commands. You are neither a follower nor a leader. You are an Asper. No one can command you. No one leads you. No one is strong enough to.”

“My mother is,” I whispered, considering our still-clasped hands. I tried to pull away, but he held tight.

“No, she isn’t. If anything, your blindness and the cruelty it brought with it, as well as your difficult life in the Trenches, made you strong. You see, battles can be waged on the highest of slopes. But wars are won in the trenches. You are a warrior, Karis. And it will be my great honor to fight at your side as you end your mother’s reign of terror.”

I pulled my hands out of his. “You didn’t answer my question. Why did you have to blind me?”

“Because if you could see, if you remembered who you were, you might have inadvertently disintegrated the dome and your mother would’ve found you. I literally had to keep you in the dark, because you always saw too much. You would have seen through the glamour and figured out that you were different, and you would have known you were fae.”

“Why should I fight her? Why should I help you?” I asked.

“Do you want Iric and his brothers to be safe?”

“Of course,” I breathed.

“Nemain is coming for you. She will find you, and if you don’t fight back, if you don’t win, she’ll take your magic. She’ll dissolve the walls you erected around them and slaughter them all. Faery will continue to rot until there’s nothing left, and Nemain will never die. She’ll be the most powerful creature to ever live if she takes your power. Nothing will be able to stop her then.”

I could feel it in my bones that he was being honest. She was coming for me. Since I felt the shadow and saw the one stretch over the land, I’d sensed something dark and dangerous nipping at my heels.

Devils on her heel. Her skin they’ll peel.

How did I know I could trust him, though? He might have hidden me to keep me safe, but blinding me? I still didn’t understand why he did that.

“Where do you live? How do you travel through mirrors? And how did you find me at the lake?”

He folded his hands behind his back. “I live in the Court of Reflections, somewhere I can’t take you yet, but promise to one day. I travel through mirrors and can see through any surface that reflects. And I can find you anywhere because we are linked. One day, I’ll explain more about that, but not tonight. I have an urgent matter to attend to, and you should get some rest. Tomorrow, I’d like you to start training.”

“Training to learn about my powers?”

“That, and you need to train your body physically. Alistair and a few trusted men can help you.”

The Leancan made me nervous. If Alistair had overpowered me and helped himself to me earlier, I wouldn’t be standing here.

“I want Loftin to help, too,” I argued stubbornly.

“Ah, Loftin.” The King of Reflections’ countenance darkened upon hearing Loftin’s name. “How long have you known him?”

“Not very long.”

“Why is it that you trust him instead of the Leancan?”

“The King of the Leancan was going to eat me a few minutes ago,” I reminded him.

“That’s fair, though I still hope we can both earn your trust. Where is Loftin right this minute?” he asked very slowly.

“In my room, and if you want to earn my trust and want me to stay here to train, you’ll find Iric. Otherwise, I’m leaving at the first opportunity.”

“That wouldn’t be wise,” he warned.

“All the more reason for you to find him, then.”

If you held a piece of ice long enough, the cold would burn your skin. Finean’s eyes, silver like ice, burned me as they held my gaze before he stalked across the room and flung open the door.

I ran after him. Alistair was in the corridor. Finean lifted the Leancan King off his feet, clasping his jaw. The Leancan’s eyes widened. “I want to see Loftin,” he growled.

Alistair’s eyes flicked to mine before Finean released him. “I’ll take you to him,” he granted calmly, tugging his jacket into place. Alistair had said he wouldn’t hurt me because I was dear to someone, someone he wouldn’t dare cross. Someone more powerful than he was. I was pretty sure in that moment, it was Finean he spoke of.

I also knew that a Leancan’s hunger could make him reckless, despite being threatened.

* * *

LOFTIN

The door crashed open and slammed into the wall behind it. The motion was so swift, the torch on the wall was extinguished by the breeze.

Finean stood in the doorway. When he stepped into the room, Karis squeezed around him and put herself between the two of us while Alistair stood in the doorway, watching the events unfold with a smile. He ticked his head at Bryony, who quickly left the room.

“Move,” Finean growled at Karis.

My strength hadn’t returned and I struggled to sit up, but she stood her ground. Panting, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and tried to stand. My knees shook under my weight.

“Get out,” she directed sternly.

Finean pinched his lips together. “I said move.”

“And I told you to get out of my room,” she retorted just as calmly. “You aren’t going to hurt him. I won’t allow it.”

“You won’t allow—”

The flames in the torches rose, flickering and licking at the walls until they touched the tall ceilings. “Get. Out,” she enunciated.

He watched the flames warily, but wisely didn’t step any farther into the room.

With her hands on her hips, she addressed the King of Reflections. “I don’t know what happened between you two in the past, although from your reaction, I gather it wasn’t pleasant, but I need you to put the past aside and help me. My terms are that you find Iric and bring him to me safely, or I’m leaving in the morning to find him myself. And Loftin is coming with me.”

“The Leancan are charged with protecting you,” he gritted. “You don’t need him.”

“They can also feed from me. I’m in as much danger here with them as I am out in the open. Actually, here, I’m even closer to the threat. I’ve seen the way they watch the pulse in my neck, Finean. I may have been blind, but I see perfectly now, and I’m no fool. I know that in this place, I’m the prey.”

Finean narrowed his eyes. “Not for long. Look at your power.” He glanced toward the flames that still burned tall and bright. In an instant, they calmed.

“Find Iric and I’ll stay. You can train me. I’ll work with you. But only if Loftin is given the same protection you give me.”

“You don’t know who he is.”

I growled, stumbling forward. Karis caught me, bringing my arm across her shoulders and hefting my weight.

She stood as tall as she could while shouldering me. “I know exactly who he is, and believe me, he has a hell of a lot of explaining to do.”

I tensed. She knew?

“But I won’t have his death on my hands.”

Finean was still for a moment. “You aren’t leaving until I say so.”

“We’ll see about that,” she smarted.

“And he’s not staying in your chamber.”

“Yes, he is. When we first got here, they separated us and put him in chains. That’s not happening again.”

“It isn’t proper.”

“I don’t care,” she retorted. “I lived with a human male for ten years. We slept in the same room.”

“That was different. Iric views you as a sister.” His cool eyes flicked to me. “Loftin does not.”

“I don’t care how he sees me,” she growled.

I could hear her heart pound as Finean turned on his heel and left the room, shoving Alistair out of his way.