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“Yeah. A hidden cave system.” I let out a slow breath of air, really trying to calm myself down. “We stayed for a few weeks, and he taught me how to use my magic. And then we came back.”
“So you’re okay?”
I nodded. “I’m okay.”
“And he didn’t do anything shady?”
“No. He was a perfect gentleman.”
“Good. So, why are we freaking out about this?” She gestured between us and the place we had been with Remmo. “Youwantto fall in love.”
“Because I thought he was just one of the random unseelie, and that I was going to have to kiss Teris so Remmo wouldn’t get murdered. And I don’t even know if Icanfall in love. But apparently he lied—or I just didn’t ask enough questions? He’s not random at all. He’s one of the unseelie generals, so… like one of their best fighters?” I squeezed my eyes shut. “What the hell do I even do here?”
“You don’t have to decide anything right now.” She lifted a shoulder. “I think you have a right to take time to figure out what you want.
“No, you don’t get it. He can blend into trees and shit. He taught me how to do it too, but I can only do it for a few minutes. Most basilisks can only do it for a few minutes, but he can do it for as long as he wants. Apparently he’s called Vuvim because it means ghost—and with his scales, and how quiet he is, he practically is one. He could be listening right now and I wouldn’t even know.”
Dots’s eyebrows shot upward, and her gaze scanned the trees. “Seriously?”
I nodded jerkily.
She stood up. “Well, let’s go to the Stronghold for a few hours.”
My eyes nearly bulged from my head. “With the crazy-ass fae chicks? Are you insane?”
“Things have changed a lot since you left. Me and the other seelie ladies went with Priel to open the portal to Earth on winter solstice, and crazy things happened. North’s brands lit up like lightbulbs, and portals erupted all along the beach. Human women fell through all of them—so we have seventy-one new human ladies.”
She continued, “North is down to just one brand, so now she can only see the future. She and Priel went back to his place immediately afterward, so she could rest, and haven’t come back. The female fae stepped up and are taking care of the new humans, teaching them all kinds of things about Vevol. Mare is in charge of making sure they don’t brainwash the new women against the men. And the fae expanded the Stronghold again, for the new ladies.”
My eyes nearly burst from my head. “Are you kidding me?”
“Nope.” She popped her lips on the ‘p’. “Aev, the Tame King, is kind of losing his mind, since Naomi left him a while ago. Things are tense with the unseelies because of that. Nev and Fovea are going at it like bunnies, and the fae ladies are all sniffing around the guys. I don’t even think we’re considered attractive at this point, with all of them around. It’s actually pretty perfect.”
I grimaced. “Holy shit.”
A minute passed as I tried to absorb everything. It hadn’t occurred to me that I would be gone during the winter solstice, but the timing did line up. And since North had so many brands, with just the one extra ability, that did make sense too…
Shit, though.
Maybe I shouldn’t have spent so much time in that cave.
Then again, I was much stronger and more capable now than I had been when I first left with Remmo.
Finally, I asked, “You seriously think it’s a good idea?”
“I think there are no men allowed in the Stronghold, Nev included, and we’re life-bringers. If we ask the female fae for a few hours of protection, we’ll make their day.”
She brushed dirt off her ass.
I heard rustling in the trees, and caught a familiar smell.
My eyes widened as Remmo slid out, shifting forms and remaining in the tree without taking a step onto Dots’s house-platform. He would consider it her territory, and therefore, off limits.
Unless he thought I was in danger, at least.
“What do you want?” I demanded.
“You need to stay where I can see you. Away from the female fae,” he said in a low voice. “I don’t trust them.”
