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Neo nodded. “Fair point.”
“Hold on,” Reese said, arms out as she stared at us. “Fae? Like… faeries? Elves? Pointed ears? Wings? Tricksters?Thosefae?”
“Well, you technically just describedseveral typesof fae, but yes, you’ve got the gist of it,” Neo said, eyes trained on her face. “According to the Upper Council, though, they don’t exist.”
Reese’s mouth fell open. “You didn't know anentire species–”
“No, we did not, Reese,” Sariel cut in. “Do you want to hear what our task is or not?”
“I would like to,” I said, then paused. “Actually, let’s take a few steps back. What the hell do you mean by ‘task?’”
“The location was an abandoned port. When we got there, there were six coordinates, so we followed them. Regardless of who had what coordinate, we’d somehow all end up at the same point,” Johnny started.
“It was a test,” Neo said, guiding Reese—who was still gaping—to the bed. “Or a riddle, really. We had to find the missing cardinal point.”
“And?” Marilyn pressed.
“And the contact was there,” Sariel went on, making another lap. “The King and Queen are expecting us already.”
“The King and Queen?” Marilyn asked. “The fae King and Queen?”
“The Seelie King and Unseelie Queen,” Neo corrected. “Fae territory is split into Seelie territory and Unseelie territory.”
“I know, Neo. They knew? Like as a unit?”
“Not sure on the specifics, but yes,” Johnny added.
Sariel made another lap across the room. “According to the fae—”
“Jae,” Neo corrected. “Her name is Jae.”
“—they vetoed all the other tests we would have to pass to get in,” Sariel continued, ignoring Neo. “We only have to do one task now, instead of who knows how many.”
“Well, technically, it’stwo, since we did the first one.”
“Sariel, can you please stop pacing? You’re making me nervous,” I said.
He paused to eye me where I’d curled up on the loveseat. Then, he stalked over and took the other free seat.
“What’s the last task, then?” Reese asked.
“We are to bring with us to Europe a member of the Upper Council’s family,” Johnny announced.
I gaped. “Like Sariel?”
But… no. It had to be something else, if Sariel was this distressed by the task.
“Not quite. There’s two parameters; they have to be willing to come, and they can’t be a part of our current party,” Neo explained.
I frowned. “So… Michaelson?” I suggested, turning to Sariel. “That has to be who you’re thinking of, right? Your brother?”
Sariel shook his head. “He has to be willing, Aria. I don’t think there’s any way I can convince Mikey to come with me. He already hates me, and asking him to step away from our mother and grandmother at a time like this…”
“You don’t know that he knows where Lucy and Credence even are,” I said gently. “What if he isn’t anywhere near them? What if he doesn’t know half of what’s going on? This could be an opportunity to set him free from the shackles of Azazel, Sariel.”
He considered me for a moment, but slowly shook his head again. “I just can’t see it happening. I can’t imagine him being receptive to this kind of thing. You’ve never met him; he’s stubborn, prideful, and fucking annoying,” he disparaged, though he smiled.
“So he’s just like you?” Neo snarked.
