Page 65 of Dark Sun (Wicked Lovely 6)

Or going into the lair of an enemy.

Katherine wished she knew more about the courts, the regents, all of it. She’d lived in fear so long that she felt completely unprepared. All she could say so far was that the landscape of Faerie looked a lot like a fairy tale forest. Trees stretched up tall enough that Callisto’s belly might brush against them. And the undergrowth was sparse in places, like paths were carved through the wooded area. A river sliced through the whole of it, and creatures roamed.

When Callisto landed on a mossy patch of ground that was akin to a meadow but without the waving grasses, Katherine was hesitant to climb down.

Callisto solved that by switching back to her human shape, which sent Katherine tumbling to the moss-covered ground.

“We walk now.” Callisto was still holding Katherine’s suitcase, and she strolled off with it.

“Walkwhere?”

“To see the people.” Callisto kept going, headed toward a cottage that Katherine hadn’t noticed. She didn’t slow or speed, just steadily loped over the ground in a walk that seemed less human than even her appearance.

“Which people?”

“Hound,” Callisto said.

“Like in the Hunt?” Katherine paused. “Wait! I thought I washidingfrom them.”

Callisto snorted. “Walk.”

Katherine wasn’t sure that this was a better or worse idea. She trusted Urian, so she’d been trusting Callisto by extension. Was that a mistake? She thought about what she knew—Callisto was a car that was fey and apparently also had a human shape. All else she knew was that the fey couldn’t lie directly.

“Can I trust you?” Katherine asked bluntly. “Do you mean me harm?”

At that, Callisto stopped and pivoted. “I want you to help Uri. I mean you no harm. You are his mate. Matesmatter.”

Then she was off again, and this time, Katherine hurried to keep up with her.

When they reached the house, Callisto opened the door and went inside. The two people there seemed utterly unsurprised by this. The man, who looked like he had hair made of tinsel that was reflecting countless holiday lights, looked up and nodded. He was . . . stiff. There was likely a better word for it, but it was as if he was barely moving. Formal in a way that made him look inhuman. No fey that she’d ever seen looked like this.

Old. He was old. Ancient was a more likely answer, and with age came a stillness. She shouldn’t feel surprised. ThiswasFaerie. Who knew what oddities thrived here.

The woman, whose hair was pink tipped and longer on the front and one side than in the back, grinned. “What areyoudoing here, Cally? How?”

“The Hunt took Urian. This is his mate.” Callisto shoved Katherine forward so suddenly that she stumbled. Then she dropped Katherine’s suitcase, which made a clunking noise. “I broke a door to enter.”

“They tookUrian?” The man moved, coming to his feet without seeming to actually move visibly. It was unsettling, like watching a statue shift in front of her. He was somehow already at the door then. He said, “I will tell my sister. She likely knows, but one can never tell with her assorted foundlings.”

Then, with another dip of his head to them, he exited. Callisto flashed a grin at them and followed him.

And Katherine was left alone with a stranger.

“I’m Ani,” the woman said. She was everything opposite the ancient faery, seeming very human, especially in contrast to him. “Thatwas Devlin. Be welcome in our home, mate of Urian.”

“Katherine.” She folded her arms over her chest, as if she could hold herself steady and stop her fears. “I’m not sure what’s going on here. Are you?”

“The Hunt, my family of a sort, has taken your mate, who happens to be like a beloved nephew to the first faery—Sorcha. She’s the High Queen.” Ani sighed, blowing her hair up in the process and looking disarmingly like a little girl about to pout. “Moody and unpredictable, but fortunately she’s trapped here in Faerie. On theotherhand, Urian’s dad is Irial, the former Dark King and current embodiment of Chaos. The Hunt is not really apartof the Dark Court, but sort of. They stay with the Dark. And the last time Niall—that’s the current Dark King—and Irial were at odds, Niall and the Summer and Winter Courts were all caught up in a war. In other words, this is . . .bad.”

Katherine blinked, trying to make sense of the things Ani was saying.

“Guess he didn’t go over his whole family tree?” Ani snorted. “Men.”

“I knew his father was a king, but that’s a lot. Any other details I ought to know?” Katherine said, not actually expecting any.

“Uri’s niece is the Summer Queen.” Ani shrugged.

At that, Katherine started to feel faint. “He said he was an exiled prince . . . but I guess I thought . . . I mean, not that it was a lie, but like he was a bastard son of some lesser someone. Not really legitimate claims to two thrones.”

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