Page 26 of Solstice

Maybe Carter recognized this because he said, “Let me,” and gathered Poppy in his arms to take her upstairs to her room. The more often she’d been coming to visit us, the better she’d gotten about teleporting herself back home before Vera woke. I’d always admired that about her, how she could control her gift even in her sleep. I supposed she’d need to be able to do that. If she didn’t, she could end up in different places all the time. When Carter returned, he sat next to me and gestured Lex to continue.

“We didn’tjusttake Poppy on Samhain. We’re the filthy humans that showed him up.” Lex blew out a breath before shaking his head. “We took the child, we built a wall of thistles, and we’re keeping him out. We’re making him look like a fool in front of his own people.”

I knew what I’d do if I were the king, and I knew what Lex would do. I’d go for the people who embarrassed me—quick, lethal, effective. Lex would bide his time, wait for the perfect moment, and make some stupid show of strength. Until then, he’d do whatever he could to ruin their lives bit by bit.

I prayed the king never got free. I prayed the thistles held up. I prayed Siobhan knew how to play whatever game she started four years ago. Ashley said Siobhan had the instinct, some knowledge of the future, and if she’d gone to the king willingly, she must have known what she was doing.

“He’ll crush us,” Carter said. “If he gets out, we’re fucked.”

“More than fucked.” I shook my head. “We’ll be lucky if he doesn’t kill us. Our magic doesn’t work on them, remember?” Lex had epically tried and failed to make the queen tell us the truth.

“Do you think his magic works on this side of the realm?” Miri seemed contemplative, like a secret plan brewed behind those mesmerizing eyes. That piqued my interest. What the hell could prompt her to ask that?

“Ours does. Poppy’s does.” Lex shrugged.

“Ashley and Siobhan could use their magic.” I remembered that day after Midsummer when I went to the pub for answers. Ashley had grabbed my hand and asked me to keep quiet about what I’d seen. Then everyone in the pub turned and looked at me, creeping me right the fuck out. She must be able to manipulate the way others viewed their reality. She’d done the same thing when she helped us get away from the king on Samhain, shielding us as we snuck out with Poppy.

“What about the fairies that are still on this side?” Carter took a sip of wine and ran a hand through the back of his hair. “The halflings like Smythe, the ones that were cast out. Do you think they’d be willing to go up against him?”

Smythe had been an art professor at Killwater College when we’d been there at Midsummer. Last Samhain, Lex had used his gift to make Smythe tell us how to get back into Faerie. We’d learned he’d been kicked out of his home and now searched for his own way to get back.

“Some might,” Ivy said. “But how would we find them?”

Lex looked at Miri, making my focus go to her, too.

“What?” She looked between us.

“You can tell who’s fairy and who’s not.” Lex pursed his lips.

She snorted. “Yeah, but what precisely do you expect me to do? It’s not like I have Cerebro available. I can’t put on a magic hat and find all the fairies all over the world.”

“I’m shocked you know that reference,” Carter said.

“What? Can’t a princess like comic books?”

He held up his hands in defeat. “I stand corrected.”

“We can start with Smythe,” I said. “I’ll track him down. He has to know where more of them are staying. We can ask them for help. If not, we can try to get information out of them.”

“When are you going to have time to do all of this, Representative Washington?” Lex raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you think writing bills and implementing environmental reform will be taxing enough?”

I sighed and rubbed my neck. He had a point, but this was too important. “I’ll have help.” That was true. I had interns, research assistants, and an entire cabinet designed to make me succeed. Plus, my little sister, Abigail, had signed on to spend at least twenty hours a week with me once I returned, and she trusted me blindly. I could put her to work.

Lex pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes, reading me like a book. “Don’t drag your siblings into this.”

I balked, unsure if I was more frustrated he knew my intentions so clearly or he presumed to think he could tell me what to do with my family. “How dare you.”

“I agree with Lex,” Carter said. “If any of my sisters got hurt, I’d never be able to live with myself.”

“They won’t,” Miri said. “We’ll keep them safe.”

I smiled, but deep down inside, I wasn’t sure we could do that.

8

Lex

The next morning, I found Poppy sitting at the dining room table with a book outstretched in front of her and a cup of orange juice on the table at her side.

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