“Majesty?” A voice came out of the darkness, spinning me around, my stomach hurtling to the ground. I knew that voice. It couldn’t be…

A figure ran out of the shadows, his face twisted with worry, but his clothes and face looked perfect, as if he stepped out of the pages of GQ.

“Torin?” I gaped, not ready to believe my eyes. My First Knight reached me, wrapping me in his arms, lifting me off my feet.

“Oh thank the gods, my lady. You are all right,” he mumbled into my hair. His grip squeezed the breath from me. My head was so confused. Torin looked out of place in the scene around me.

A warning growl vibrated from behind. I could feel Lorcan’s entire body going rigid, wrath smoldering underneath.

“Torin, what are you doing here?” I dropped away from him, taking a slight step back. The moment I did, Lorcan was on him, grabbing him by the collar, tossing him against the van hood.

The few dozen of DLR who remained turned toward the ruckus, their eyes wide.

“How dare you show your face, you traitor.”

“What?” Torin’s eyes widened, glancing around with confusion. “What the hell are you talking about, dweller? You guys were the ones to call us here.”

Ah. West’s “last-minute” errand.

“We just learned… The necklace…” Lorcan banged Torin’s head against the metal, claws growing from his hands. “Leading the enemy right to the Queen you swore to protect?”

At first I didn’t stop Lorcan. The betrayal I had felt after Luuk’s claim surged anew, but with one stunned expression I could sense Torin’s confusion, his intention... his innocence.

“Lorcan, stop.” I tried to tug on his arm, but it didn’t budge. “He didn’t do it.” But neither one seemed to hear me.

Torin shoved against Lorcan, fury sliding of his expression. “I would never harm her! She is my Queen! The one who saved my life... I am in love with her.”

Oh. No.

Every muscle locked in Lorcan’s body, his pupils elongating into slits. Tension pounded between us like a heartbeat. I could feel that moment, that second, before Lorcan would slip into his beast and shred Torin into cheese.

“No!” I leaped forward, diving over Torin, looking up at Lorcan. “Do not hurt him,” I snarled, needing to protect Torin as much as protecting Lorcan from doing something I would hate him for. “He is innocent. I can see it.” I reached up, my hand cupping Lorcan’s face. He flinched but took a deep breath. He closed his eyes, inhaling, releasing his grip of Torin. This time when he looked up, his eyes were back to normal.

“No,” Torin strangled out a whisper, and I twisted my head to see him taking in Lorcan and me. He stared at me, his eyes almost pleading. “Please. Tell me it’s not true. Not him.”

“I’m sorry.” The suffering in his voice ensnared mine in a twisted knot. “I never meant to hurt you.”

“Don’t.” Standing up, he looked at the ground, agony lining his forehead. “Please don’t say anything more, Majesty.”

Once again I was the cause of someone’s pain. All because I couldn’t control who I fell in love with.

Torin took a step away from me, and Lorcan countered his movement, like he was keeping him corralled.

“Lorcan, stop. He’s blameless in this.”

“Not that innocent,” Lorcan mumbled, his lip hitching up, but he took a step back.

Torin snapped to Lorcan, fury lighting his eyes. “What the hell was that for? You have her…why attack me?”

“It has nothing to do with that.” I waited to get his full attention. “The necklace you gave me. There’s a tracker in it. It was how Luuk kept finding me.”

“What?” Torin’s mouth dropped open, his eyes bugging, head shaking in disbelief. “H-how is that possible?”

“Was there anyone else who touched it besides you?”

“No…” He quickly answered, but then horror flashed over his face. “Wait, yes. I wanted it cleaned before I gave it to you.”

“Who?” Lorcan barked.

Torin’s mouth opened to answer, but a wave of magic capsized the air, punching against my skin. I whirled around, knowing without seeing, who had just arrived. It could be only one person.

Could he sincerely want me dead? How naïve. Of course he would; I was nothing but a pawn.

“It looks like you handled things here, Ms. Johnson.” The Unseelie King strolled up in one of his gorgeously tailored suits, one hand in his pocket, his two guards flanking him. Thara and Castien stood behind them.

