Chapter Eight

Who you gonna call? Darkness Destroyer.

He stared at me, and I wasted no time slapping out with my energy the way I had been learning with Rowan, letting my fae-side take the lead, because mecca magic had no effect on him. The dark fae faced me fully, so at least none of his attention was on Kade and Violet.

He jabbed forward with his staff, countering my attack with one of his own. Our energy met in the middle, sending out an explosion of light and power.

Ari, be careful! Kade’s voice was briefly in my head, but there was no time to reply.

Two erchos burst from the water on either side of the dark fae, hovering in the air. Well, shit. Things just got real. Rowan, Nikoli, and I ran along the bridge, heading closer to Kade and Violet so we could defend them.

The erchos let out a screech, which sent waves of pain through my ears, but Nikoli, after muttering a spell, did something that dulled some of the effect. I kept half of my attention locked on their dark oiliness — a blot in the gray skies. The other half was on the Dark Fae Lord. He had a grin on his face now, that creepy, sardonic, psycho smile he did so well.

“Last chance to join me, Ari.”

His shout echoed across the water, and I responded with another blast of energy, which he lazily blocked. He then waved his two creatures on. They came straight for us, but thankfully, we had reached the others by now. We could stop running, and start fighting.

“Remember that drill we practiced, Arianna,” Rowan said in a rush. “Where I boost your powers with my own for an attack spell.”

I nodded, understanding immediately where she was going. This was what Violet did in the Otherworld, when she had made the eternal fire. We had been practicing this as well as spell breaking.

I summoned my winter fae magic, focusing on filling my center with ice, and just as I was about to fling it free, Rowan latched onto my forearm. The moment she wrapped her hands around me, it was like I had stuck my hand onto a pure source of power. It jolted through my veins and I released the spell, aiming for the two erchos. They tried to avoid my blast, but with the extra boost, my range was wide, spreading out across the water. There was nowhere for them to go.

I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had refused to freeze any living beings when we practiced. It had been a potted plant, a few stuffed animals, and the pool. All of which had been a success — after a few attempts.

I didn’t have a few attempts this time, so I sent everything I had at them. Thankfully, the ice wrapped around them as I had hoped would happen, freezing both of them in the air. I held the magic for a few beats, letting them plunge deep into the water. I had no idea if they could withstand a full body freezing … or hold their breath indefinitely … but I had bought us some time at least.

The Dark Fae Lord looked unperturbed, walking along the top of the water, closing the distance to Violet’s swirling portal. My friend’s face was lined with strain, veins standing out across her pale skin, even throbbing in her forehead. I leaned closer, careful not to touch her. The second crystal was visible just below the surface of the murky lake; whatever she was doing was working. Slowly.

As more of it emerged, I realized that it wasn’t just a dark crystal. It was another staff. There was a gold filigree of vines wrapped around the base of the stone, and it looked like that gold metal extended down into the water.

The dark fae eyed the second staff greedily, looking between it and his own dark piece over and over. So there were two staffs and two books. Seemed someone had created these weapons long ago, and left the books with the unique slivers of stone so that if the staff was ever lost, someone could find it. Evil bastard.

Was this the work of the God obsessed with fairness? Was he represented by the inverted tree carved into the book? Or was there another being from long ago who created the staffs? How had the Red Queen even gotten the book? I felt like these were questions I would never have the answers to. And in reality, it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that the staffs existed, and one of them was being used to threaten my people.

I could not let him have the other one.

My fae energy had frozen the part of the river where the erchos had fallen. The Dark Fae Lord stepped on that ice, moving more rapidly as the second staff broke the surface of the water. It seemed the more of it that emerged, the harder Violet was having to work to lift it.

Violet groaned. “It’s stuck. He’s countering me.”

“We need to get that staff before he does,” I said, positioning myself in front of her. “It could be the difference in our success or failure in this war.”

Kade was still on her other side, helping direct her energy. “We won’t let him have it,” he said, and before I could stop him he chucked off his jacket and dove into the water.

