Page 78 of Swords and Curses

"Trust me, sometimes ignorance is bliss."

Butterflies dancedthrough Rosa's stomach as she took Balthasar's hand and stepped out into the snowing night. He had been unusually quiet as they got ready, and when he kissed her, it was with an urgency that she'd only ever felt from him when she'd been in trouble in the Aos Si. She wasn't in danger now, so she wondered what was eating away at him.

Damn Vanes and their secrets. She hated feeling as if she was once again out of the loop.

They were joined by Merlin and Nimue as they passed the cottage. Nimue wore the Seren Du family armor, her insignia a stylized sun over the seven-pointed star. She held Merlin's hand openly, walking close to him.

"This all seems very enigmatic. I'm starting to feel like that dumb girl in a horror movie who walks directly into a trap," Rosa said.

"It isn't a trap," Balthasar reassured her. "They are old school. They want their ritual."

"They want to be creepy." Saul appeared beside them, making Rosa jump.

"Damn it! Where did you come from?"

"Checking the wards. Why are you so jumpy?" he asked, falling into step beside her.

"Because she hates not knowing everything," Merlin said behind them. "She's a control freak."

"Takes one to know one," she retorted.

"I'm glad we aren't walking into a trap because your bickering would alert every monster to our presence," Nimue said, her voice too bright in the shadows. "The creepiest thing about tonight is they want to have a meeting out at a freezing lake."

"They like to draw on nature. They are hopelessly fae sometimes," Merlin said, though Rosa could hear something uneasy in his voice. Maybe it really was their Wylt witchy woo playing up.

The three brothers stood near the stones in their full fae forms. Rosa shivered and moved closer to Balthasar as their auras covered them. They were pulsing with so much power that it made her tongue stick to the roof of her mouth.

She shook her head, trying to clear the buzzing. Here stood, not the Vanes, but the three legendary Seren Du brothers—Bleddyn, Trahaearn, and Gwaen. The youngest studied her with his strange purple eyes, and she knew deep in her core that what Merlin and Balthasar said about him was correct. He wore Vincenzo like a fine Italian suit. When that was gone, Gwaen's features were as keen and cunning as his mind.

"What's this all about?" Merlin demanded as they stood in a loose circle.

"We have come to a decision about the Autumn Queen," Bleddyn said, his voice deeper than its usual timbre. "We are going to lure her to Gwaed Lyn where she will be further disconnected from her power. We will use the swords to cut her down and scatter her pieces to the four winds."

"We called you here for you all to take a share of our power. This way, the queen will believe herself to be stronger than us," Trahaearn continued. "Then when it's time, we will use our combined power to crush her."

"How is it possible to share power like that?" Rosa asked.

"We share the same blood, and that has power in and of itself," Bleddyn said. "Remember the way we are connected, little one."

As he said it, strands of light energy swirled around the Vanes, leaving only Trahaearn, Gwaen, and Nimue out. "Tonight, we will finish the circle and bring us all together."

"But Nimue isn't of our blood," Merlin interrupted.

"Actually, she is." Bleddyn fixed his emerald eyes on her. "She drank of my blood today and became one of us."

"Why wasn't I told about this?" Merlin said through his teeth.

"Because not everything is your decision," Nimue replied before Eli could. Merlin rounded on her but stilled as her hand touched his face. "I chose this. I am part of this family now, and not even the Autumn Queen can undo it."

Merlin kissed her, robbed of words. Nimue wrapped an arm around his neck, bringing him closer. This was the big surprise and Rosa almost sighed with relief.

Once they broke apart, Nimue looked at him in such a way that Rosa felt like she was intruding. It was as if it was the first time she'd seen him, or it was the last.

They all linked hands, Rosa feeling strangely excited as she felt Balthasar and Merlin's power on either side of her. As their magic linked, she felt the others through the line—Nimue, like the taste of summer, apples, and honey, Gwaen, temperate forests and cool streams and Trahaearn, ice and pine and darkness.

Bleddyn started to glow with white starlight, and one by one, they lit up as magic rolled through them. Nimue's light alone held color, a swirling mixture of gold and white. Rosa could see the tears rolling down her face, and her own eyes filled. Yes, she knew what it felt like to be the orphan girl, finally included in something so much larger than herself.

Unexpectedly, the faerie ring flared to life and Rosa cried out in panic. The stones were activated, which meant that the portal was opening. They unlinked and Rosa drewGaeaf Storomready for the fight. It took her a long moment to realize that Bleddyn looked unconcerned.

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