I should have put the two together long before this. I’ve always known she was a dreamwalker, but Torrence? He’s somehow kept that from me until tonight, and I’m going to fucking ruin him for it.

Dreamwalker magic is rarely passed on in families, and we don’t understand how someone with gobbelin blood can even use it. Whatever secrets Julianna has uncovered, she must have shared with him, and that’s an unfortunate twist.

My lip curls up as I determine Kier’s scent is everywhere around the bookshop, too. He’s been using his own base ways to convince Rose to come to Aralia, but as she’s still here, maybe my little brother isn’t as charming as he thinks he is.

I can sense Rose in her room, the burnt sugar scent of her magic like a spark in the night air, somewhat easier to find now that I know what I’m looking for. I should go up there and make sure Torrence stays the fuck out of Rose’s dreams. Her secrets need to belong to me, alone.

But Ruby could tell him anything, especially in her dreams. She would never know the danger she was putting her friend in.

I start for the door, noticing it’s been frozen over so the alarm won’t sound. Clever, though I hate to give Torrence the credit.

“To sleep, perchance to dream.”

I whirl at the soft voice, magic crackling in my fingertips as soon as I see Julianna leaning against a tree at the edge of the woods, a teasing smirk mismatched with her cold, cruel eyes.

She stops my air magic attack with a single hand, and I find myself pinned all too easily to the wall of the shop, limbs frozen in place as shards of ice press dangerously close to the softest parts on my body. Julianna laughs, letting me know she could do so much worse, and I curse my mother again for letting this woman escape with her life.

“Poor Ronan. Never as much fun as Kier, and not trusted with the hard things like Brigance. Classic middle child, and evidently just as impotent as any other fae I’ve met. I could kill you now, you know.”

“That would ruin your plans,” I growl, the effort of forcing words out of frozen lungs enraging me. My fire magic begins to rally, melting away some of the ice, but we both know she could kill me long before I get free.

“Yes, it would. I don’t want you dead, any of you. I want you as myslaves. A trio of little pet princes.” She laughs, the sound softer and prettier than she’s ever been.

“Why are you here?” I ask, working to free my arms as she watches with a bored expression.

“Earth? Clearwater? This bookstore with the stupid name? I have plenty of reasons for each.”

“These woods,” I bite out, bending one elbow.

“I like the way they smell.”

My eyes flick to hers, and she laughs again, the picture of fae nonchalance. She’s trying to get information from me, as usual.

“They smell like shit, just like the rest of Earth.”

“And yet, you and your brother just keep coming back like hogs to roll in it. Where is Kier tonight, anyway?”

“Fuck if I know.”

“Gallivanting, is he? Using his shore leave to fuck pretty humans, like the ones in this building of books?”

“You don’t think much of my slutty little brother, do you?” I get the other elbow bent, using my freed hands to direct fire to the daggers of ice still pinning me to the wall. She makes no move to freeze me again, and her indifference is a pointed insult.

“Why should any of you think you have a fool’s chance of winning this war? You can’t beat my army, poor darkling prince.”

“We have ways to beat you, ice-grubber, methods you’ve never seen before.” I wish it weren’t an empty boast, but Rose isn’t yet in Aralia.

Julianna laughs, the sound like hail on a tin roof. “Like a changeling? Even Ignea couldn’t turn over that stone.”

The corner of my lips lifts in a taunting smile, and she raises an eyebrow. If she won’t leave me alone, perhaps I can distract her by throwing Torrence like a bone to a dog.

“What makes you think I have my sights set on the red-haired girl? Kier can have her. What I want to know, is why Torrence seems so much more interested in the other one.”

“Animal hunger. Torrence is led by her blood and his cock, nothing more.”

“Do you really believe you know everything Torrence does? You seem to forget he’s half fae, even though you birthed him. Torrence hides all sorts of things from you.”

“I know what he hides,” she snaps, and her anger lets me know I’ve prodded a bruise.