“No, Kade!” I screamed. No, no, no! What the heck was he doing? If the Dark Fae Lord didn’t kill him, I might after he pulled that stunt.

The dark fae paused, hovering above the water, only a dozen or so feet from us. He seemed to be staring down into the shadowy churning water, clearly waiting for the bear shifter to appear. We were all waiting, but the water was dark and choppy, and the waves my mate had created when he had jumped had obscured the staff.

“What is he doing?” Violet sounded mildly panicked; I could see she was losing her magical control on the staff. The strain on her face was increasing, until all of a sudden she stumbled back, her hands falling to her sides.

She turned wide, unblinking eyes on me.

“What!” I asked her panicked.

“Kade has the staff.” The words had barely left her lips when Kade broke the surface of the water, staff in hand.

What in the hell? I’d said we needed the staff because I wanted everyone to be prepared for a fight. Not because I wanted my idiot mate to jump in and grab it with his bare hands.

What are you doing? I asked through our bond, receiving no answer. From what I could sense, all of his concentration was on holding that staff and trying to swim at the same time.

The dark fae grinned and held his free hand out, raising it up into the air. My mate rose up out of the water. Oh shit. Kade had no idea how to control the dark magic contained within that staff, but this fae had a lot of practice, and he currently had control over my mate.

Before I could freak out completely, Rowan leaned in and whispered, “I can create a portal behind the fae if you can get Kade to shove him in.”

I nodded, my movements jagged, before I mentally reached for my bond with Kade. Chills broke out on my arms. In the few seconds since I had checked last, there was now a dark cloying energy coating his end of our bond. It was not hugely surprising, considering he was holding a dark magical staff, but it had infiltrated rather quickly. I pushed through the darkness, feeling it reaching out for me.

Kade, drop that thing.

No. We need it, was his short reply.

He was right, but what if he was inviting the darkness in permanently? We didn’t need it that bad that I would sacrifice any part of Kade’s goodness for it.

Rowan is opening a portal behind him. You need to push the fae into it, I said. The sooner he got rid of the dark fae, the sooner he could let that staff go.

Kade just nodded before kicking me out and closing our bond down tight. A damp heat sprang to my eyes, my throat and chest tight as I rasped in a breath. He’d never done that before, kicked me out so violently. I knew it was to protect me but … it hurt. It physically and mentally hurt.

I recovered with a few deep breaths, ignoring the lingering twinges of pain to focus on the scene in the water. The fae, who still had his power wrapped around Kade, closed his hands into tight fists, and Kade’s feet skimmed across the water, gliding towards the fae at an alarming speed.

I could have used my ability to break spells and free my mate, but he needed to get closer to the fae to knock him in. So all I could do was watch. I saw Kade’s hand slip up behind his shirt, pulling free his twelve-inch serrated hunting blade. His other hand was still grasping the staff.

Rowan was spinning her hands next to me, murmuring low words. A swirling circle was opening up just behind the dark fae’s feet, partially hidden by the choppy waters. Kade, was now mere feet from the Dark Fae Lord.

“I believe you have something that belongs to me,” the dark fae told Kade.

The bear let out a low growl, swinging his knife around and slashing out at the fae’s neck. The Dark Fae Lord must have seen the blade coming, because he ducked his head down, jerking it toward my mate, goring him in the rib cage with one of his horns. Kade’s knife sliced right through the other one of the horns; black oil spilled out of the severed end. Kade had to drop the blade as the fae grabbed for the staff, both of them struggling with it.

Kade had the advantage, physical strength far beyond the fae. But the fae had the other staff, and he was still using it to limit Kade’s movement.

I gathered as much of my winter magic as I could, feeling the slightest tendrils of fatigue kicking in. I had used a lot of energy already today, and we had barely started. I aimed for the Dark Fae Lord’s staff, letting my icy energy fly. The second it slammed into the dark crystal, breaking the spell holding Kade in place, I shouted, “Kick him in!”

