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“Where are you going to go?” Feri asked, hot on my heels as I walked.
I stopped in the bathroom doorway and turned towards Feri. “First, I’m going to take a shower. Then, I’m going to head out and put this all to rest.”
Feri didn’t like the sound of that, but he stayed quiet. The little fae ferret seemed tired. There was an air about him that betrayed his exasperation. When I returned from my shower with one of Rhoan’s shirts tied into a crop-top, Feri scurried after me.
I shoved my feet into my Converse and stepped outside. The walk back into the city would be long—like, all day long. Thankfully, I still had my phone. I called a ride-share that could drive me downtown. It cost a pretty penny, but I didn’t really have any other options.
Thankfully, the driver wasn’t a fae assassin, contrary to what Feri assumed. The little ferret whispered all the ways the driver could kill me while we were zooming into the city. My heart thumped wildly, but we arrived safely, nonetheless.
I stepped out into the part of Lakesedge that butted right up against the lake. The last time I’d been this close, a crazed Reaper had been trying to use me as leverage against Addie. No one expected me to find so much power that day. Addie and I had used our combined arcana to create a beast made of bone and foliage. I had the pleasure of flying away on the creature.
Now, the lake glittered in welcome. It beckoned me forward, but Beryl’s restaurant sat between me and the lake. I knew that beneath those waters, the local fae court waited for me. The fae court belonged to me, and I think that it knew it.
Return to me.
Take your throne.
Bring me back to life.
The court whispered from beneath the lake waves. Or…maybe that was just the sound of the waves, and I was hearing things. I glanced back over my shoulder, but there was no one there. It was just me and the lake.
“Queen Beryl will stop at nothing to kill you. She wishes to see you dead and gone so that there is no more contest to her throne. Why would you deliver yourself to her?” Feri pinched my ear as he spoke.
I had no excuse that would placate the ferret. His nervousness leaked into me, though. My stomach churned like wild waves under a torrential wind. My breath hitched as the waves slammed into my lungs. If I didn’t do something soon, I would drown on dry land from the overwhelming emotions trying to drag me down.
For a heartbeat, I saw myself. Not as a future queen, but as a child from long ago.
A door slammed open in my brain. I’d been here before. This restaurant hadn’t always belonged to Beryl. Before she’d stormed in and stolen the court, it had belonged to my mother. There’d been a garden at the center, a small courtyard where people could eat under the gentle sun.
I remembered following my fae mother from the courtyard and into the kitchen to watch her taste something the cooks had been working on. When she lifted the wooden spoon to her lips, a smile brightened her face. She cried out in joy before crouching in front of me. Hand beneath the wooden spoon, she lifted it to my lips next.
Taste burst across my tongue. It was sweet and delicate, a summer jam laden with berries that must have stained my mouth for days. Even now, when I brought my fingers to my lips, I could taste the sweet fruit.
“Cerridwen!” Feri yanked on my earring.
“Ow!” I hissed, lurching in the direction the little ferret had pulled.
I snapped back to the moment and saw the figure looming ahead of us. My stomach hit the ground. I hadn’t expected to be this afraid. Beryl waited for me outside the restaurant’s front doors. Her fists were clenched at her sides, but her chin was held high.
When I tried to force myself forward, my body rebelled. My instincts started screaming. Every part of me wanted to run in the other direction. Arcana spilled out of me. It shoved up from the ground beneath my feet. Vines and saplings shattered the concrete beneath me. I couldn’t stop it. There was no holding it back.
“You foolish woman.” An arm wound around my waist.
A man plucked me from the ground. My back hit his chest. I didn’t have it in me to fight. My entire body had locked up in response.
Beryl’s image flickered. It wavered and turned see-through. I gasped. She hadn’t been there at all. I should have known. If Beryl had been there, I wouldn’t have been able to garner an audience. She would have struck.
Rhoan threw me on his enchanted motorcycle and kick-started it. The engine whinnied and we sped off. The entire time, Rhoan muttered under his breath. The wind whipped the words away before they could reach me. We tilted towards a highway on-ramp. Magic prickled my skin, though I couldn’t tell where it was coming from.
Meanwhile, I berated myself for being so bold. I knew better than this. If I was going to get an audience with Beryl, I couldn’t just walk up to the front door. With a woman like her, it would be war on sight. I needed to pique her curiosity first. If I teased her with an intriguing invitation, she might be interested in hearing me out.
Rhoan and Feri were right. I was being foolish. I could outsmart Beryl. I knew I had it in me.
Rhoan slowed and came to a stop in the middle of nowhere. I blinked, confused. How had we left the city so quickly? Had he done the magic teleportation trick again? I still didn’t understand how that worked. At first, I thought it had something to do with doors, but now I wasn’t so sure.
Rhoan planted his heavy booted feet on either side of the bike. He gripped my chin and twisted my head so that I had to look up at him. His eyes gleamed with a feral intensity. A muscle in his jaw twitched with the force of his anger.
“I stepped outside to do something nice for you,” he growled in my face. “This is how you return the favor?”
