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“My patrol partner, Bim, showed me the entrance to a potential transport—”
“His name is Bim?” Mikey interjected. “As in B-I-M, Bim?”
I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Yes, Mikey. Stop interrupting me. Please.”
When he nodded in the affirmative, I continued. “He showed me a potential transportation portal. It’s in the Queen’s Garden, the giant fountain at the center of it. The only problem is….”
“Getting it open?” Mikey suggested.
“Yes, getting it open. Which is where you come in.”
Mikey squinted. “How exactly am I going to get it open? You saw those other guys. You need blood to open the portal. I’m pretty sure it’s fae blood, and last I checked, I was the spawn of Sat—”
“Royal blood,” I cut in. “Royalfaeblood should open this portal.”
Mikey’s jaw snapped shut with an audible click. His throat worked once, twice as he tried to swallow. “I’m not of royal fae descent either, Sariel.”
“But you know someone who is, don’t you?” I pushed.
My brother glanced away from me, his eyes trained on the bathroom door before he turned back to stare at me. “No, idea what you’re talking about,” he said, standing from the bed now so he could get away from me.
I smirked. “You can’t lie to save your life, Mikey. I know about your crush on theprincess.”
He sighed, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation. “So what? It’ll never amount to anything. We’re just having a little fun. Ideserveto have a little fun.”
I paused. “Of course. No one said you couldn’t. But maybe we can use it to our advantage. Maybe you could convince her to let us go—”
“Unfortunately, Sariel, I do not have a magic dick,” he interjected. “You want me to convince the Queen’sown sisterto betray not only her but the people she’s been fighting, living, eating, and existing with for who knows how long?”
“No one would know it was her, Mikey,” I said.
“But what if theydofind out? That would be a death sentence,” Mikey hissed. “Did youseewhat they did to people they considered ‘traitors,’ Sariel? Would you be okay with her going through that after helping us escape?”
“We don’t have a choice!” I snapped. “Either you convince her to come willingly, or we find a way to get her thereunwillingly.”
Stillness fell over the room. I finally observed my brother’s expression.
He looked… manic. His eyes were wide and crazed, his fingers curled into tight fists, and he shook. Badly.
“No,” he growled. “That is my final answer, Sariel.”
“I thought you said you were havingfun, Mikey,” I stressed, glowering, “not getting attached to a princess whose family wants your future niece or nephew aspayment.”
Mikey jerked back as though I’d struck him. “That’s not— I’m not getting attached—”
“Aren’t you? You could bang literally any little fae girl on these grounds, yet you specifically chose the Queen’s sister. And now you don’t want to use this opportunity to help us escape?”
“I… Sariel—”
“I get it. You’ve found your people. You’re satisfied. Maybe you even feel a modicum of stability or safety for the first time in however long. But youcannotget complacent, Mikey. Complacency will get us killed, or worse,” I tried to explain. “Lucia is a means to an end. Not your future. She’s a passing screw. She can’t be much else, because we’re leaving.”
“I do feel safe,” Mikey admitted, and his words hit like a punch to the solar plexus. “I feel secure, and, I don’t know…happy, Sariel. I’ve laughed and relaxed more in the last few days than I have in the last fucking decade of my life. I just… I don’t see why weallneed to leave.”
I balked.
The next words out of my mouth weren’t even mine, all a bestial snarl. “I amnotleaving the brother Ijustreconnected with—after years—under the thumb of two insane rulers and their manipulative family, Mikey. How do you know she’s not using you?”
“She’s not like that, Sariel—”
