CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Come on, Ivy.
Vaughn leaned against the bars in his cell, second-guessing his decision to let them lock him up.
Twice in one day he’d been caged, and the wolf was going a little stir crazy. It wasn’t helping that he continued to replay Elena’s collapse in his head, hunting for what he’d missed that his mate clearly hadn’t.
Whatever it was, she was playing a dangerous game, but then she might be even better at those than he was. Unfortunately that didn’t make him feel a damn bit better about his current situation.
His mate was the Shadow’s Angel.
He’d had nothing but time to try and wrap his head around that on the way to Titania’s castle, and it still hadn’t fully sunk in yet, never mind that the Fae castle was the last place he’d expected to find himself. Surprisingly, the surrounding Fae magic didn’t bug the wolf nearly as much as the separation from Elena.
He watched the dark corridor, waiting for her to appear. She wouldn’t leave him here. Not with Piper still out there.
Right?
He pushed away from the bars. Fuck. Had he made a mistake trusting his mate when she pretended to lose control? Could it have all been a ploy to get her hands on the crown?
The wolf snarled at the thought, but the man needed to be more logical. She knew he wasn’t on board with her trying to harness the crown’s magic. She hadn’t really been asleep when her father had forced Vaughn from her room. She could have said something, given him some kind of sign she was coming for him.
She hadn’t.
Maybe she wanted him locked away, wanted to get even.
No. Doubting her and their bond had caused him more problems than anything else. He wouldn’t make that mistake again.
She wouldn’t leave him here for payback when Piper needed help. Elena had made a name for herself saving people and completing missions others failed or couldn’t do.
She’d probably managed to fly under his radar as a Shadow for so long in part because she worked alone. Excelled at it.
His stomach jack-knifed.
Shit. She wasn’t coming for him. She was going leave him here while she did what the Shadow’s Angel always did. Got the job done. Alone.
Returning to the bars, he scanned the immediate area. He needed to find a way out, needed—
Movement in the darkest corner of his cell made him tense.
He turned his head as a shadow separated from the darkness, revealing a petite woman that reminded him instantly of Elena’s mother.
Queen Titania.
The realization rocked him as he took in the delicate braids of blond hair roped around her head. Ice-blue eyes regarded him without emotion and her porcelain skin carried an ethereal glow that made him want to flinch as he gazed at her.
As if reading his mind, the glow dimmed. “Hello Vaughn.”
He got the impression she was waiting for him to bow or something. He crossed his arms and leaned back against the bars.
The twitch at the corner of her mouth might have been a smile.
“So,” she began, “You wanted to trade my granddaughter for your sister’s life.”
“That was the plan.”
“Was?” The way she tipped her head seemed more gargoyle than Fae. “Forgetting your orders so soon?”
How much had Elena told her? Clearly everything if the queen of the Fae knew trading Elena had been a sanctioned mission. Had Titania been one of the few aware of Elena’s secret identity? “Does it really matter?”
“Only if you’re in love with her.” She took a seat on the over-sized boulder someone had deemed suitable for a place to sleep. “I suppose that answer surprises you. I’m not known for having a compassionate heart.”
Not known for having any emotions, actually. “If you were compassionate, you wouldn’t have cut her out of your life when she was only a child. If you—” He cut himself off before he found himself trapped in her dungeon for an eternity.
The Fae queen merely waited. “You have nothing to lose by continuing, I assure you.”
“Right now I’m still alive.”
She offered a brittle smile.
Okay then. Why not? “It’s a bit of a stretch that you came to express your outrage over her kidnapping when you barely even know her. You could have known her. Could have spent the last two hundred years knowing her.”
He’d lost his parents, maybe even his sister, and here Elena had people who were still alive but had turned their backs on her. His mate deserved better than that.
“You don’t approve.”
“I approve of the strong, amazing woman she’s become without your influence. She’s courageous and fierce and has a good heart. She did that all on her own. She didn’t need your approval and neither do I.”
A smile burst across the Queen’s face that felt familiar somehow. “You sound so much like your father.”
Vaughn stilled. How could Titania have known his father? Outside of his family, the rebellion had been his father’s entire life.
“Do you know how much you look like him? Same eyes, same stubborn jaw.” She paused, almost sounding sad. “Same unyielding loyalty. He’d be proud of you. Both your parents would be.”
What kind of game was the Fae playing?
She stood and approached him. “There are many who believe the Fae race should remain neutral, that we should only worry about our own concerns and leave Camelot and the rest of Avalon to its fate, whatever that may be.”
“But you…disagree,” Vaughn ventured, wondering where the hell this was going.