My instinct was to run and hug Castien. Seeing him healed and back to normal was a cool salve to my bruised soul. My hand went to my heart, and he mimicked me, giving me a wink.

“I assured your knight here you can handle yourself, but he insisted on coming. Actually, he ran far ahead of us, not able to wait.” Lars’s gaze revolved methodically over the scene.

“You,” Fionna hissed at Lars, causing my head to snap to my sister. Her shoulders rolled back, and her frame twitched, going on defense. The few DLR members around her clutched their weapons tighter. Lars’s chartreuse gaze slid to her, like a snake tongue tasting the air, before returning to me.

The energy in the air crackled with fumes, ready to ignite. I just wasn’t ready for the person who lit the match.

“How could you?” Torin shouted, fury coating his tone, leaping at the newly arrived group. “I trusted you!”

Lars’s men reacted in an instant, ready to defend their King, but Torin skated past them, hurtling himself at his comrade, his best friend, taking her to the ground with a thump.

Holy shit!

“You took an oath. Have you no honor?” He grabbed for her wrists, pinning them against the gravel.

I stood dumfounded, watching Torin wrestle Thara, her expression turning defiant, almost angry. Her aura sparked with fury, hurt, and love.

“Oh my god.” I clutched my stomach, the betrayal and hurt folding my stomach in on itself. “Thara, how could you?” I asked, even though I was fully aware of the answer.

Torin.

It was written all over her. Her absolute devotion and love for him was shaded heavily with jealousy and heartache. She clamped her lips together as Torin hauled her to her feet, his fingers strangling her wrists.

“Speak when the Queen addresses you.” Torin shook her, causing her lids to change into narrow slits.

“She is not my Queen.”

Torin’s mouth gaped.

“We are fae. We should be ruled by a fae leader.” She held up her chin, her tone stoic as ever.

I took a step toward her. Lorcan reached out for me, but I continued up to her, assessing her feelings. For once she didn’t hide her aura from me.

“I see you do feel that way, but it’s not why you did it.” Sorrow burned like acid in my heart. I had truly thought of her as a friend. Someone I could trust.

Thara’s mouth twisted at my words, glancing away from me.

“I’m sorry, Thara.”

Her head snapped back to me, anger rising into her cheeks.

“Why are you apologizing to her?” Torin exclaimed. “She betrayed you! Put the tracker in the necklace so you would be killed.”

“No.” I let my seer dive deeper into her. “She didn’t want me dead.”

“Get out of my head,” she snarled.

“Then tell us, Thara. Why did you go against the crown?” Torin bristled, shaking her violently.

“She did not deserve you,” Thara spat back at Torin. “None of them did. How blind you are. She was no more in love with you than Ember was. But like a puppy, you keep taking the punishment.”

Torin reared his head back, taking in Thara. Her long chocolate hair was pulled in a tight braid trailing down her back. Dressed in leather pants and a long-sleeved shirt with my insignia on it, she stood proud, her head held high. She did not cower or shy away from the fury raining down on her from Torin. She challenged it.

“I’ve been there for you, centuries being at your side. I was the one you came crying to when Aneira hurt you, when Ember broke your heart. It was me. Always me.” She tugged at his grip, pulling him in closer to her. “I loved you. Even when you threw it back in my face, shredded my heart, I stayed loyal you. I thought maybe you’d see me. Finally realize how good we are together. But she came along and by simply giving you back your role, you think the sun rises and sets on her. Do you know how badly it hurt when you say she saved your life? Who was the one who got you through the darkest times of your life? Me. And when you asked me to get the necklace of your mother’s cleaned, to give to her…I’m the one who knows how special that is. What it means.” She blinked away the tears in her eyes. Years of pent-up emotion flooded out of Thara, rushing out of the dam. “Everyone could see it. She called his name. Not yours! How could you be so blind? She would never love you.”

Torin dropped her arms and rubbed his temples. With all the people around her, she had nowhere to go. And she was not the type to flee. She remained strong, ready to take her punishment. I hated what she did, but I couldn’t help respect her a little. She was not one who ran. She believed in something and stood by it. And for decades that had been Torin.

