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She sighed. “Don’t get me started.” She grabbed my arm, stopping for a second. “Be careful when you bargain with him.”
I winced. That was going to be hard, especially when it was already done.
“You already did it, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into,” she said.
And she was right. I didn’t. But I’d been out of my element ever since I got to Texas. It was my new normal, and I’d gotten pretty damned good at winging it. “It’ll be fine.”
“Or it won’t,” she said.
“I did what I had to do.” And I was standing by that choice. I wasn’t sure whether I’d come to regret it or not, but right now, I was saving all of our asses the only way I knew how.
Twenty-Three
“Almost there,” Cosette said as we turned a corner.
I was starting to wonder how big the Lunar court was. It was hard to tell exactly how far we’d walked in the Underhill with all the turns we’d taken, but it had to be massive. I hadn’t seen an end to any of the galaxy floored hallways, and we’d been walking for a good fifteen minutes. It wasn’t like we were strolling either. If Cosette had amped the pace up even the tiniest bit, I wouldn’t have been able to keep up without jogging.
Cosette pushed through a pair of carved wooden doors. These were only a little larger than normal, but just as impressive. The painted carvings showed a field of trees and flowers. The tree limbs were bending in the wind as I watched, and—as I passed through the doorway—I swore I could smell the roses.
“Welcome to my suite,” Cosette said, motioning me forward.
The sitting area was filled with a rainbow burst of colors. A girl with red curls and freckles was on sitting on a rich, deep blue velvet couch, wringing her hands. She was wearing a pair of peach silk joggers, white tank top, and a light gray jacket. Beside her in a deep reddish-brown leather armchair was another girl with long, straight hair that was colored like the many shades of autumn leaves. She was wearing a hooded forrest green dress that hit mid-thigh, thick cream knitted socks that peeked out under her tall, brown leather lace-up boots. Both looked so well put together that I was really wishing I’d picked something nicer to wear, but in my defense, one of the Evil Trinity was after me. Fashion really was the last thing on my mind.
The two fey girls had been chatting, but stopped as soon as we walked in.
Van walked around to the arm chair on the other side of the couch, kicking his feet onto the coffee table.
The redhead rose slowly, and I watched her. “How’d it go?”
“Not as bad as it could’ve gone,” Van said.
The redhead’s eyes widened, and she glanced at me for a second before focusing back in on Cosette.
“Don’t listen to Van.” Cosette shot him a look. “We’re good to go.”
“Finally,” the other girl said. “I’ve had enough of court. Let’s be off, then.”
I took in the group. Cosette and two more girls made three fey. “Where’s the fourth?”
“Van,” Cosette said.
“Really?” He was pretty bad ass, but he never seemed to like being around us. He’d shown up to help in Santa Fe, but as soon as the fighting was over, he was gone. I couldn’t believe that Van was actually going to volunteer to be a part of this new spell. “You sure you’re okay with this?” I asked him.
“Where Cosette goes, I go. Or at least that’s how it’s supposed to be.”
She shrugged. “I sneak away every now and then. It’s not a big deal.”
“To you, maybe not. To the queen…” He rose from his chair. “I guess we should get a move on.”
I nodded. “That would be great. We don’t have much time.”
“Less now, I’m sure,” Van said.
That didn’t sound ominous at all. “What do you mean less time?” We needed all the time we could get. To say that the spell we had to prepare was complicated was a gross understatement.