“I have for a long time, but openly opposing my people’s view would be…problematic. But operating on the down-low as it were, makes my life a little easier.”
A buzz started in the back of Vaughn’s head as the pieces started to fall in to place—insanely twisted pieces he barely dared to consider. “You support the rebellion.”
Another smile that tugged at him. “My people. My fight.”
He’d heard those words before. So many times… If he hadn’t been leaning against the bars, he might have fallen over. “Rutger?”
A blur materialized between him and the Fae queen, and when the fog cleared he found himself face to face with the leader of the rebellion.
What the fuck?
Vaughn opened his mouth, but not a single sound emerged. There were too many questions trying to form all at once.
“You need tea.”
Tea. Rutger’s solution to everything that ailed you. Tea with something much stronger if the occasion called for it.
It sure as fuck called for it now.
“You should sit down.” A wave of Rutger’s hand made a chair appear.
He slid sideways into it, far too dumbstruck to trust his own coordination.
“Why?” Was the first question to make it out of the gate.
Rutger’s form faded, and Vaughn faced the queen once more. Though her waif-like frame couldn’t have been further from Rutger’s solid build, they had the same smile, the same soft intelligence radiating from their eyes.
For centuries he’d worked side by side with the queen of the Fae and never knew.
No. He couldn’t have missed something that huge. She should have kicked him to curb and told him he wasn’t cut out to be a Shadow.
All this time? Really? There must have been signs. She couldn’t have kept it that well hidden for so long.
Or could she? Did being Queen of the Fae come with the kind of power to pull off living a double life for so long?
Apparently that skill ran in Elena’s family too.
“You’re going to exhaust that pour hamster,” she finally said, gesturing to his head.
Something Rutger would have said.
He pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes.
“Should I start at the beginning? Well we should save our beginning for another time as my granddaughter may need your help. But we should start with Piper.”
“Do you know where she is?”
“You have no need to fear for your sister. I’ve made sure nothing will happen to her.”
“That’s not good enough,” he growled.
“Your sister’s unfortunate fate was my fault, and I’ve taken steps to correct that.”
“Steps? What st—Erec? Was that why I smelled her all over the bastard?”
“You may want to get past your wraith issues.”
Apparently it didn’t matter whether she was Rutger or herself. She still talked in riddles. “Why is Piper with Erec and why was her fate your fault?”
“You can ask your sister about Erec later.”
“She’s safe? You’re sure?”
The ice in her eyes cracked and Rutger’s warmth came pouring out. “I’m sure.”
“No games?
The warmth reached her mouth. “No games.”
Some of the tension embedded in his bones eased for the first time in months. He didn’t embrace his relief entirely, wouldn’t until his saw with his own eyes that his sister was fine. He’d come close to getting her back once before only to have it fall apart.
“I still don’t understand how her abduction was your fault.”
Titania bit her lip, reminding him instantly of Elena. “You weren’t the first person I sent to get the crown.”
“Piper?” Was that what Dare had wanted to tell him before he’d gone to stone back at the library? Had he known that too?
Titania nodded. “She was—”
“—part of the rebellion,” he answered calmly, because it was the only thing that made sense. “Who the hell isn’t these days?” he threw his arms out.
Seeing as he was nearing his limit on processing so much in such a short time, he shoved everyone with rebellion secrets to the side. He could sort that shit out later, along with worrying how he’d made it this long as a Shadow.
“You sent Piper for the crown and something obviously went wrong.”
Titania nodded. “I underestimated the steps the Iron Brotherhood had already taken to acquire it.”
“So when that blew up in your face, you sent me.” Now he understood where the Fae ring that made it possible to unveil the vault in the Wolf’s Den had come from.
“What about Elena?” That thought sunk a little deeper, pushing the wolf toward the surface. “You told me to take Elena. You knew. “He pushed to his feet. “You knew she was my mate—your own granddaughter—and you still wanted me take her.”
Titania said nothing.
“Does she know about the real you?” He didn’t even give her a chance to respond before an even darker thought occurred to him. “Did you know what would happen to Elena when she got near the crown?”
The queen smoothed her dress, looking uncomfortable for the first time. “I had my suspicions.”
“And you let me lock away her magic knowing how vulnerable she’d be to it?” Fury pooled into his gut. “That magic got into her damn head.”
Even now there was a chance it was influencing her, corrupting her, and he was sitting in a damn cell.
“There are things you don’t understand. My sister was—”
“Your sister?” He snarled. “That’s who’s playing mind games with my mate?” He spun away from her, then pivoted back, something tugging at his memory.
He stalked right up to her, all but pinning her to the wall. He didn’t care that any second she could destroy him.