“You thought getting rid of the Queen would make me fall in love with you?” Torin pulled himself to full height, speaking low, but it sounded full of disgust. “That shows how little you understand me. How right I was to never look upon you.”

Ouch. Even I flinched.

“Castien?” Torin nodded at his soldier. Castien stepped up to Thara, understanding what his knight wanted. “I can’t look at this turncoat for another moment.”

It was so fast I barely saw it, but grief and hurt flashed over Thara’s face before she instructed her expression back to stone. Castien pulled on gloves, unhooking the iron cuffs he always kept on him and latched them over Thara’s wrists. She cried out, her knees buckling, but kept upright, huffing through her nose.

Castien gave me a small nod before tugging Thara away. She looked back once, pain rooted in her eyes, but turned away, following Castien to her fate.

Torin’s words said one thing, but watching him track her, the hurt and duplicity he felt was clear on his face. She had also been his friend and partner for a long time.

“Torin, go with Castien. Make certain she gets there.” She would be heading to the dungeons. I detested I had no choice but to lock her away. I could not be weak against traitors, even if I cared about her. But watching the fierce woman I thought of as a friend chained in iron tore my heart in half.

Torin’s mouth parted to oppose my order, lines crisscrossing his forehead as he struggled between wanting to stay next to me and going after her. I sensed duty and concern tugging him in different directions. I could see he wanted to be strong, be the soldier, and stand by my side. But the man was hurt by Thara’s confession and Lorcan’s and my bond. I did not want to be the cause of additional grief for him, because tonight of all nights, I would not censure my need to be by my mate.

“Please. I need you to do this for me,” I said soft but firm.

He swallowed, then nodded, almost like he was relieved I gave him this order. He bowed, accepting my command. His attention drifted between Lorcan and me, pain flinching his cheeks. He then turned and dissolved into the night along with the others.

In grief, I turned away rubbing my chest as though it could ease the agony. Without a word Lorcan strode to me, engulfing me in his arms, kissing my head.

Lars tugged on his cuffs. “I’m sure this could make fascinating TV, but honestly I couldn’t care less about hurt feelings and broken hearts. We need to attend to business.”

“That’s because you don’t have a heart,” Fionna retaliated, her snarl returning to her face. “Nor do you have any common sense.”

Everyone’s mouth fell open. No one addressed the King that way. No. One.

Lars was in front of her face in a blink, gripping her chin, his fingers turning white. “You want to say that again, little girl?” He leaned down, an inch away from her face. “I’ve killed people for less.”

Fionna’s chest drew in and out rapidly, but her gaze stayed firmly on Lars, not backing away from his challenge.

It was a standoff I didn’t want to see the ending of. “Lars.” I grabbed his arm. “Please. Don’t,” I begged. “Sh-she’s my sister.”

He did not react, not even a blink, his gaze still burning into her. It was another few moments before he dropped his hand from her face, stepping back. “Sister?” A strange smirk pursed his mouth, like an idea came to him. A dangerous idea.

“Do you think defiance is showing strength?” He lifted one eyebrow. “Do it again and we will see how eager you are to keep at it when your mind is bending to my will.”

“I promise you the same in return.” A malicious grin formed on Fionna. I had just seen what she was capable of. These two would explode each other’s heads in two minutes of being left alone together.

“Oh, really?” Lars stepped right into her, trying to intimidate. “You sure you are ready to make promises you cannot keep?”

She shoved right back into him, her head drawn back to look up. “Try me, demon.”

In a blink Lars’s eyes went completely black, his skin thinning along his cheekbones.

Oh. Holy. Crap.

“Stop!” I pulled at the two of them, trying to tear them away from each other. “Please! Back off, both of you.”

“You would not be saying that if you knew the truth. What you knew he wanted... and already had.” Fionna remained locked on Lars, anger honing her voice to a deadly point.

“I would silence that mouth of yours.” A chilling noise came from him, the King losing himself to the demon.

