Page 75 of When the Woods Go Silent

“There will be a new one for you to obsess over soon enough,” a sharp voice says from behind the door.

Arlo ducks his head, and I smirk, knowing Idris would enjoy shredding his face as much as I would.

“General,” I say, nodding at her when I reach the top of the stairs after everyone else.

“Another good delivery,” she observes, watching the slaves stand docile and silent while the guards rope them together in a chain.

“We aim for efficiency.” I catch the corner of a smile on her face, but it vanishes quickly. Here in Clearwater, she’s supposed to be my superior, and we have to act like we barely know each other.

“Need an escort?” I ask her.

“No, it’s foggy tonight. We’ll be well hidden.”

I nod, my jaw tightening. Mentioning fog is part of our code, and Idris is passing along a message from Julianna that I need to meet her again in the deep woods.

All I want to do is shut myself in my room and try to sleep without dreaming of Ruby, but instead I have to go learn what new shit my mother requires from me. Life would be so much less complicated if I were strong enough to end her.

It’s nearly daybreak when I find the cave where she’s waiting, and I clench my fists as I sense the remnants of her power in the air. Not her gobbelin magic - one of the fae powers she wields.

“Hello, Torrence, darling,” she says dreamily, her eyes still clouded over with the drug-like effects of the magic. She’s been fucking dreamwalking again.

“What are you looking for?” I snap. She knows full well that dreamwalking puts our task at risk, and she’s promised me more than once that she’d stop doing it here.

“For? Nothing. I’m just enjoying the magic,” she lies. She’s addicted to it.

I glare at her, wishing I could sneak into her own dreams and find her there, weaker. Finally force her to share some of the secrets she hoards like a dragon. But she’s stronger than me there, too.

“You said you were done with that Sweet Dreamer shit.” I hate how my voice feels small in the cave, as though I’m a child again, whining that she broke another promise.

She sighs, rallying herself from the half-drunk state. “I’m bored. And it’s not like the humans are clueless around here. I know you’ve buried bodies. Humans will come looking eventually.”

“Fucking Arlo,” I mutter, and Julianna snickers.

“Seems to me you should be able to keep a better handle on him. After all, he’s just a gobbelin. You’re part fae - and my son. Prince of Gobbelins.”

“Prince of nothing,” I growl. “And you know I can’t use my fae magic or my family connections here, because you’re the one who made the fucking rules.”

Julianna laughs, and the sound grates on my nerves like metal on concrete.

“I did, didn’t I? I make all the fucking rules, Torrence. And if I want to dreamwalk, I’ll fucking dreamwalk.” She smiles, lounging back against the rocky walls of the cave, her fingers idly making tiny ice sculptures. My own magic itches to be used, but again, I hold it back.

Being a prince of a crumbled kingdom in hiding is as pointless now as it’s always been, but I know she’ll never give up her fight against the fae she believes ruined her life.

“News from Aralia?” I ask, hoping to cut to the point of why she’s here.

“Brigance is courting. He’s considering noble fae, and we’re out of time.”

“Idris collected six more slaves tonight,” I point out, making a mental note to ask Ronan if this story about Brigance is true.

“And I could gather six in a single hour.” She raises one eyebrow at me.

“Not without ruining everything I’ve worked for here,” I snap. “Goblin Marketis working. It’s the plan.”

“Itwasthe plan. Now it’s time for a bolder one. We need to collect all the slaves we can and attack Aralia now, before he takes a queen.”

I huff and turn my back to her, my mind racing to find a rebuttal to her argument. But she’s the queen. This is her war, and I’ve never in my life been able to change her mind. It won’t start tonight.

“The season has barely started,” I try, but she shakes her head.

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