“You want Elena to put on that crown, don’t you?” He searched the Fae’s eyes, praying he was getting it all wrong and sick at the thought that he wasn’t. “The night you came to my home and found me on the floor, you said we’d get them both back.” He hadn’t understood at the time but it made perfect sense now. “You were talking about Piper and your sister, weren’t you? You’re going to use Elena to bring her back somehow, aren’t you?”
“You have no idea what I want,” Titania answered, but she didn’t deny his claim.
He took a step back. He needed to get the hell out of here. Now.
He turned to demand Titania release him, and found himself alone in his cell.
***
“Elena?”
“Oren,” she said, pushing way more warmth into her voice than she wanted to offer.
The bastard deserved to be nailed by a thousand fireballs, and that would just be the warm-up.
The night Vaughn had broken into her house and she saw his scar for the first time, she knew she’d seen the crescent-shaped marks somewhere before.
She’d seem the same symbols again tonight, on the hilt of the dagger in Alrick’s dungeon. A dagger strapped to Oren’s waist.
She couldn’t recall seeing the blade before, but there was no denying the symbols matched Vaughn’s scar. The one given to him by the Iron Brotherhood.
“I came to see for myself if you were all right. I guess now I have my answer,” Oren said, quirking a brow.
The gesture she’d once thought arrogantly charming now made her want to claw his face.
Gods, the wolf was rubbing off on her.
She smiled at the thought. Too bad Oren ruined it by assuming the smile had been meant for him. “I’m glad you’re out and about. You gave everyone a scare back in that prick’s dungeon.”
He called Alrick a prick for wanting revenge for his daughter’s death while he and the rest of the Iron brotherhood not only snatched Piper, but used her as bait to coerce Vaughn into kidnapping Elena.
I could make you strong enough to obliterate anyone.
Now was so not a good time for the Iron Queen’s bullshit. She needed to find out if Piper was being held close by.
She held onto her smile. Barely. “I’m feeling much bet—”
“Enough!”
A gust of wind blew Elena’s hair back in her face. She brushed it out of the way, finding herself back on the edge of the same cliff the Iron Queen had kicked her off of once before.
Instead of a dark night sky, the horizon glimmered with a dusky pink, the blue waves darkening with the sunset.
“You are weak,” the Iron Queen said. “There is no need for any of this.”
Elena might have responded if she knew what the dead immortal meant. “This needs to stop.”
“Agreed.”
“I don’t even know what you want from me.”
“To accept what I offer.”
“Corruption and death?”
The Iron Queen laughed. “It’s time I made you understand.” The other woman whipped her hand out from beneath her cloak so fast it was only a blur. Black-tipped nails gripped her arm.
The cliff vanished, and Elena stumbled back, landing on her ass in the middle of a dew-covered meadow.
Leafy pink flowers with bright yellow centers grew all around her, bending in the breeze she could see but not feel.
The sound of wood striking wood reached her and she turned to find two girls—ten or eleven years old maybe—one dark-haired, the other so blond her hair was nearly white.
Their wooden swords clashed again, a pulse of energy detonating another wave of magic that knocked dozens of pink petals into the air.
“You are not paying attention,” the dark-haired one chided.
The blonde retaliated with a wave of her hand, a charge of magic crackling on the air.
The dark-haired one avoided the blow and swung around, lightning fast, slapping her sword across the back of the blonde’s legs. “Magic doesn’t make a hero, Tanya.”
The words sent a shockwave through Elena.
The blonde laughed and pivoted, meeting her sister’s moves blow by blow as they moved from one end of the meadow to the other, oblivious to Elena’s presence.
The pair exchanged insults as often as they traded blows, always laughing. The blonde definitely did need to pay closer attention. The dark-haired one kept opening herself up…
The blonde took her sister down. “Magic doesn’t make a hero,” she agreed. “But sometimes it certainly helps.” She held out a hand, helping the dark-haired one up.
The meadow vanished so fast Elena’s stomach rolled.
She spun to find herself in a courtyard not unlike the one she’d been in during the Gauntlet. Ancient trees loomed above, their branches weighed down by the same flowers that grew in the catacombs, their bright blue, pink and yellow petals pulsing with power.
What the hell was going on?
“You don’t need to do this,” a voice called out.
Drawing nearer to the fountain in the middle of the courtyard, Elena spotted two women.
The same girls as before? But both were closer to twenty now, no longer children.
“You don’t have to do this alone.” The blonde one burst across the stones, rushing to keep up with the dark-haired Fae, her face angled in Elena’s direction. Titania?
“I don’t need your help.”
