Page 81 of Within the Veil

I consider Remi's last comment. According to the prophecy, 300 years of darkness, 20 years wild, so if Uranus is banking on triple threes for whatever fucking reason, his timing is off unless I'm completely missing something. This is where Grayson's comment about a scroll comes in, as I'm sure whatever fucking scroll was mentioned would help.

I scowl because, for a book so damn dense, it gave way too much information only to leave me on a damn cliffhanger. With a pained sigh, I leave the table behind, deciding I need my happy place. I walk to my alcove of perpetual indulgence while I mull everything over. Soliciting the help of a God wouldn't be easy, they are more likely to ignore the fuck out of you. But a God taking advantage of someone, especially an Ex-Queen, who was dethroned, to escape one's imprisonment would be simple as fuck.

Nici was dethroned by Celene while in a weakened state. However, after the battle, all accounts state that she was broken, speaking nonsense. Before Celene was able to land the killing blow, by some miracle, Nici was able to escape with clever spellcasting and went off the grid. That is known. However, the circumstances surrounding the reason she was weak at the time are not recorded in history due to the sheer perversity of the acts she committed. So, of course, I know.

I laugh at the fucking sheer arrogance that is Oberon.

Greatness is a gateway to arrogance. But never mind that. Nici had been seeking to increase her own power, and she sought to draw power directly from the leylines within the Realms.

My eyebrows fly up, and I pause briefly. Leylines were natural sources of pure magic, strong, and while you can tap into them with honest intentions, you have to invoke the protection of Gaia to do so safely. Some witches, with heavy training, are able to travel within the leylines to go to various locations throughout the world within their own Realm. Fae, however, can transverse both the Fae and Mortal realms with Leylines. But no matter the amount of training, studying, knowledge, or power, both Fae and mortals run the risk of energy surges or corrupted energies that can damage their brains, extreme energy drains, or even end up in an unintended location in another time entirely.

To actively seek a leyline to draw power from for selfish gain is like throwing a damn toaster in your bathwater. What in the everloving fuck is wrong with this woman, and how the hell did she think she would come away unscathed? I know that she was known for her talent with herbcraft, divination, and spellcasting, but clearly, her ability to use her intelligence beyond that is a little too much to ask for. And I have to wonder, at what fucking point did she lose her ever-loving mind?

How did she bypass the Guardians of the Lines?Ryder asks pensively.

Not all points in the Leylines have Guardians. The mortal realms do, but within Tir Ag Nog, there are only a few locations. Mostly, the most powerful intersections are guarded. She must have traveled far enough to find a spot that didn't have one.Zane answers.

With her power of spellcasting, it wouldn't be hard for her to travel unseen and undetected. But Guardians can see beyond those spells, so yes, she would have traveled far.Remi says.

We need to compile a list of those places without Guardians over the past several centuries. That is going to take quite a bit of digging, but it will narrow down the places Nici traveled. That list should give us insight as to where she hid after, especially if she was already familiar with a certain path. Those with a mind torn by magic would seek familiarity.Grayson adds.

Okay, so goes without saying, I want all leylines within Seelie Realms manned with Guardians the moment we crack her ribs open and rip her lungs straight out of her worthless corpse,I scowl.

Hunter chuckles in my head,I can't wait to have that image seared into my head.

So the next thing to consider is when the hell Nici was overthrown or rather what she did after because the Google of my mind is saying eleven years prior to the usurping of the Seelie court. But if she took over 320-odd years ago, we have ten years unaccounted for.

And the only reason we only have ten years unaccounted for is that, for a year, Nici spent working undercover to apparently change the traditions of the court, all the while seducing Remi and then using her to get closer to her mother. Makes me want to kill her even more for hurting my Mimi.

So what the fuck, was she doing for ten years?I ask.

When there was no answer, I figured they were lost in their own thoughts. Nici had been setting herself up for a takeover, but considering how weak she would have been, I can only imagine it had to be with help. Which begs the question, who or what helped her? And if it was Uranus like all signs are pointing to, how did she even make contact? And at what point? Because assuming it was right after she was dethroned, broken, and out of her mind, how much could she have done? And if he needed 333 years to set his plan into action, 333 years ofwhat?Well, no. That answer is clear, he needs to unbalanceallof Tir Ag Nog with his cosmic Iced-Coffee. And he used Nici to put it all into motion.

I would feel bad for her if she wasn't such a fucking iced coffee cunt. I hate that my ducks aren't in a row. Hell, I'm not even sure if they are ducks or if I even have ducks...or rows. I would say I have more of a set of radio-active squirrels on fire. Obviously not a dangerous fire, I'm not an animal.

Regardless, what Iamsure of is that I need a proper timeline, and I need to know howmuchtime I have before Uranus pops out of Tartarus and coats the world in Iced-Coffee orgasmic bliss.

I groan at my train of thoughts, more scattered than usual due to pregnancy squirrels, as I draw nearer to the alcove and ignore the fucking desk of secrets. Any other time I would take delight in the way the warm sunlight bathes the room in the perfect amount of light, I would need to read all day long, but right now, fuck the sun. It only sheds light on the stuff I already know. Useless. Instead, I crawl onto the couch, lay down, and cover myself with a damn blanket. Sometimes you just need a fluffy blanket and a room full of books to make all the ducks go away.

ChapterEighteen

331 years ago

* * *

Nici

* * *

The plan was truly simple...siphon power from the strongest of Leylines and slowly but surely build my power until no one could stand against me. The magic of the Leylines is too pure to hold within one form, but I was methodical-- Only taking small amounts at a time, letting my body absorb the magic without the dangers of burning through my mind.

It had been difficult enough to avoid the guardians of the Leylines, but after finding an unguarded source, it seemed the stars were aligning. But as I stumble across the forest floor, broken and weak, deep into the darkest pits of Unseelie territory, left with nothing more than a mere shadow of my soul, accompanied by my mangled thoughts of where I went wrong, I have to admittemporarydefeat. Now, I must seek an alternative by following the fearful whispers of dark power deep within the Tíranna na Dorchadas Liabránach. At this point, I have nothing to fear...death would either await me at the hands of my usurper or as my body continues to dissolve into near nothingness.

In the deep recesses of my mind, the small portion which is still intact, I scowl as another rat scurries across my feet, ripping the tender skin of my body, while the broken part of myself giggles and hums at the slight. It wasn't long ago that every living and breathing thing was terrified to come within mere inches of my person. Now? I am nothing more than a common tree root.

I look towards the sky, noting the shifting colors as the sun descends and the moon rises. But I have to keep moving, I nudge the broken part of me to move faster because even though my power is weakened, barely a sliver of what it once was, I can still sense that the new Unseelie Queen, Celene, and her soldiers are on my trail.

My body stumbles, tripping over every rock and root, and once again, I curse at my circumstances but even more so at the mere thought of Celene. Silly little twit. She has no idea of the power she would have access to if she would let go of this idea of 'balance.' All the Fae, actually, but then realistically, if they would all embrace it, then I would have no one to rule over.

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