Page 100 of A Bargain with the Fae King

“That’s really it?” Sylvie asks, her mouth agape.

“I think so.” The maze is gone, so if it’s not, we’re really screwed. It’s definitely not a normal stone, but is it the key? “What do you think?”

I hand the stone to Riven.

Immediately, he grimaces, holding the stone away from him.

All my joy flees in a moment of terror. “What is it?”

“It feels… wrong,” he replies at length. His lips curl back to bare his pointed teeth as he snarls at the stone.

It didn’t feel wrong to me. In fact, it’s as right as anything here. A trap?

“Take the stone, Lia,” Riven orders, not unkindly.

I pluck it from his palm. No sooner has it left his hand than he’s wiping his palm on his pants as if removing something unsavory.

The stone, still cool, sings for me again. Itwantsme to hold it.Needsme to.

“It feels the same as it did before,” I say, though he hasn’t asked. “Can’t you hear its song?”

“Song…” He looks from me to his men, who shake their heads.

My brows draw together. None of them can hear it?

But I can. The dissident notes have softened, blending into an even more perfect harmony than before.

“There’s one way to find out for sure.” Riven wraps his hands around mine, avoiding contact with the stone.

I take a deep breath and nod. Test it. Of course. “Which door?”

“The one you came through. It’s only partially opened. Fae with weak magic, like the Unseelie, can use it, but I cannot go far outside its bounds without feeling the fade of my magic.”

“The stronger your magic, the more the door holds you in?”

“Just so. But if it’s fully opened, it should lessen that effect.” Riven turns to his guard. “If you don’t have the strength to make it to Virideria, then go back to Arbrean. Otherwise, come with us. Do not speak a word of what’s transpired here.”

The shift takes longer this time, the pull of the magic wearing down even Riven’s magical energy, but soon, the all too familiar stone circle appears in front of us.

The call of the stone clangs louder near the door, a constant murmur of song buzzing about my head like a swarm of bees. The keywantsthe door open. Its song tells me in words I don’t quite understand, but I know, if I want it to, the door will swing wide—or shut.

An almost eerie calm surrounds me, comforting and coaxing all at once. I lift my chin, as sure as about this as anything I’ve ever done. Half the guard reappear with us, Sylvie and Galen included.

But it’s Riven I look to. “I can do it.”

He nods, willing me to try it.

I enter the edge of the stone circle, the threshold of the door. The music grows louder, a speaker turned to high.

Open.

Golden light spills out from the stone, and I gasp and clutch the stone tighter. If the fae react, I can’t hear them. The song consumes all sound around me. The light grows until I clench my eyes at its brightness, the strength of it painful even behind closed lids.

I should be afraid. A little part of me somewhere knows that, but all is still and warm and wonderful within the stone’s glow, as if I’ve searched for this place my whole life.

In an instant, the light and music are gone.

A gasp breaks from me as the world returns. I peek, unsure of what I’ll see, but the circle of stones remains. Behind me, cries of joy erupt. I swing around to come face to face with Riven.

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