“Let’s move,” I said, “Take the van.”
The six of us piled into one of the vans. Rasp hopped into the driver seat, revved the engine and took off, the tires screeching.
Exhaustion weighed me down. I couldn’t recall ever being this tired. It must have shown, because Elle nudged my shoulder and urged me to lie down.
“Rest. It’s okay. We’re getting out of here,” she whispered. “We’ve got you.”
I rested my head on her thighs as my heavy eyelids slid shut. It almost felt like I’d taken a sleeping potion. Before I slipped into unconsciousness, she whispered to me, her voice light and breathy as she ran her hands through my hair. “It’s all right. You’re safe. We’ve got you.”
BRIELLE
The van barreled along the highway. Rasp hadn’t turned on the headlights, choosing instead to use his dragon night vision to guide us until we were farther away from my family’s land. Cruising at a high speed with everything outside the windshield pitch black gave the whole situation an even more stressful tone than it already had.
I studied Aurelius’s face. He looked like he’d been through hell. His face was drawn, his cheeks sunken in. Dark circles ringed his eyes, and he reeked of rot and garbage. His hair was sweaty and matted with knots, and freshly healed scars zigzagged across his forearms and neck. I didn’t relish the thought of seeing what the rest of his body looked like, and I had to clench my jaw to temper the seething rage inside me.
“See anything?” I asked as I stroked Aurelius’s hair.
In the passenger seat, Vince shook his head. “Nope. Looks clear to me.”
“Elle, how on earth did you find us?” Freddy asked.
I glanced at him. The human healer, Julian, was doing his best to tend to his wounds in the moving vehicle.
“Hard to explain,” I said.
“Did someone call you?” Freddy went on, wincing as the healer poured some sort of potion on a bite wound on his arm. “I planned to get Aurelius into the city, away from the family’s holdings, then call you.” He shook his head and gave a pained laugh. “You appeared like goddamned avenging angels.”
I smiled to my smile. It had been a bit like that. Though, rather than angels, we’d been more like demons, raining down fire and death from the night sky.
After my dream walk in the wellspring, the entire fae town had devolved into well-organized chaos. The leadership council had gathered everyone together and prepared them to be transported to the dragon’s castle. A few of them would stay behind to watch over the wellspring, but nearly three hundred fae would be welcomed as guests by King Cassius Decimus.
Initially, the plan had been for Cassius and the council to discuss how best to mount a defense against the wolves should they come. Yet, as important as all that was, I’d had a hard time getting the vision the wellspring had shown me out of my mind. Most of it had been fuzzy, but I had clearly seen Freddy and Aurelius at the waste treatment facility. The meaning had been pretty clear: Freddy was trying to get Aurelius out.
“Are we going to the castle too?” Vince had asked.
“No,” I’d said. “We’re heading to my family’s territory.”
Rasp, Delphine, and Vincent had all stared at me like I’d lost my mind.
“Uh, excuse me?” Rasp said. “You mean, you want us to go strolling right back into the lion’s den? That doesn’t sound very smart.”
I gestured toward the wellspring. “It told me something. It’s happening tonight, whatever it is, and I know where.”
Delphine studied me, then nodded and patted my arm. “We’ll go. I’ll go too.”
“Sounds fun,” Vince said. “A secret mission behind enemy lines. Like a movie.”
Rasp ran his fingers through his hair, looking both irritated and resigned. “Okay. I guess so. Fuck it. You only live once, right?”
The four of us had flown to an area near the waste treatment facility and waited until nightfall. The whole time, my three companions eyed me apprehensively, each listening intently for the tell-tale howl of wolves who’d caught the scent of intruders in their territory, but either through luck or fate, we weren’t discovered.
We waited until a little past midnight until a faint sound echoed through the woods. The distant pop-pop-pop sounded like fireworks.
Rasp leapt to his feet. “Holy shit, did you hear that?”
“I did,” Delphine said, her voice tight with strain. “Gunfire.”
I stood. “It’s time. Let’s go.”
Moments later, Delphine and I were on Vincent and Raspion’s back, flying through the night air like ghosts. Soon, we spotted three sets of headlights. The cacophony of howls and gunshots reverberated through the night. Even from up high, I could make out Aurelius. The wellspring had shown me the truth. I’d found him.
When Vincent had swept down and cloaked the wolf attacking Aurelius in fire, it had been all I could do not to release a banshee scream of victory.
The memories, still fresh and visceral, played across my memory like a movie. Finally, I looked at my brother again and shrugged.
“It was magic.” I grinned. “Let’s leave it at that for now.”
Freddy’s brow furrowed, and he looked at me like I’d lost my mind. Eventually, he sighed and leaned back in his seat.
“Fair enough. Keep your secrets. I’m just glad you showed up when you did. We weren’t gonna make it out of there. Nicolas was a good man.” When he looked at me again, it was with haunted eyes. “I think they might have actually tried to kill me, Elle.
Me.”
My stomach twisted at that. Had Bastien really gone so over the edge that he’d actually harm Freddy? He obviously wanted to harm me, but that was different. I had a stronger claim to being the head of the family. I doubted my parents would have gone along with Freddy’s murder the way they might have for mine. If I had to guess, Bastien’s men were trigger-happy. That, and Bastien was too power-hungry to really think about his actions.
I reached across the van and squeezed his hand. “You’re safe now.” Then I frowned. “Wait, aren’t you getting married soon?”
He blinked several times, then a smile lit up his face.
“Oh, wow, yeah. Ariella Garnier. It, uh… the wedding got postponed.” He shrugged one shoulder. “With everything happening, Mom and Dad said it was for the best. She’s actually on a bachelorette trip with her sister and some friends. They went to Japan. She hadn’t planned it, but-” He stopped abruptly, closing his eyes and shaking his head. “I’m sorry. I’m rambling about shit that doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter. Freddy. It’s important to you, and it’s been delayed. Because of me.” I sighed. “I’m sorry.”
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