“Shouldn’t she know what you have been doing behind her back?” Fionna put her hands on her hips. “Typical fae…deceitful liars.”

Lars lurched forward, grabbing her by the throat. “You want to die?”

She wheezed, a derivative snort coming from her. “You won’t kill me, Lars. We both know that.” She swallowed against his hand. “I’m the only one who knows where it is.”

Where what is? What are they talking about?

“If I die so does your chance of finding it. I know the game, demon.” Fionna struggled with each word, her eyes watering. “I’m no little girl.”

Lars’s shoulders shrugged up, wrath billowing off him, choking the air around us. His fingers gripped down tighter, forcing Fionna’s mouth to gape, her chest thrashing for a breath.

“Stop! Please stop!” I clawed at Lars’s hand, trying to break his hold on her. Fionna was my sister. My only family, the link to my true past. I couldn’t let Lars take it away.

The invocation spewed off from me in reaction, my heart overtaking my mind. Lars and Fionna ripped away from each other, their bodies flinging through the air, hitting the earth with a thud. Silence deafened like a piercing dog whistle. We all stood in shock at what I had done.

What did I just do? Did I really take the Unseelie Demon King to the ground like he was a pin at a bowling lane?

Fuuuuuck.

Goran was the first to run to Lars, but the King shoved him off, rising to his feet like a mountain. One about to send an avalanche my way.

His skin was almost translucent, bones sticking out, with black eyes staring me down as he prowled to me. I held my place, defensive and trembling with fear.

“You dare spell me?” he spoke, deep and hissing with fury.

“You left me no choice, Lars.” My heart thwacked against my ribs. I could feel Lorcan’s presence behind me, a growl rumbling over my shoulder.

The dweller didn’t intimidate Lars. Invisible hands circled my throat, and my fingers went to my throat trying to release his as he stalked toward me. Someday my powers could rival Lars’s, but not without my voice.

I choked. I gagged. I bent forward in agony, desperate for air. I heard Lorcan roar, but he too slammed to the ground by my feet, grappling at his own throat.

“Let her go,” Fionna screamed.

Lars clenched down harder, and I writhed near his feet. I heard mumbling from behind me, and in an instant, the pressure on my throat was gone. Lars grunted, grabbing for his head.

“Fuck with my sister, you fuck with me,” Fionna said, then went back to her chant. Lars pressed his hands against his head with a snarl.

Before any of us could act, Travil slipped in behind Fionna, grabbing her and shoving a gag into her mouth. She thrashed against him with a screech. The DLR started to advance, but Travil pinned a knife to her throat, moving her back toward Lars.

“I will gut any one of you who advances on me or even hints at a spell.” Lars boomed at the DLR group. They all halted, feeling the power and truth of his threat. No one had the power to fight a fae like him.

This was never going to stop, round and round until one of us actually killed the other. “ENOUGH!” I screamed, climbing to my feet, my hand at my neck, still feeling the impression of fingers.

Lars went to his full height, tugging at the bottom of his jacket, straightening it. “She has attacked a King. She must be dealt with,” Lars said, emotionless.

“No.” I took a step but halted when Travil poked the blade to her throat farther. She squirmed against him, but without her magic it was pointless. Travil’s one hand was bigger than her entire neck.

“You know the law, Ms. Johnson.” He leered down at me. “Just a moment ago, your own guard was hauled off for treason. She is no different. It was she who ordered the deaths of your noble. She almost killed us. Attempt on a monarch’s life is death.”

“Lars, I beg you, please don’t hurt her.”

“Were you aware she is behind the attacks on my compound? She is the benefactor behind the strighoul.”

“What?” My mouth dropped, my gaze pinging between my sister and the King.

“Marguerite would be dead right now because of your sister.” His yellow-green eyes darkened, rage bubbling up. “If you hadn’t stopped it, Marguerite would have been killed, and my house would have fallen.”

I struggled to swallow. Fionna was the one behind those attacks? She had worked with strighoul? She didn’t care that the woman she set up for sacrifice, merely as a statement, was the kindest, most beloved woman I had ever known.