The ice on the lake was pretty much gone now; it had only been the fae lord keeping them above the water. When I broke the spell, Kade immediately started to sink, but he had enough time to lift his big foot and connect with the fae’s stomach, sending him flying backward into the open portal. With a loud yell, the Fae Lord cursed as he fell through, and immediately the portal sealed.

Kade groaned, and my wolf almost burst free from my chest when he clutched his stomach and disappeared into the frigid water.

I leapt off the bridge without a second thought; the moment the icy water hit my skin I had to fight the urge to take in a deep breath out of shock from the cold.

Pulling myself together, I ignored the calls of my friends and Finn in my head, and instead headed straight for the last place I’d seen Kade. Following the trail of blood and oil that coated the surface of the lake in that spot.

The water was deep, and I had almost no visibility when I was a few feet down. I kicked and pushed harder, blindly feeling around for Kade. Just when I thought I was going to have to surface again, my lungs screaming for air, my hands brushed against something solid. Hoping whatever I was holding was Kade and not a piece of trash or wood, I sent some fae and mecca magic out, using it to propel us to the surface.

When my head broke through, I took in a huge gasping breath, hauling the heavy weight up. Relief and panic warred within me as Kade’s pale features became visible. Mercifully, he coughed out a mouthful of water, but was still unconscious. I could feel the pulsing of dark energy within him, and as I pulled him farther up, the staff popped up at his side. It was hooked in the arm of his sleeve, floating along beside him.

Well, that was a lucky break. With the last of my energy, I towed him to the shore, where our friends were waiting. Nikoli and Violet pulled him up and I crawled out of the water, teeth chattering.

“W-w-why is he unconscious?” I asked Violet. “We need to wake him, t-t-the d-d-d—”

The chattering got so bad I couldn’t get words “Dark Fae Lord” out. But everyone understood.

“The wound.” Violet turned worried eyes on me. “He’s fighting it. His body has shut down to try and expel the dark energy.”

The wound inflicted from the oily horn. Violet slammed her hands down on his chest, sending out a burst of energy, like a defibrillator to his heart. Kade’s eyes shot open, then with a roar he was on his feet, icy water flinging off him in large arcs. Violet stumbled back; Nikoli caught her before she hit the ground.

I stood in front of them both, in case Kade was about to lose it. He had the staff in his hand again. Somehow he had snatched it up from where it lay beside him as he jumped.

“What happened? Where is the dark fae?” he asked, and I was relieved that his voice sounded somewhat normal, not as rage-filled as that bellow.

“Y-y-you pushed him into Rowan’s portal,” I reminded him

Violet stepped forward, and I felt her hand press into my back. A wave of heat filled me. My clothes dried in an instant, and I was warm enough to be able to halt my chattering teeth. I still felt the chill to my bones, but I could at least talk now. “What happened, Kade? Why did you drop in the water?”

He shook his head a few times, his face crumpling as he lifted his free hand to rub at his forehead. “I can’t remember … he gored me, and then my head went cloudy.”

“I think you need to drop that stone now.” Rowan was moving cautiously, acting almost as worried as she had been with the dark fae.

Kade’s eyes flicked to the staff, moving up to the stone at the top. It was like he had forgotten he was holding it. “Shouldn’t I keep a hold of it until we can get it back to the royal estate? He might return for it.”

“You need to drop it,” Rowan said again, and I was silently begging him to hand it over. He had to be able to let it go. I felt it in my soul that if he couldn’t, we would be in trouble. Some of the agony on my face must have registered with him. He watched me for a few moments, then he slowly lowered the staff.

The moment he lost contact with it, he seemed to lose the small amount of strength he had, crumpling to the ground. Violet hurried to him, pulling her special box from a bag she had slung across her body. It was only large enough to enclose the head of the staff, but hopefully was enough to keep the evil somewhat contained.

