Beatrice slouchedagainst the table in the House, blinking blearily at her toast. She’d slept terribly and had finally given in to the inevitable, getting up so early that even the children weren’t awake yet.
Today was Midsummer. The day Munch and Benedict planned to rescue the prisoners, King Theseus and Queen Hippolyta planned to arrest the imposters and Benedict’s family, and the Library would choose the next head librarian.
Oh, and Beatrice and Benedict would swear their undying hatred and break the fated mate bond forever.
No wonder she hadn’t been able to sleep the night before with all that swirling through her head. Too bad she’d desperately needed sleep to face today, given everything.
A loud pounding rattled the door of the House. The whole House gave an annoyed shake, and a shower of dirt and moss fell from the ceiling.
“I’m getting the door. Don’t get in a huff, House.” Beatrice shoved to her feet and lunged for the outer door. If the House woke the children, that would really start the day off on the wrong note.
Flinging the door open, Beatrice found herself face-to-face with Munch. His hair was a tangle, his eyes wide, wild, and almost frightened, something she’d never seen in him before. He gasped out something so garbled that she couldn’t make out a word of what he said.
“Slow down. What was that?” Beatrice braced herself against the doorframe. Had something gone wrong with the rescue?
But no, Benedict and Munch shouldn’t have even left yet.
“Brigid said the baby is coming.” Munch gasped out the words more clearly this time, but his words were still hoarse with sheer panic.
“I’ll grab some things and head over.” Meg’s voice came from behind Beatrice.
When Beatrice glanced over her shoulder, she found Meg and Basil standing in the doorway of the Anywhere Door, Meg already turning back to their room.
“I’ll fetch a healer.” Basil hurried forward, and Beatrice stepped aside to give him room to pass through the doorway.
Thankfully, there likely was a healer nearby. The Order of Healers had members all over the Fae Realm, but many of them lived in the Court of Knowledge since knowledge and healing went hand-in-hand.
Buddy stuck his head over the lower door to his stable, blinking into the light. “And I’ll stay with the children.”
Beatrice opened her mouth, closed it, and shifted where she stood near the door. Should she help Meg and Brigid? Not that Beatrice would be much help. Nor did she have a whole lot of desire to be there for that just yet. Should she just go into work at the Library like normal?
“Beatrice.” Munch shoved a wad of small red flowers at her. When she glanced up, he held her gaze with serious brown eyes. “Look, I hate to ask this, but there is no one else. You’re going to have to go in my place on the rescue. There needs to be a human along to handle iron and close the rift. Here, take these primroses.”
Numbly, Beatrice took the bunch of wild fae primrose flowers, stuffing them into her magical pocket.
Digging into his pocket, Munch pulled out a wad of necklaces with amber pendants. “These are the glamour necklaces. You remember how these work, right?”
“Yes.” Beatrice took those as well, her heart pounding harder. This was real. She was having to take the role of the Primrose, something she’d never aspired to.
“And take this.” Munch drew a solid cast iron rod from the quiver at his side. “Don’t put this in your magical pocket. It will destroy the pocket.”
Beatrice took the iron rod, then patted her pockets with her free hand. Where was she going to stash a heavy iron rod? The weight of it already ached against her wrist. There was no way she could just carry this the whole time. Heavy as it was, she probably wouldn’t be able to wield it as an effective weapon.
After a moment, she dug into a pocket, pulled out a sash, and wrapped the sash around the rod several times before tying the ends of the sash around her waist. The iron rod hung at her side, bumping against her leg.
“You can still go through Anywhere Doors with iron but it will feel stickier, if that makes sense. I’d avoid it if you can.” Munch rested a hand on her shoulder. “Thank you for doing this. Stick with Benedict and be careful. It shouldn’t be that dangerous, but anything can go wrong.”
“I will.” Beatrice drew in a deep breath, releasing it slowly. Surely she could handle this.
“Ready to go?” Meg hurried across the room and brushed past Beatrice to join Munch outside.
“Yes.” Munch breathed out the word in a frantic relief. He spun on his heel and all but dashed for the House next door.
“Take care of Brigid!” Beatrice called after Meg, not sure what else one was supposed to say.
Then she stood alone in the doorway, an iron rod at her side, a handful of primroses and necklaces in her pocket.
Today, she would have to be the Wild Fae Primrose.
