Page 3 of Beltane

“Do you know him?” Edward turned to the guards in the room. “Get security.” When they didn’t move, he went to investigate. I focused on the king, waiting for his next play, wondering why he hadn’t just blown a hole in the wall.

“Let me in, my dear.” He held his arms out to either side, a tempting gesture of solidarity. “We have much to discuss.”

“Go away,” I said. “You and I have nothing between us.”

Even from the third story, I saw a smirk mar his perfect lips. The king was beautiful in the way of all majestic things. He was tall and proportionate, and the sharp edges of his cheekbones and jaw would make Michelangelo weep.

“We have a debt to settle.” His gaze echoed with amusement, like he was messing with me. “A life for a life.”

“I never asked you to save me.” It might have been better if I’d died in the car accident with my parents, but the king had reached in and grabbed me at the last second, sparing me but forcing me to live my life without them.

“Miri, what are you saying? What’s going on?” Edward tried to break me from the spell, grabbing my shoulders to maneuver me so I had to look at him. But I couldn’t lose focus. I stared at Alberich, daring him to do anything spectacular. The hum of the surrounding trees echoed in my blood, though we were far from any real forest. But I’d gotten so weak in my separation from my beloveds. I doubted I could muster much, even if I was prepared to do anything to protect my family.

“Would you have preferred I let you die?” Alberich raised an eyebrow.

“We’ll never know now.”

He chuckled, the sound echoing around the room despite the thick stone and glass between us. “Miriam, this story has always ended this way. There’s no stopping it. You might as well…submit.”The word weighed on my shoulders, tightening the tension in the room to the point where I could pop it with a pin. It rang through me, shaking my joints, willing me to give in to his commands.

But…

Something was different about him, even in this display of his prowess. His energy had dampened, that radiance that had once made him so terrifying in Faerie now reduced to a blip. Whyhadn’the burst into my room like a juggernaut monster? Why hadn’t he brought his army of fairies with him?

“I’d sooner slit my own throat.”

“Be careful what you wish for.” The fairy king twisted his lips, obsidian spirals emanating out of his body, writhing as they descended on Kensington once more, shrouding my castle in his hatred.

I reached out using my gift, searching for my plant allies on this side of the realm. Kensington didn’t have a huge garden, but the nearby park supplied more than enough. Now that I needed their assistance, the energy in them reciprocated with hearty agreement.

Grow,I commanded, sensing my magic shudder as I attempted to use it.

Yes,they replied, seeking my presence, reaching out for me. But I wasn’t as strong as I used to be, my body too frail from having been isolated for so long. Somewhere deep down inside, I knew the reason the king had been able to get out was because I had failed to hold on to that energy. Whatever he’d done to me that night in Monaco, whatever I’d allowed him to do, it had caused this.

“Edward,” I shouted, backing away from the glass. We’d have to hide somewhere safe, somewhere I could control the plants and keep the king from hurting us. “Edward, let’s go.”

I turned to look for my cousin, but he was gone. The guards that stood sentry at the doors stared at the ceiling with their eyes hazed over in dark spirals, seemingly entranced by something only they could see.

“Edward?” I raced into the hallway but pulled up short at the sight from the other end. My cousin stood with his green eyes wide and his mouth open in a silent scream. Poppy had appeared next to him, one hand wrapped around his, the other grasping Lizzie, Carter’s sister.

“Poppy, what are you doing?” I took a step closer, but the changeling shook her head.

“Miri, I’m sorry. I really am.” Tears streaked her blushed cheeks, her hair in wild blond curls around her head.

“You don’t have to do this,” I told her, holding out a hand. “Come with me. We’ll go to Lex and Ivy. We’ll tell them what you’ve done, and they’ll fix it.”

Alberich’s spirals pricked at the windows like rain on a tin roof, sending pinpoint screeches through the entire building. My pulse raced and I clenched my hands into fists, preparing to lunge at her if I had to.

“It’s too late to fix it.” Poppy sighed and held them tighter. “I wish things could have been different.”

“Poppy, stop that,” I barked. “You are in control of yourself. Remember who we’re fighting. Remember who the real enemy is.”

“I know.” Poppy sobbed, wiping her eyes on her shoulder before taking a deep breath and righting herself. “That’s why I have to do this. Don’t you see? If I don’t, I’ll never see her again.”

“Who?” I furrowed my brows. “Ivy? We can go to her right now.”

“No.” Poppy regained her composure and held on to my cousin tighter, his look of horror intensifying. “No, it has to be this way.”

Tick, tick, tick.Alberich’s magic pressed on the walls, suffocating me, pulling my focus from protecting us. If I thought dealing with watching two loves of my life marry each other was terrible, add in Alberich and Poppy, and I wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out again. My gut churned and the hot sting of panic squeezed my lungs harder.

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