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They sought a way to reach the humans, but missed, breaking a hole through the fabric of the fae realms and changing them. It broke Anwynn apart into two—Otherworld and Underworld, and the demon power leached out of its own realm and into Underworld.
It made the fae stuck in Underworld dependent on humans, too.
I’ve long sought a way to undo this. Our realms need to be reunited once more to fully free us from the curse of the Tithe. I’m afraid that I have come up empty. I fear it is impossible.
Bree lifted her eyes from the page to meet Rafe’s stare. A muscle in his jaw ticked, reflecting the tension in her own body. She had wondered if it was something like this. She had hoped for it. The two fae realms had once been one.
It explained everything. What was more, it gave her a way to end the Tithe.
“I never knew anything about this,” Rafe murmured. “I never even guessed it. The bastard has been keeping this information hidden for centuries.”
“He probably didn’t care,” she whispered, pacing the small cell. “Why would anyone need to know? It’s not like they could do anything about it.”
“No.” Rafe shook his head. “There must be a way. There always is. It’s the rules of both our worlds. Balance is required. If there is a way to do something, there is a way to undo it.”
“Balance.” Realization flooded her veins. Another piece of evidence to support the words in front of her. When the realms had broken apart, it had cleaved the world in two. They had to stay balanced. Whenever it wasn’t…the storms, the earthquakes. It was all connected. When the balance was interrupted, the world shook. It would probably even destroy itself if left that way for too long.
“The fae and human realms were never to be open to each other,” Rafe said, following her lead. “We were separate until the demons forced a hole from their world into here and then all the way into the human realm.”
Bree nodded, her lips pressed together. “We have to put the realms back together again and destroy that hole.”
A pained look crossed his face. She knew why. Like Taveon, he loved this world. It was his home, the only one he’d ever known. If the realms collided, everything he knew would change forever. The ever-present darkness would vanish, bringing the sun back to life. The light and dark fae would have to share their lands, finding a way to coexist in harmony.
Everything would change, and it would be hard, and he would have to give up the realm he loved.
“I’m sorry.” She took his hand in hers and squeezed tight. “I know it’s probably not what you want to do.”
“Not really, but do we have any other choice?”
She couldn’t think of one. They could still try to lure the demons into Otherworld during the daytime, but there was no guarantee that would work. They could fight them from behind the castle walls and hope the fortress would hold. Neither one of those gave them great odds of victory.
“Maybe you’ll like the sun,” she said.
“Maybe I will.”
“At least we’ll all be alive.”
“What about you, Bree?” He tugged her closer, and her body pressed against the hard planes of his chest. His gaze swept across her face, questioning. “If we join Underworld and Otherworld together, and then close all the gates, what will you do? You can never go home again.”
Her heart thumped. She would have to choose,permanently. There would be no hope of ever returning home if she stayed here. The human realm would be so far away that it would be as if it didn’t exist. She’d never see New York again.
Her chest ached at the thought. “Before we get into all of that, we need to find a way to do this thing first.”
His brows slammed down. That clearly wasn’t the answer he was hoping for.
“You would return to the humans?” he asked. “You would want to be there when we close the gates?”
“No.” An anchor weighed on her shoulders, dragging her down. “I don’t know. All right? I don’t know. It’s not something I want to think about right now. All this time, there’s been hope. I could return if I really wanted to. It was always accessible to me. It wasn’t goodbye forever.”
He brushed his thumb across her chin and nodded. “I understand. I just…I just want you to stay with me, Bree. With us. We’re all here. Me, Eurig, Taveon. Your friend Norah. You would never see any of us again.”
The idea of that hurt far worse. Every single person he’d named she loved. They were her family, even if not by blood. The buildings of New York called to her, but they did not own her heart.
She sighed. “This is something to—”
A door creaked open and the sound of footsteps followed. Bree pulled out of Rafe’s embrace and stiffened. The Worm was back. Wonderful. What did he want now? Hadn’t he done enough? So much for being a hermit, hidden away from the rest of the world.
But one set of footsteps became two. A large figure strode through the darkness, a smaller one by his side. The light of a nearby torch flashed across their faces, illuminating their features. Eurig grinned at her, and Norah rushed forward, relief plastered on her face. Both of them were covered in squelching mud.
