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“What are you going to do? Put me in jail?” she laughs.
“Yes,” I say simply. “I will let everyone know that you brought a baby back from the dead. Even for the dark fae, that has to be against the rules. If it’s not, it should be.”
When the elevator doors open, I drag my mother kicking and screaming out of it.
“Guards!” I call out.
Within seconds, two guards are by my side.
“Take my mother to her room and make sure she doesn’t leave it. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” they say in unison.
“Emily!” Oberon calls out, running down the grand staircase and across the foyer until he has me safely in his arms. “What happened? Where have you been? Why do you smell like smoke?”
“I’ll answer all those questions and more, but just hold me for now,” I practically beg.
The trauma of seeing Mark again has taken its toll on my heart, mind, and body. Eventually, I ask Oberon to go upstairs to my room where I tell him everything.
“Your mother always seemed so nice,” he says in shock. “I never would have pegged her as being completely mad.”
“Me neither.” I fall back on my bed and stare at the ceiling. “Neither of my parents can be trusted. I can lock my mother up, but my father will still attempt to thwart what we try to do.”
Oberon lays down on his side next to me. “True, but together we’re strong, and the longer we’re in power the more trust we’ll earn from our people . . . and in time, the humans. Speaking of which, where is Harold?”
“I sent him back home last night after he escorted me to the palace. He will be our first ambassador to show what can be done to reverse the mutations my father made. My hope is that when we reach out to the humans again, they’ll accept our help. What better way to earn their trust than to show them what we are capable of doing?”
“It was a good idea, but I wish you had waited. Maybe if Harold had been here, you wouldn’t have gone through so much today. He could have protected you.”
“No matter what, my mother would have attempted to make me a part of her undead family at some point. If not today, then tomorrow or the next day. I’m just glad it’s all over with.”
“Still, it must have been hard to see Mark again, even if he was a zombie. I’ve honestly never heard of someone bringing a person back who has been dead for so long. His brain was probably mush. No wonder he didn’t remember you or your life together.”
“In a weird way, it helped me get closure with him.” I turn on my side to face Oberon. “Seeing him again in that way, made me realize he’s never coming back to me. Not my Mark. My Mark died and all I’ll have left of him is Jack and my memories. I’m finally okay with that. I can finally let him go.”
Oberon reaches out and plays with a curl in my hair. “And let me in, I hope.”
“I have definitely let you in.”
I lean in to give him a kiss.
“Ahem.” A stranger interrupts us.
Both Oberon and I sit straight up, seeing Kyan in my room. Oberon jumps off the bed and has Kyan in a head lock before I can stop him.
“Who are you and why are you here?” Oberon demands to know.
“Stop,” I tell him, reaching out a hand. “This is the geomancer I told you about—Kyan.”
Oberon let’s Kyan go, but he keeps a wary eye on the man.
Kyan clears his throat. “Thank you, Queen Emily.”
“Why are you here and how do you keep getting into my room unnoticed?” I ask.
“There’s a panel in your closet that opens into a secret passageway. Didn’t you know about it?” He looks as puzzled as I feel about my lack of knowledge concerning the entrance.
“No, but thank you for telling me about it. Now, why are you here?”
