Page 62 of Beltane

Alberich gasped as the ruby dust hit him in the face, bewildering him, perverting the connection between our minds as I slammed the stone walls back up. I knew then what I had to do, what I should have done from the very second Miri called for the ruby dust. Lex’s ability to identify a lie surged through us, saying the king was bluffing and had been this whole time. Carter’s luck clenched inside our souls, seeming to shout that it was the right moment, that we needed to make our playnow.It had taken all four of our gifts to do this. I channeled that energy into my next words.

“Suffer in solitude, suffer in silence, only then will you know the pain you have caused.”

The spell landed on the king like a sledgehammer, and the storm around us dissipated, drifting away on the wind. Alberich dropped to the earth as the sun shone through the clouds, illuminating the destruction of Faerie in the bright light of midday. Holding onto my spouses, I pulled on their love for me, their love for our love, and I drew that power deep inside me.

The king pushed to his feet and looked up at us with bewilderment in his eyes, his mouth hanging open, his hair windswept around him. Diana lowered to the ground gracefully, her radiance dimmed for how much she had fought, but still holding that intelligence that made her the queen.

She opened her mouth to speak, but I’d heard enough.

This fairy-tale nightmare had to end, and no matter what she had to say, I didn’t care.

“All of Faerie, hear me now.” My voice dropped several octaves as my words echoed over the space, sounding like they came from the depths of my soul. Warm, sticky liquid dribbled down my cheeks and over my lips, tasting like copper, and I realized my eyes and nose were bleeding from the exertion. I pushed harder. “I am Ivette Washington, and the human realm ismine. I claim it as my own, and so long as my blood lives, you are not welcome. Be gone from this realm. Be gone, now, and never return.”

The weight of the spell tore off out of me, potent and overwhelming, sucking the rest of the magic from our connection. It flowed from my molecules in thick emerald waves, pulsing with the rage and fury that had been building inside me for four years. This had been only a game for them, a grand nothing in the vastness of their eons, but for me, it had screwed with every aspect of my life.

This is the sacrifice.Blocking them out would mean losing Siobhan, Finn, and Donnelly. We would never see them again—never seePoppyagain. Anyone stuck on that side would forever be in Faerie, and whoever was on the human side would never see Faerie again. But it had to be this way. As I said the words, the rightness of this moment settled in every molecule.

I met Siobhan’s soulful brown eyes, a huge grin on her face. She mouthed the words, “Well done,” before she faded away. Finn and Donnelly soon faded as well, the rest of Faerie dimming while I pulsed with our magic, casting every last bit of it out of us, pushing them into their realm to deal with their mess.

The veil disappeared. It closed permanently.

Then, with the relief that came with winning a long-earned battle, I dropped to my knees, planted my fingers in the dirt, and passed out.

24

Lex

What the fuck?

That was the first thing I thought when I woke up.

What the actual fuck?

The sun hit me square in the eyes, and a blinding, splitting headache shot straight through to the other side. I winced, squinting as Ivy’s ginger hair came into focus. My arm was draped over her waist and my fingers intertwined with a heavy palm that felt like Carter’s on the other side, their foreheads touching. Miri had an arm over Carter’s ribs and her hand was latched on to Ivy’s.

Fucking hell.

Everything hurt. People say they feel like they got hit by a train the morning after doing hard drugs, but I really did. Every nerve ending I had screamed when I moved. I disentangled my hand from Carter’s and sat up, running my palms over my face to try to figure out where I was or what we’d taken.

Ecstasy, maybe? A shit ton of cocaine? My head pounded like the comedown from a serotonin overdose. I’d probably feel like hell for another twelve hours.

Wait…

No.

This was a memory. I’d already been here. I’d already done this. I reached for my pants, grabbing my pack of cigarettes to light one as I scooted myself so I leaned back against the mossy stone walls. We were in the ruins, the same run-down, decaying structure where we’d spent a night and a day under the influence of fairy magic. Judging by how much my body ached, I might say we’d done that again.

Flashes of the last few hours raced through my brain.

The battle with the fairy king and queen.

Watching Carter and Miri die right in front of me.

Hearing Ivy’s anguished cries.

Making the deal with the queen to bring them back.

Knowing, deep down, only I could make that sacrifice and go through with it.

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