Page 5 of Royal Ransom

“I can’t read it,” Meredith said, turning the bones over in her hand, as though a different angle might produce better results. “It looks faerie-made, but the language is too old for me to understand.”

I glanced up to find Astrid’s face paler than I’d ever seen it. She, too, was staring at the bones. Unlike Meredith, she had no problem gleaning the meaning. The high Sidhe possessed the gift of tongues. It didn’t matter that Wren had picked some obscure winter dialect. We could read the bones and weep.

“Is that...?” Astrid began, pausing mid-question to swallow audibly. She looked like she might be sick. I sympathized. I’d seen worse as a police detective in Portland, sure, but it was the implication of torture that turned my stomach.

“Fox’s finger?” I finished for her. “I’m not sure. That’s what Wren claims with her little note, though.”

“Oh, my Goddess,” Astrid said, swallowing audibly.

“I was going to take it to the coven house to be examined,” I continued. “A positive ID is needed before I can discuss next steps with the Council.” I took a deep breath and continued. “I’d like to tell Wren and Janara, for that matter, to go to hell, but this is bigger than me.” And that was true—it was bigger than me. The Hollow had already fought beside me twice, and there had been casualties. The more violent the clash, the more likely we were to out ourselves to the public. But that wasn’t my decision to make.

It hurt to say the last part aloud. I’d always been able to solve things on my own. At least until Jonathan came along and messed up my entire life. I felt like I hadn’t been able to take a deep breath since then. I was so off-footed that Ihadto ask for help, and I hated that. If it was my mess, logic dictated that I should be the one to clean it up. But, as I’d said, this was biggerthan me. Bigger than all of us. The fate of a court of Faerie and an undercover Hollow was at stake.

Astrid’s eyes were enormous in the pale expanse of her face. I wished she’d turn them elsewhere. They looked so much like Maverick’s that it hurt. The ache in my chest was so intense that I fought not to gasp. Ididlook away when she gingerly weighed the bones in her hands. The thought that she might be holding what was left of her uncle’s pinky made me feel vaguely ill. Even if he’d been a prick to me, he’d been a decent teacher to Astrid. No one should have to face a scenario like this, let alone use their magic to confirm my theory.

I didn’t need to look back at the young former witch to know when she found the answer. It came with a distinct sniffle and a muttered, “Excuse me,” as she got up from the table. The clatter of ivory against the tabletop reminded me of a dice game, a sound too jolly for our current situation. I didn’t stop Astrid when she brushed past me to run for the bathroom.

“It’s his,” I said, sounding out the words. Speaking them aloud was nauseating. I felt a sudden urge to lean over the sink.

That bitch. That fucking bitch. She was going to pay for this. Not just for hurting Fox. She was going to pay for hurting Astrid. For potentially forcing her to shoulder all of Autumn.

“It’s not cursed,” Meredith announced finally. “I may be crap at weaving dark spells, but I can recognize them when they’re present.”

I rubbed my face. “Well, that’s something, at least.”

Though I had to wonder why Wren hadn’t tried cursing me. Had I really frightened my aunt that badly the last time we’d faced each other? The battle had been close—far closer than I wanted to admit to anyone but myself. Without my friends and family, I would have died that night. Something I’d done in the meantime must have spooked them. It was the only reason I could think of that kept them from drowning us in ruthlesswinter combatants.

“There is something here. I think it’s related to the word built on the fuse line.”

I glanced back at Meredith just in time to see her tapping a faint line on the bone where it had fused. Fox must have broken the bone at some point. It was strange to think of him being injured. From the moment he’d sauntered into my life, he’d been a powerful, ever-present force. He was a faerie prince, and he never let me forget it. I couldn’t imagine him getting hurt, let alone maimed the way Janara had done.

“What does the spell do?”

“It’s elemental, I think. A talisman, not a weapon.”

“To summon the north wind,” I muttered under my breath. “It’s basically a burner phone. They amputated his finger so I could give them an answer. Jesus fucking Christ...”

It made the mutilation that much worse to know they could have contacted me another way but chose this to maximize our suffering. I prayed Fox was still alive. Not just for his own sake, but for Astrid’s. I didn’t want her hands to be next on the chopping block.

Astrid returned from the bathroom with flushed cheeks and streaming eyes. She’d tried but hadn’t quite managed to hide the smear of scarlet on her skin where she’d scrubbed blood from her mouth. I felt bad for depriving her of the meal. She would need her strength if this situation went FUBAR.

“It’s his?” I asked, though I had few doubts.

Astrid nodded stiffly. “I can feel...himfor lack of a better word on it. There’s a magical signature that’s unique to everyone, like a fingerprint. We’ve been having lessons long enough that I know what that feels like. She… she really does have him.”

We’d all known that in theory. Janara had even been there when the portal opened in the middle of the street, spillingstrangers from the other side of the country into our backyard. It was one thing to know this in theory; it was another to see it in practice. Knowing Fox was out there, hurting, was almost too much to bear if you let yourself dwell on it for any length of time.

Astrid explained what she read in greater detail. Meredith and Yew sat very still, absorbing it all, before Meredith got up and excused herself as well. I waited to hear her toss her cookies in the other room, like Astrid had. Instead, I caught the muted ring of a cell phone and a murmured conversation.

“She’s calling her mom,” Astrid said in response to my questioning glance. “Lucretia sent Hexus Rangers to investigate what’s going on in Misty Hollow. She was going to contact you soon if you didn’t call her first.”

“Why?” I asked.

Astrid cocked her head to the side. “Lucretia thinks you might have the key to putting it down.”

Of course she did. It wasn’t enough that I was stomping out fires in my own Hollow. Now the high witch of Texas wanted to add more work to my already crammed schedule. Son of a…

“After Fox’s situation is dealt with, not before,” I said quietly. “I can’t focus on some kind of swamp monster right now. Not until this is settled.”

---