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A young girl’s voice stopped Nova in her tracks.
“Dad!”
Shock barreled through her as her twin brother approached a parked car in their driveway. The rear door opened and a young girl burst out, running toward Niles. Perhaps in her early teens, her complexion was similar to Niles and Nova, but her hair… her hair had a texture that kinked in places and was straight in others. It seemed to match her effervescent personality.
Flinging her arms wide, she launched into Nile’s arms. Nova gripped the slippery porch railing. Rain pelted her face.
“You’re making me wet, Aurora,” Niles growled. “Get back in the car.”
The girl whined, but when he plucked her from his body and shoved her into the car, Nova glimpsed two women inside. Both African American, they enveloped the young girl, showering her with love. One woman glared at Niles as he slid into the driver’s seat. The other wiped a tear from their daughter’s eye as it mixed with the rain.
“Did you have to be so cruel?” Her sharp voice carried through the open window. “She missed you. That’s all.”
The other added with reproach, “What’s gotten into you these days?”
Niles sent Nova a smug look as he turned the key in the ignition. It was pure, evil triumph. The car reversed out of the driveway, but before they drove away, the first woman turned and gave Nova a quizzical look. It was as though she had no idea Nova existed either, but recognized they were family… the child connecting them.
* * *
An agonized screamrose above the din of battle. Nova’s eyes opened and locked onto Maebh as she staggered to her knees, her mouth a wideOshape. She looked about to vomit, and gripped one of the Sluagh’s tattered wings, perhaps sending a silent command. But when it failed to respond, she reached for the Prime with her other hand. Aleksandra’s gnarled, shaky hand met hers and clasped in acknowledgment of her pain… perhaps forgiveness. Maebh turned bleary, red-rimmed eyes to Nova and cried hoarsely, “Why did you show me that?”
“Because I’m the woman on the steps,” Nova replied, proud that her voice remained steady. “You must recognize me from the porch that day. Niles is my twin. He’s now known as Nero—the president of Crystal City and the man who destroyed the old world. That young girl in the car—they tell me she’s alive in Crystal City. I can show you more memories. Leaf can share his from when he saw her—”
“No!” Maebh clutched her head, tears running down her cheeks. “I don’t want these lies.”
“She’s alive!” Leaf confirmed, his voice as steady as Nova’s. “Niles lied to you both. He used you both. He preyed on your desire to have a child and then stole her because a biological daughter meant he could feed off her mana without going mad. Surely you remember Crimson telling you about a friend who’d betrayed him. A neighbor—the twin of his greatest love. This is her, Crimson’s—myEstrella.”
“You lie!” Maebh cried, shaking her head. “Aurora died!”
Leaf stepped back as the demogorgon pounced, protecting its queen. Nova’s scream caught as Leaf yanked her behind him and raised his sword.
Her ears popped as the air pressure changed. Her throat tingled. Everything itched, and oxygen evaporated from her lungs. So it wasn’t her shriek that came out. It was the demogorgon’s as it clashed with a wall of solid air—orsomething—Leaf conjured around them like an invisible shield. She glanced at her mate and found his face reddening from the strain of holding the barrier. Veins protruded on his forehead. Tendons popped along his neck.
God, she wished she could do something other than stand there and be used for her magic. The beast clawed at the invisible shield, its tentacles slapping over them like a Kraken gripping the hull of a see-through ship. Its muscles churned and undulated like oil beneath scaly skin. It snapped its mandibles.
Nova stared into those furious eyes and saw nothing human left. Nothing but hunger and thirst and triumph as its claws started to breach the barrier.
“Well-dammit,Maebh. She’s alive!” Leaf bellowed. “Your changeling daughter died. Mithras buried her in his backyard.” He paused at Maebh’s pained expression. His tone softened. “She was still a child. So Rory can’t be your granddaughter. Don’t you see? Killing fae is not the way to bring her back. It’s handing your daughter’s legacy to your enemy on a silver platter. Use the Sluagh to look into your pet’s mind. He knew Niles—Nero! He knew your daughter.”
Maebh shook her head. “My Sluagh pillaged his mind before we changed him. There was nothing there proving your claim.”
Unless they wanted it that way.
Legion said something to Maebh, too quiet for them to hear from the ground below. Maebh’s gaze settled on her pet as it tried to push its claws further through the invisible shield. The demogorgon suddenly seized as though electrocuted. It went limp, sliding down the barrier to the ground, and writhed in agony. A clicking sound in its throat deepened, and it slinked away, tentacles between its legs. It disappeared into the darkness beneath the litter like a wounded dog.
Nova thought the Unseelie High Queen was dangerous before, but the expression on her face now was murderous. Nova pressed back into Leaf as the shield dropped.
“He’s right, Maebh.” The Prime rose on shaky legs but stumbled on her robe—the same cream robe from the wake. Maebh caught her elbows, supporting her. White lashes lifted as the Prime met her gaze. “He played us for fools. Chess with pigeons, Maebh. Isn’t that what he always used to say? That this world was full of pigeons. Oh, how we should have realized he spoke about us.”
Nova’s memory must have gone to the Prime as well.
“You wanted to leave a legacy for her,” Leaf reminded her. “So give fae-kind back their power. Unmake yourself. Restore the balance you disrupted. Give your daughter a chance to escape him—give her a sanctuary to run to. Stop the fighting so we can talk about this.”
Nova lifted her chin and added, “I may have only arrived in Elphyne a few months ago, but that means my memories of my brother are fresh. I know how his mind works; believe me, he’s still scheming. You think he’s in that city hiding, but he’s always got a plan. He’s a patient man who loves playing games, and he—”
Chess with pigeons.
The words sliced a path deep into Nova’s memories, returning her to when her parents organized a family game night. They must have been twelve or thirteen, and Niles and Nova’s competitive nature emerged. Eventually, he mastered every game they’d played or destroyed those he couldn’t in a tantrum. But there was one puzzle their mother found that Nova and Niles worked together to solve. The cryptix was a cylinder invented by Davinci. Niles loved the sinister notion that whatever was inside was destroyed if they got it wrong. Nova just loved that he saw her as a partner… until they solved it.
