Page 257 of Lady of Ashes

“Alaric.” Balam’s smooth, calming voice ?oated through the room. “We need her alive.”

“Where is the Fae Queen?” Alaric demanded, releasing his adopted daughter. She bared her fangs at him as she recovered from his power coiling around her heart. He ignored her. She couldn’t hurt him. Not since she took that Blood Bond to save those children.

He’d tried to rip that out of her. That heart thatcaredtoo much. He’d tried to drive it out of all three of them. Instead, they’d bonded. Latched onto each other. Became something truly horri?c.

And something so much easier to manipulate. Until the day Juliette had died.

Sybil had not realized just how much of the gift of sight her daughter had. That Juliette had seen what needed to happen.

Scarlett thought Mikale and Veda had orchestrated the events of that night. And they had to an extent.

But so had Juliette.

“Talwyn is tending to matters in the Courts,” Tarek supplied.“Trying to instill order since we went in and took over the Fire and Water Courts.”

“And she let the Royals and the Inner Courts go,” Alaric said sharply, his power slipping around Tarek’s heart now. “Did you not understand your task?”

“I did, my Lord,” Tarek wheezed out. “The Fae Queen must be handled carefully. You know this. Be too forceful with her and she will leave our side.” He sucked in a rattling breath. “They ?ed. Including Luan. Only Princess Ashtine remains. The other Royals have disappeared.”

“But they still live,” Alaric sneered.

“Not all of them,” Mikale cut in with a sadistic grin. He looked at Tarek. “Seeing your queen take him out was truly beautiful. I was so glad I was there to witness it.”

“You idiot,” Alaric said, releasing Tarek from his power’s hold. “It is precisely because of that act that we are in this mess.”

“So she burned your little clubhouse down,” Mikale said, rolling his eyes. “Does it really matter that much?”

“Thatclubhousemattered more than the life of you and your sister combined,” Alaric said. Mikale’s mouth snapped shut, his jaw tightening as he bit his tongue on whatever he was about to say.

Smart move.

Alaric turned to Balam. “Take Tarek and get the Fae Queen. We have the ?nal key. I want them shifted. Today.”

Scarlett thought she would best him? That she would take him down? Make him suffer?

She was a weapon that he had created. And he wanted his property back.

He had spent the entire afternoon and evening reconstructing the map before him. The original had been destroyed in that ?re she had set, consumed by her white ?ames.

Star?re.

Nothing could withstand it.

He’d had to combine his own power with that of Balam and Mikale to recreate this map. It showed the entirety of the continent, along with the rifts they’d created to allow more seraphsthrough. When he went to Avonleya with Scarlett in tow, he would have an army at his back. An army that would actually stand a chance against the power of the Avonleyans and what they had locked away within their lands.

His father had been foolish to think he could defeat them with wits. Thinking he could sneak in, control the Fae Queens through their sister. Manipulation of emotions and relationships could only get one so far. Alaric’s own Wraiths of Death had proved that much.

Black pillars shimmered like mist where the rifts were, seraphs guarding each of them. Five in each of the mortal kingdoms. Three in the Night Children territory. They’d opened one in each of the Courts since they’d entered, but more would be coming. Tarek was right. They needed to be careful with Talwyn. She couldn’t know he was taking Fae children from her Courts to open these rifts. She wouldn’t understand the necessity of their sacri?ce. Then again, she was so blinded by her need for vengeance, maybe she would.

They had been debating whether to go into the Shifter territory or the Witch Kingdoms next. Both were unpleasant. The Witches were just plain ruthless, and the Shifter siblings were cunning and dangerous. There were arguments to be made on both sides as to which one to pursue ?rst. For now, he was content to leave them contained behind the wards that bound them to their lands.

They had moved to a different council room within the Baylorin castle after his temper had destroyed the previous one. Talwyn was in a corner working with the keys, Tarek monitoring her progress. She had not been particularly amenable to being summoned here on such short notice.

“You are changing the plans, then?” Balam asked quietly, studying the map. “You want to go to Avonleya before we have strongholds in the other two territories? Is that wise?”

“I think it would be unwise to delay anything once we have secured Scarlett once more. She can be given no more opportunities to escape again. When we have her, we move in,” Alaric replied, his ?ngers drumming on the table.

“I believe it would be just as unwise to alter the plans that we have been carefully putting into place for centuries,” Balam countered.

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