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“Is something wrong?” Emerson calls out.
My hands glow light pink, signaling my magic. I sweep my gaze over the playground equipment and eventually spread out farther.
I can’tseeanything, but that doesn’t change the fact I canfeelit.
“Veryn.” I catch his attention. “Pick her up and come here.”
His head tilts like he’s listening to something and his wings sprout. His small body spins around as he hisses at something. He turns back, grabbing the wiggly Ember and bolts in our direction. His wings flutter under his T-shirt, but they aren’t powerful enough to break through the material.
I pick up my pace, nearly reaching Meena’s frozen form.
“For the love of God, woman,” Bane growls. “Can’t you tell they’re luring you?”
I pause, stumbling a step, because that logic makes sense. The mirage falls away, and Davick, the High Chancellor of the Unseelie, appears, along with four fae flanking him, two on each side. The farthest on each edge have bows with drawn arrows pointed at me. The two closest to the pathetic man, who will die today, have double short swords. They truly do fear me.
Davick wraps a forearm around Veryn’s middle, plucking up the child as he attempts to break for us. Meena still stands frozen to my right, but Bane jogs up, appearing on my left.
“Banyan, how convenient.” Davick gives a cool smile. “There’s a mandate for your apprehension.”
Veryn still kicks, holding Ember. Her back is to us, but she doesn’t fight the dragonling’s hold.
“It’s clear you’re here for me,” I say, clearing my throat. “Return the children to the ground unharmed, and I’ll come with you.”
“I don’t know,” Davick says, laughing darkly. “The she wolf is rare. From what I’ve heard, they’re a dying breed. The dragon smells of the royal line. I think I could fetch a fair number of favors in trade for the pair.”
Veryn hisses.
Bane goes stiff beside me.
“I know you’ve got a soft spot for children and animals.” Davick sighs. “Unfortunately, good help is hard to find these days.” He looks at Bane with disdain. “If you want something done right and all that. Stop fucking fighting me,” he growls at Veryn.
Maybe my brain is slow, because only pieces of that little speech made sense.
“If you hurt either one of those kids, I’ll slaughter all of you. The streets of Winter will run red with your blood as I massacre everyone you’ve ever loved,” Bane says, his eyes glowing. “You know what she can do, but she’s relatively peaceful. Are you sure you want to start a war with me?”
“Open the portal,” Davick commands.
The two fae with short swords step back, preparing to do just that.
There’s commotion behind us, but Meena speaks to comfort the hysterical mothers. “No, trust me. It’s best if we don’t interfere.”
“Now would be a good time to do the thing,” Bane hisses.
“What thing?” I ask, but I’m strangely numb again. I’m sure some beings are excellent in a crisis. Unfortunately, that’s not me.
“The thing where you kill them all,” Bane says, his tone lined with exasperation.
“I don’t trust that my magic wouldn’t pull from them.” I hope he knows I mean Veryn and Ember.
“Fuck,” Bane groans.
“You know this breaks the treaty with the human realm’s paranormal council,” Silence says coolly from somewhere behind me. “I’m here, love. We have faith in you. We follow your lead.”
My heart pounds as my vision goes spotty. No one should trust me to make decisions, especially in a crisis. I always manage to make the wrong call.
“Back up,” Davick commands. “The princess and the assassin only.”
“You’ll be finished after this,” Hex says, his deep, growly tone echoing around the air.