I clutched my stomach. It made sense now why the strighoul were able to crack Lars’s barriers. Druid magic was the only kind powerful enough to challenge his own. I shook my head, staring at Fionna. It didn’t matter if she didn’t know who I was then, or how important these people were to my life. The aching disloyalty I felt still seethed and festered like an open sore.

“Her crimes are extensive. All punishable by death.”

My neck jerked to Lars. No matter how hurt I was, I still didn’t want her dead.

“Please, Lars. I will do anything.”

“Anything?” His brows arched.

Fionna squeaked through the rag, eyes wide, shaking her head fiercely back and forth, her limbs thrashing. Lars nodded back at Travil. The dark-haired fae tipped the blade until blood rained down her neck.

What did she want me to do? I couldn’t let her be tortured or die. I wouldn’t. I transferred my gaze from her, not able to see her pleading for me to do the opposite. My head bobbed. “Anything.”

“Your word, Ms. Johnson?”

My lashes smashed onto my cheekbones, my head bowing. I knew exactly what would happen if I said yes. An oath. A bind.

Fionna went crazy, flapping and grunting. I couldn’t look at her, the response whispered over my tongue.

“Yes.” The bind jumped down on me, folding my knees.

A smug, I-got-my-way smile appeared on his face. This was how the fae did business. Especially dark demon kings.

“I want something she has hidden; now it is up to you to retrieve it for me.”

“What? What does she have?”

Lars ignored my question, strolling back and forth in front of me. “Every week you don’t find it, the more severe her punishment becomes.”

My stomach rolled. I knew what Lars was capable of.

Lars flicked his hand, and Travil shoved Fionna forward, Goran following as they exited. Fionna glanced back at me, animosity fired from her eyes into mine, like I had betrayed her. It stabbed right through my heart, and I jerked my head away, blinking back unshed tears.

“You know this is not personal, Ms. Johnson. You might hate me. That is fine, but know I am always thinking of the kingdom first. And believe me, she is no victim in this. Far from it. She is exceptionally lucky to have someone I value in her corner.” Lars dipped his head in respect to me and started to drift away.

“Wait!” I moved forward. “Tell me what I am supposed to be getting for you. I need to know what I am looking for.”

“A family heirloom of yours, Ms. Johnson,” Lars said over his shoulder. “The Cauldron of the Dagda.”

Every muscle in my body locked up, fear and disbelief fighting for room in my weary head. My tongue locked in place as I watched the King disappear into the night.

When Lars had taken the Sword of Nuada from Ember, I knew in my soul the danger of a powerful demon obtaining one of the treasures of Tuatha De Danann. But I had pushed it away, ignoring what I knew was coming. Lars wasn’t going to stop at one. He was going to try and acquire them all. They were lethal on their own, but together? He could control everything.

No one person, especially fae, was ever meant to possess so much power. I had always trusted Lars. He was ruthless, but I believed deep down he was extremely intelligent in understanding what danger existed in holding too much power. He could no longer see clearly.

“Fuck.” Lorcan strode up beside me.

I nodded with a gulp. “What am I going to do? I’m bound to help him find it.” I could feel the panic attack ripping up my spine. Lorcan’s hand rubbed at my back, trying to calm me. “What will happen when he gets two of them?”

“Uh.” West moved to my other side. “Hate to be the one to break it to you.”

Lorcan and I glanced at West.

West continued to stare forward. “He already has two. That’s what my mission with Rez was. How I met Fionna. She was the one guarding the Spear of Lugh. This will be the third. The stone is the only one left... and…”

“And what?” I clutched my stomach, feeling I already knew what he was going to say.

“There were rumors…before the war. Talk that it had been found.” West rubbed his chin, his insinuation clear.

I blinked, staring out into the night.

All three of us stayed silent, gazing into the shadowy void, death scattered around our feet like leaves. Luuk was dead, the DLR no longer functioning, so my role as Queen was on more stable ground.

Then why did I feel the world crumbling under my feet? This time it wouldn’t be by a stranger. This fight would be close to home.