“Are you okay?” I dropped to his side, and he let out a pained chuckle, reaching up to push back a few strands of my now dry hair.

I didn’t like how pale his bronze skin was looking, chalky almost.

Violet flung herself down beside us, drying his clothes at the same time she said, “That’s a dark magic wound. I can’t heal it until we get back to the castle, but … at the rate it’s advancing, it will kill him long before then.”

No!

“How much time do I have?” Kade rasped out.

Violet lifted his shirt, exposing the deep ragged gash. It was seeping a black and fizzing fluid, like his blood was having a chemical reaction to the darkness.

She shook her head. “I’m not sure. This is like nothing I’ve seen before. Maybe a few minutes. Shit…” she cursed. “I need this special powder I have back at home. It’s the only thing I can think of which might save him. Counteract the dark poison.”

“We’re hours from home,” I told her, panicking as more color drained from Kade’s face. Magic born had limits on how far they could zap themselves, Violet wouldn’t make it in time.

Finn pressed to my side, and I dropped my hand into his fur, seeking his comfort. In the air I could hear Nix’s call. She sounded like she was weakening also.

Rowan stepped forward. “I can open a temporary portal back to the castle.”

Relief flooded through me. It felt like she was offering me a miracle. “Do it, do whatever you need to save him,” I said, one of my hands tightly wrapped around Kade’s, the other still in Finn’s fur.

Violet stood, moving to Rowan’s side. Nikoli stepped in on the other side.

“I’ll need you to direct me,” Rowan added. “I don’t know the royal estate like you do, and there will be securities in place to stop what I’m about to try.”

Violet nodded. “It’s not something a single magic born could do on their own, which is why I didn’t think of it, but together we might be able to.”

Luckily, the fae seemed to have a special affinity for portals. And I knew these three would come through. They had to. Losing Kade was not an option.

“I will use my magic to open the portal,” Rowan instructed. “You can direct the energy to a safe place.”

Rowan already had her hands out. Violet touched her arm, then a swirling oval started to form in the air. I was distracted as Kade let out a choked cough.

“I got you, mate,” I murmured into his ear. “You just need to hold on a little longer.”

In a desperate attempt to stop the dark wound from killing him, I placed my hand over the injury, and sent a few bursts of ice magic into it. Ice would slow the darkness, right? It was the only thing I could think of.

Kade let out a low groan as the blue energy slipped into the cut. A coating of frost formed over the top of the black blood, halting the oozing.

“Portal is ready,” Nikoli said. Between the two of us, we got Kade to his feet, Nikoli taking most of his weight.

Kade shook his head; his words were labored. “Still … kick your ass, Nik.”

“Sure, sure,” the magic born teased him as the two of us half-carried Kade toward the shimmery portal. I appreciated the little banter, even though I was still internally freaking out. What if Violet can’t find the powder? What if it doesn’t work? What if the dark fae have some sort of special, never-before-seen darkness? The worries spun round and round in my head, and even being warm and dry again, thanks to Violet’s magic, the chilling my veins persisted.

Rowan and Violet stood on either side of the portal, clearly waiting for us to go through first.

“Good idea with the ice magic,” Violet said, leaning forward to probe the wound through the hole in his shirt. “It has slowed the darkness. We should have time.”

We’d better have time. I was not accepting any other outcome. By the time we stepped through the magic and out into my office, Nikoli and I were carrying Kade completely. I only made it a few more steps before we had to lower him to the ground.

“Dude has to be three hundred pounds of muscle, doesn’t he?” I groaned.

Kade’s lips twitched; sweat had broken out along his brow and neck.

“I’ll be right back,” Violet shouted as she disappeared in an instant. I hadn’t even seen her exit the portal.

Finn, with Nix on his back, waited on the edge of the room, both watching with their calm, ancient eyes. Rowan immediately dropped down to Kade’s side. She held her hands out over him, hovering a few inches from his chest, before closing her eyes and breathing in and out slowly.

