After making my way back to the center of the room, I looked through the books on the desk, finding nothing of particular interest, then moved on to the drawers. There wasn’t much—just a few random office supplies, a phone charger, a chocolate bar.
And then the pin. Shaped like a crown, with two swords crossing beneath it, it shone like liquid silver, catching the light and reflecting it in tiny prisms that scattered rainbows across the ceiling.
“It’s definitely her office,” I said, passing the pin to Haley. “She was wearing this on her jacket lapel in the vision.”
Emilio caught sight of it, his face ashen. “Are you sure,querida?”
“Positive. I saw a silvery crown with two swords underneath, exactly like this. Do you recognize it?”
“It’s the council’s insignia.” He met my gaze, the space between his eyebrows pinched with new concern. “As far as I know, there is only one pin—thisone. I’d heard the custom had fallen out favor decades ago, but back then, they used to give it to the ultimate ranking member.”
“So the woman we saw in the vision was Talia?” I asked.
Emilio shook his head. “Talia is powerful, but the title of ultimate ranking member is typically reserved for fae royalty. One who has the last word in all council matters, but who seldom visits our realm. He or she typically sends emissaries. I wasn’t even aware the council had someone in the position right now.”
“Emilio, why would Gray and I get a vision from some random royal fae?” Haley asked. “And if she’s so important, why would she have an office at the bottom of this outpost? Wouldn’t she have more important things to focus on?”
“Like plotting the downfall of the entire human race?” Ronan asked. He and Asher had been quietly searching the bookshelves up until that point, and now they joined us at the desk, a large leather attaché case in hand.
Inside, they’d found a half-charged tablet containing all kinds of unencrypted notes and plans. There were digital and paper maps, travel itineraries for an entire staff that appeared to have been regularly moving into and out of the Bay from other international destinations for at least a year. There was a leather calendar, also full of notes and details about meetings and missions.
“Darkwinter isn’t interested in eradicating all supers and humans,” Jael said, scrolling through the tablet. “They’re planning to enslave them. Once the witches are out of the picture and the hybrids have done their work ushering in the destruction of most of the world’s communities, those left standing against the dark fae will be captured and enslaved.”
“Bloody hell,” Darius said.
“There are a bunch of passports, too,” Ash said, fishing them out of one of the attaché pockets. They were all from different countries, issued in different names, but the photo inside every single one was identical.
“It’s her,” I said, and Haley confirmed with a nod. “The woman we saw.”
“Employee ID badges,” Ash said, pulling them out of the bag as well. “Same chick. Looks like her actual name is… Trinity O’Leary. Same name on three badges, plus some of the paperwork and notes we found.”
“Trinity,” I whispered, my heart pounding. “She’s… she’s not a random fae royal, Haley. She’s not fae at all. She’s a witch. And apparently a vampire. And I believe she’s our birthmother.”
“Holy shit,” Haley whispered. Her face was sheet-white.
“Looks like there’s an assistant, too,” Ash said, flipping through more of the paperwork.
My chest constricted, all the air whooshing out of my lungs. I knew what he was going to say before he’d uttered another sound.
“Georgina Mertz.”
The last name didn’t matter. No witch in her right mind would use the name Silversbane.
Just like with Trinity, the first name was all the confirmation I needed.
Our mother had infiltrated the fae council, using them to spearhead a plan of mass destruction—to what end, I had no idea. And my sister,oursister, the one who—along with Adele—was prophesied to help us unite the covens… She was our mother’s right-hand woman.
Haley’s mouth rounded into a pale pink O. But before she could formulate a single question, Asher dropped the case, his eyes wide with panic.
“Uh, guys?” Asher said, and Sparkle issued a low, warning growl behind him. “We’ve got a serious fucking problem, and it ain’t your family tree.”
Forty-Four
GRAY
Shadows came to life, peeling themselves from the walls, morphing into the brutal monsters of nightmares. In the span of three heartbeats, we were completely surrounded.
No, not shadows,I realized. Hybrids. Part shifter, part vampire, part wild creature I couldn’t even identify, they’d emerged from a passageway that’d been spelled to look like a bookcase, baring sharp teeth and wielding razor-sharp claws that glinted in the light. By the time we realized what was happening, they’d already divided our group in half, six of us on the inside, six near the outer door we’d entered through.
