“Dead.”
“Who killed him?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where did that night fae take Zoey?” I chime in, since while I’m interested in learning about this supernatural species that has similar magic to mine, Zoey’s my priority.
“I can’t say for sure.” She shrugs.
I glare at her, and before I realize what’s happening, spheres of water are floating above my hands, threatening to nearly drown her like I did earlier.
“When night fae take humans, where do they typically bring them?” Riven smoothly breaks in.
“The Night Court.” Zythara scowls, as if angry at herself for revealing this information.
My heart leaps at getting a decently concrete answer about Zoey. “What happens to them there?” I ask.
“They become pets of the royal family.” Her lips curl into a smile that makes my skin crawl. “The king, queen, princes, and princesses each keep their own collection.”
I stiffen at the word.
Pets.
As if human lives are mere possessions.
But we have limited time, and I need to know more.
“What does being a pet entail?” I ask, struggling to keep my voice steady.
“The most desirable of them serve the royal family,” she replies. “As I said, each member of the royal family keeps a small collection. The ones they don’t want are sent to the barns, for the nobles to enjoy as they please.”
She continues to tell us more, and horror grows in my stomach as I learn about what Zoey’s been dragged—well, flown—into.
“And what makes them?—”
“Enough,” Riven cuts me off, and I freeze, jarred by his interruption. “We’ll get into more of those details later.” With that, he turns back to Zythara, as focused as ever. “Where’s the Night Court?”
“To find the Night Court, you must go northwest through the forest, crest the highest hill, and locate the black stone archway,” she says. “Passing beneath it under the night sky activates the court’s magic, a ripple that notes your presence and grants you passage. Without it, the court remains veiled. But be warned that without an escort, you’ll never make it through alive.”