“Yes, you do,” Titania argued. “You need someone. No one is meant to save the world all on their own.”
“I am.” The boast came from a younger image of the Iron Queen.
They were…sisters?
Titania grabbed her arm. “We both know you don’t believe that.”
“I believe I’m strong enough to make everyone bow down before me. Maybe even Rhiannon herself.”
“I know what losing them cost you—”
“You know nothing!”
“More magic isn’t the answer. Just let me help—” Titania cried out, sinking to her knees under the weight of the Iron Queen’s magic.
The Iron Queen hovered above her. “I don’t need you or anyone else.”
Once more the world spun, Elena’s vision swimming. She reached out for something to steady her and stumbled into a wall.
Where the hell were they now?
A scene identical to the two girls sword fighting in the meadow unfolded before her, only Titania and the Iron Queen weren’t exchanging blows with toys anymore.
Blood dripped from both their faces, their clothes sliced and drenched in more blood as they circled each other.
“I can’t let you hurt anyone else.”
“Hurt them?” The Queen laughed. “I’m saving them. I’ve been saving them. On my own.”
“They need your guidance, not your—”
“Enough!”
Again another wave of magic took Titania to her knees. “It’s not too late,” she gritted out.
The Iron Queen’s face softened so fast Elena might have imagined it. A beat later, grim determination settled her face into a cold mask. She raised a hand in the air, and Elena wanted to look away, knowing a death blow was coming.
But Titania beat her to it. She lunged up, sinking a small blade into her sister’s stomach at the same time she released a pulse of magic that made Elena’s heart jolt in her chest.
The Iron Queen stumbled back, shock returning emotion to her eyes. “What have you done?”
She withdrew the blade and let it fall to the floor, staring at the blood on her palm. She shuddered and pitched forward, and once more Titania moved impossibly fast, catching her sister a moment before she hit the ground.
“I’m sorry.” A shudder went through her. “I’m so, so sorry. Forgive me.” Tears fell from the Fae’s eyes as she clutched her sister.
The Iron Queen visibly trembled. “It’s all right.”
“No.”
The Iron Queen grabbed Titania’s wrist. “You are still not paying attention, Tanya.” Her eyes drifted shut. “It’s all right.”
“I didn’t want this.”
“Do a better job of making me listen to you next time,” the dark-haired Fae whispered, a sad smile curving her lips. “Or I won’t give you the chance to get this close again.”
“Elena?”
The world around her snapped back into focus, and she was back in the hall outside her rooms in Titania’s castle. “Oren?”
“I believe you were about to tell me you were feeling better. Perhaps you should sit down.”
“I am…feeling better.” Or she would be just as soon as her head stopped spinning.
She wasn’t picking up on the crown’s presence at all, and yet she’d had a vision. A vision of Titania, the Iron Queen’s sister.
Titania who used the exact expression Rutger did. A saying she remembered from childhood, though she’d never been able to remember where it came from. She’d thought it was a coincidence that Rutger had echoed the same sentiment, but it wasn’t a coincidence at all, was it?
That’s why Leah had thought Titania left the box with the dress. She’d recognized her mother’s handwriting.
Her eyes drifted shut and the world swayed. She bumped into the wall, and Oren reached out to steady her.
“Perhaps I should call someone.”
Unless it was her grandmother she wasn’t interested, and she had the feeling Titania was waiting for Elena to go to her.
Gods, was she losing her mind to even consider…
Vaughn. Vaughn would know. He’d been working with Rutger far longer than she had. He would know if Elena had completely lost her mind.
“You’ve only been back in the castle an hour and already you have an admirer?” Oren interrupted her thoughts. He nodded to the box.
“It’s my gown for the ball.”
“Well then, you must be feeling better.”
She was pretty sure she’d never felt worse. “I’m sure once I find my grandmother and have her remove the brand, I’ll feel more like my old self.” Which meant Oren’s window to make his move was closing.
“I don’t mind waiting to escort you downstairs.”
Of course he didn’t.
“There you are,” Emma said from behind her. “I won’t be letting you off the hook for that one for a long time.” She nodded hello to Oren and threaded her arm through Elena’s. “We’re getting you ready in my room before I have to answer one more question about giving birth to kittens.”
***
“Titania!” Vaughn roared, rattling the bars in his cell, the wolf pushing against his skin.
No way was she leaving him here to twiddle his thumbs after dropping that bombshell.
He didn’t know what her angle was, didn’t know if he could trust her—if he ever should have trusted her—but he wasn’t going to let Elena be caught up in the web of lies Titania had been spinning.