“We’re losing him,” she said a minute later. “You’re going to have to send more ice into his veins. The ice magic can counteract the darkness. It’s a myth that winter magic is evil. It is neutral, like most energy. It depends on the wielder. Ice magic can be a very positive force in the universe.”

I swallowed hard, my throat and mouth dry. “How do I help him without hurting him?” Freezing him to death was as big a problem as the darkness killing him.

“Like in training, you need to send out the magic and guide it through Kade. Sense his inner power, find his energy within, and chase the darkness out. Freeze it from affecting him further.”

Oh sure. Easy peasy. I might be learning how to control the magic, but I was still rough. This would require finesse and precision, and since it was Kade’s life I was messing with, I could not screw it up. After a really quick internal pep talk, I reached out and placed my hands on Kade’s chest.

The darkness felt like it was everywhere now, which was no doubt why he was fading away.

Stay with me, baby.

It was becoming so easy to push the mecca down now, to capture only that part of my power that had been unlocked in the Otherworld. The icy energy responded in an instant, gliding with a wisp of frost through my body and into my hands.

“You know you could have countered the chill of that icy water,” said Rowan, surprising me. My eyes flew open to meet hers. “You have to embrace that side of yourself. You never need to fear the cold again.”

Good to know, but not today. Today I needed to deal with Kade. She apologized for interrupting me, and I gave her a nod, closing my eyes again. I could tell the thought had randomly come to mind and she’d done a Violet with blurting it out.

Breathing deeply, I let the chilly magic seep out of my body and into Kade. I used our bond to follow the path of darkness through his bright inner essence. I fought back tears when I brushed against the black energy. It was like a spider web, sticky, connected in multiple parts.

I sent my power into the main gathering of darkness and his body jerked, before settling down again. Remaining connected to his chest, and to my magic, I continued to pour my power into him, following as it slipped through his chest and deeper into his body.

I brushed against familiar energy – his mecca power. Our mate bond was thrumming in that part of his center. My chest ached so badly that it felt like someone had just stabbed me in it. Being shut away from him, feeling the faltering beats of his heart, I could barely function.

But I needed to, for Kade.

More darkness brushed across my power then, and I immediately reacted with force, slapping out, using an attack of ice to send it reeling away. I followed as it fled, and as I closed in on Kade’s center, I realized there was an even larger mass of black, oily energy there. It was sending those tendrils all through Kade’s body, cutting off his organs, tainting his blood to a thick, dark sludge.

NO! I screamed through our bond. You cannot have him. He’s mine.

I pushed at the energy, trying to dislodge it from him, but there was nowhere for it to go. If anything, I was sending it closer to the bright light that made up my mate’s soul. I stopped pushing, knowing that chasing the energy around was not going to save him. I needed to remove it from him. Somehow.

Maybe instead of pushing … I could pull it from him. Siphon some of the darkness into myself. Knowing time was running out, his breathing ragged and weak, I reversed my tactic and latched onto the darkness, freezing it to my magic and pulling it through the bond back into me. I thought it would resist me, wanting to stay with Kade, but it slid easily from his energy center to mine. The moment it touched my magical essence, I flinched. This darkness felt foreign … the complete opposite of the light which my mecca and fae magic was built on. My instinct was to stop, bring no more of that tainted energy into me, but I had to save Kade. With gritted teeth, I fought on, pulling it deeper into me. In a surge of power, my winter and mecca magic rose up around the inky tendrils and it … disappeared. My icy fae magic was consuming it, transmuting it into … nothing.

“I got it!” Violet screamed, jarring me. My eyes snapped open and my hands fell from Kade.

I immediately ran my gaze across his face, relieved to see his coloring was better, less pale, and he was no longer sweating. His breathing even seemed smoother. I searched inside of myself and didn’t sense any lingering darkness. What had I done? Had I really just brought some of the darkness into myself and … consumed it? Or did I heal it? Transform it into light? Was any of that possible?

Violet was already crouched by Kade, popping the top off a vial of swirling pink potion. She pinched his jaw and poured the concoction into his mouth, leaving a few drops in the bottom to pour over his wound. Then she placed a hand to his chest, closing her eyes briefly. “I sense that it’s less serious than I originally feared.” She sounded surprised. “With his strength, he should recover easily.”

I didn’t say anything because my emotions were a mess of shock and disbelief. Had I actually done that to the darkness? How was it even possible? Maybe I was just in the right place at the right time. I would hate for everyone to rely on me to do something like that again. It could have been a fluke.

I decided it was better to keep it to myself until I had time to explore it further.

Moments passed, none of us taking our eyes from Kade, and I thought I would go mad waiting for him to wake. I felt him in our bond a moment before he took a deep, gasping breath, and his eyes snapped open.

“Ari…”

My name was a breathless sigh on his lips. My heart clenched, and the thought of how close I had come to losing him to the darkness had a hot dampness filling my eyes.

“I’m here,” I whispered, forcing myself to hold back those tears.

Violet ripped Kade’s shirt open, exposing the tan muscled flesh there. I was relieved to see that besides a small section of frostbitten skin, there was no more leaking darkness. Violet let out a happy sigh, and I took that as a good sign.

Kade, who was yet to take his eyes from me, reached out and pulled me gently into him. He took a big whiff of my hair, his voice hoarse as he said, “I couldn’t smell you. Couldn’t sense you. I was…”

“Shhh,” I said, before pressing my lips to his over and over. He returned the kisses as frantically. “You’re okay. You’re okay.” I continued murmuring, unable to calm my frazzled brain. I had almost lost my mate. It was not something I could compute.

Eventually I helped Kade sit up. His color continued to improve, and by the time he was propped against a nearby wall, he almost looked to be back to his robust self. He turned toward Nix and she took flight, which caused a gust of wind in the small space. She landed on his bare outstretched arm and immediately nuzzled her giant beaked head into his neck.

I knew they were having their own private conversation. No one said a word. They needed this moment. Eventually, Kade turned back and looked at Violet. “Where’s the crystal staff?” he asked.

Violet raised one eyebrow. “Eager to be near death again?”

He gave her an exasperated kind of stare. “Ha. Ha. No. I’m eager to learn how to control it so we can destroy that fae lord and then destroy the staffs. I already have a pretty good idea of what I need to do to learn how to control it. Something about its magic is similar to the mecca. I just need a decent amount of time working with it.”

His desire made me uncomfortable. I didn’t want him anywhere near that thing. Who knew if all that darkness inside was just from being gored by the Dark Fae Lord. What if the staff contributed too?

“So you plan to destroy it?” I questioned him.

Kade met my stare without flinching. “Yes, but no doubt I will have to use it first. We need it to defeat the dark fae.”

Nikoli clapped a hand on Kade’s back. “That’s dangerous, My King. I must advise against it.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, glad I wasn’t the only one who had a problem with this.

Kade’s features flattened into hard lines, the look he wore when someone was pissing him off and he was about to go all king on their ass. “Advisement noted.” His words were clipped. “But the next time the fae lord shows up and controls my entire body with the flick of his wrist, I’m going to be able to fight back.”

“He’s right.” Baladar’s voice came from behind us and I wondered how long he had been standing there. “This staff … controlling it … may be our only chance to truly defeat the Dark Fae Lord.”

I wanted to argue, but I sensed that now wasn’t the time. Besides, Baladar was probably right. Still, why did it have to be Kade?

As if he had heard me, Kade directed his next words at me: “I will focus on killing the Dark Fae Lord with the staff. You focus on destroying the winter queen with your magic. It’s the only way we can win this war and live in happiness with Winnie.”

His mention of my little sister hit me like he had punched me in the chest. The picture he painted left an aching need in its wake. I wanted that happy ending for all of us.

“Okay,” I said, resigned.

“I’ll work with him,” Baladar stated. “We will not let the fae lord, or the dark crystal, win.”