“Titania or whatever the hell I’m supposed to call you,” he continued, fury driving the wolf into his voice. “Get your ass back here.”
“Probably not the best way to impress your mate’s grandmother.”
Vaughn didn’t know whether to be grateful to hear Mac’s voice or not considering the other wolf had all but disappeared right after Elena collapsed. But he was no longer alone, so at least that was a step in the right direction.
Mac let out a low whistle as he surveyed the cell, his wolf never far from the surface. He shoved his hands in the pockets of the suit he’d changed into since they’d last seen each other.
“I do believe I warned you what would happen if you got involved with Elena.”
Vaughn’s eyes narrowed. “You knew?”
Mac shrugged. “Did I know what?”
Vaughn wasn’t sure if he had ever wanted to punch someone as much as he did right then. The wolf would prefer to take its frustrations out on Titania, but Mac would do.
“Did you know about Elena? About her being the Shadow’s Angel?”
The other gargoyle didn’t betray a thing. “Elena is the Shadow’s Angel? What have they been feeding you down here? The Fae are well known to favor poison.”
Vaughn sighed. “No one poisoned me. I’m in my right fucking mind.”
“Does that make her a better Shadow then you?”
“How about I let you decide that for yourself with a round in your fighting ring at a later date. In the meantime…” Vaughn trailed off, gesturing to the door.
“Releasing you could certainly upset a few people, not the least of which is the queen of the Fae.”
“She’s also the leader of the rebellion.”
“Rutger?” He mulled that over with the same casual acceptance he expressed hearing about Elena.
Mac had his finger in just about every Avalon pie an immortal could touch while still running a primary base of operations from Vegas. If anyone had heard whispers of Titania playing two sides, it would be him.
Mac gave him a blank look.
“You didn’t know?”
Mac shook his head, his utter lack of reaction driving Vaughn a little crazy.
“You hate the Fae.”
“Not all of them it seems.”
“And you really didn’t know?”
“Nope.” Mac inspected the cell door.
“But you’re not surprised.”
“After the last few months it would take a hell of a lot to surprise me.”
“Surprise,” a feminine voice called out.
Mac tensed, clearly choosing not to acknowledge the huntress who strolled up to them.
Vaughn sighed. He really didn’t have time for their drama.
He needed to get to Elena. They hadn’t had nearly enough time together. One minute he’d been fighting to keep her hands off the crown, and the next he’d been fighting to put his hands all over her.
And just like that night in Vegas, it had taken him apart. Touching his mate, kissing her until she made that breathless sound against his mouth, until his heart damn near stopped in his chest, wasn’t something he was ever giving up.
And he’d claw through the fucking walls to get to her if he had to.
Nessa regarded him through the bars.
“If you’re here to taunt me,” he warned.
“Maybe I wanted to offer a long overdue apology for saving me in the catacombs?” Nessa said.
Vaughn stared at her.
The huntress burst out laughing. “Yeah, I wouldn’t buy that either.” She stopped opposite him, keeping a careful distance between herself and Mac.
Apparently Mac wasn’t the only one trying hard to pretend the other person was not in the room.
“I need to get to Elena.”
“What? One mark on her wasn’t enough?”
Mac gaped at that, his first genuine show of emotion. “You marked her? No wonder Titania locked you up. What did her father say?”
Vaughn ignored the question. “Titania wants Elena to put on the Iron Crown. She set her up.” At least that was the assumption he was going with until proven otherwise. “And I can’t warn her if I’m stuck in here.”
Nessa leaned toward the bars. “Do you all get that feral looking when your animal comes out? Cause, it’s kinda hot.”
“If you’re not going to help—”
Nessa held up a key. “Hold your tail a minute.”
In a blink Vaughn went from wanting to punch someone to wanting to kiss them. “Hurry.”
Mac snatched the key from Nessa’s hand and shoved it into the lock. He yanked the door open.
Vaughn bolted past them without even knowing where he was going. Following the sound of voices would work until he caught Elena’s scent.
He moved through the lower corridors, not encountering a guard of any kind. Where the hell was everyone?
“Go right,” Mac said from behind him.
Apparently Mac had made up his mind to help him after all. No doubt it was another favor the other gargoyle planned on collecting at some point.
They made another series of turns, the soft music growing louder. They rounded another corner that spilled out into a massive great room. Dozens of soldiers all dressed in gray, stood with their backs to them.
Sensing movement, a few of them turned. The emblem on their armor bore the same crescent shapes as the scar on his face.
“I don’t think these guys were invited to the party,” Nessa said.
She withdrew her sword from the scabbard strapped to her back just as the first of the soldiers rushed toward them.