I trusted Baladar, he knew a lot about dark magic, and his reassurance made me feel a little less anxious about the entire thing. In all honesty, we needed someone to match the Dark Fae Lord’s strength, and if anyone could do it, it was Kade. He would pay whatever cost for the chance to save us all. But I wasn’t okay with that. There had to be a way for us to win without sacrificing our souls. I would keep Kade protected while he was busy protecting everyone else.

Calista popped up in the doorway, her eyes finding mine. “Sorry for the interruption, but I need to speak with Arianna.” She sounded so formal I nearly laughed. All protocol had gone out the window lately, but Calista was finding it a hard habit to break.

I reached over and squeezed Kade’s hand. “You okay?”

He nodded. “I’m fine. Go. I’ll be with Baladar in the basement.”

I tried not to sigh. For now, I had no choice but to trust in my mate and the powerful magic born. Trust that they would respect their limits when playing with darkness. And basically hope for the best.

I followed Calista out of the room and she didn’t say a word. We walked in silence until we were alone in the far corridor.

“What is it?” Now I was nervous because my advisor was acting strange. She finally turned to me, a serious expression creasing her face. “It’s just a hunch, Ari, but I have this nagging feeling…”

My pulse picked up at the tone in her voice. “Spit it out. You’re freaking me out.”

Calista started pacing. “I sense that we are making a mistake just waiting for the fae to attack. We’re giving them too much power, playing the submissive role. I feel it will be much worse if we keep waiting.”

I focused with a hundred percent of my attention. Calista had taught me everything she knew about strategy. She was the best, and her instincts were always spot on. “I think so too,” I admitted. “I have been worried about this delay of any sort of serious attack, especially when Prince Caspien has no idea what they are up to.”

Calista nodded a few times. “A part of me believes they are gathering intel, maybe sending out a few assassins like those in the pizza shop … testing the waters … perfecting their attack.”

I interrupted as a thought sprang to mind. “The Dark Fae Lord did say that he wanted to punish the Fall Court. What if he wants to use the shifters to do it? Maybe they’re hoping to take Kade and I out behind the scenes, so to speak, and just step into the role of leaders.”

Calista tilted her head, not looking convinced. “It’s possible. I feel as if the pizza one was designed to make you nervous. Throw you off your game.”

Well, it had certainly done that.

“So what should I do?” I asked her. “Should we march our army on the Otherworld? Take our strongest and join the Summer Court? Cut those bastards off before they can get to us, or before they can corrupt our people?”

She looked torn, her eyes drifting to a spot behind me. I knew she’d be running all of the possible scenarios through her head.

“Maybe … maybe the answer has been there all along,” I mused, not giving her time to reply. “Maybe instead of our army going, I go alone into the Otherworld and take their leaders out. Cut off the head, the body will fall too.”

Something crazy must have gleamed in my eyes, because Calista sucked in a deep breath. “That’s too dangerous, Ari.” She shook her head. “I feel like we are missing something important here. A huge piece of the puzzle. If they are trying to take you out, how do they plan on making the shifters fall in line? None of them are going to follow a fae leader who killed their monarch. There has to be another piece.”

“There probably is,” I growled out, my wolf unhappy. “But I don’t think I can wait around any longer to find out.”

I continued working through my messy thoughts, letting all of the information mesh in my head. Part of me wished there was someone with more experience I could turn to. Maybe we could phone and ask Annette; she had ruled with her mate for a long time — before he was killed. She was a little too peace-loving though. I needed someone well versed in battle strategy.

I paused. The best person to ask would have been … the Red Queen. She had been brilliant at battle. It was something she was lauded for daily. Maybe … there was a way.

“Send Violet to the small library room, please,” I said to Calista. She gave me an inquisitive look but I was already moving. “I’m going to see the Red Queen,” I called over my shoulder. If she was still trapped in the mecca and I could talk to her through the crystal, then maybe I could get the upper hand in this war.