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“Just some family bonding.” I smiled, hooking my arm around Barrett’s.

Dresden looked between the two of us, then said, “So I had an idea.”

“Let’s hear it.” Barrett said.

I didn’t ignore the fact he still had his arm hooked around mine.

“So I know Calix is on his way to get Lilibet and that Snow is good with her bow annndd Snow doesn’t want to kill the Queen or her children… so I had the idea to have Lilibet place a curse on the arrow that Snow could shoot which would do something to the Queen.”

“Do something? Do what?” Barrett asked, intrigued.

Dresden shrugged. “I don’t much about curses so I’d have to leave that up to Lilibet to let us know what she can do and what she thinks is best, but I’ve whittled some arrows for you. It was just an idea.” He shrugged, holding out four perfectly whittled arrows.

I took them in my hands, rubbing my fingers over the smooth wood. “These are beautiful, thank you Dresden. It’s a great idea. We just need to talk to Lilibet to see what kind of curse she can put on it.”

Dresden blushed. “I wanted to find a way to help out, too.”

“No. Absolutely not.” Lilibet said, after I told her about Dresden’s idea.

“Why not?” I said, a little more than irritated. It was a solid plan and probably one of the safest.

“I can’t be getting any more involved with this. I did this as a favor for Ruby and had I known the truth about who you are and your intentions before, I don’t know if I would have helped.”

“But you know now and you have still helped and you are here.”

“Against my better judgment. I always sucked at doing the sensible thing.” She rolled her eyes.

“So, what’s different about this?”

She sighed. “I can’t. Every curse has a signature which is unique to the one who cast it. Think of it like a fingerprint. If the Queen survives, which she would since that is the whole idea, I don’t need her figuring out I had anything to do with this. I have too much shit going on in my life right now. I don’t need this too.”

“Lilibet, you’re the only one that knows the truth who can help. I can’t go find another mage.”

“I know.” She stomped the ground softly.

“So you’re putting me in a bind.” I spun in a circle. “She’s going to come after me again and kill me, eventually. I don’t know how many lives I have left. I have to go after her and put an end to all of this and the cursed arrow is the best idea in the short term.”

“Snow. I’m sorry. I can’t.”

“FUCK!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Barrett jumped in. “Can you tell her the curse and let her do it? So it will be her signature on the curse and the Queen wouldn’t know. I mean, if everything goes the way it’s supposed to, the Queen would be immobilized and basically put into a coma until we can figure out what to do with her and the children.”

“Do you even know where they are? Who they are?”

“No.” I admitted solemnly.

Lilibet sighed. “This is not a good idea.”

“None of it is, but it’s what we’re dealing with.” I snapped. “I’m sorry. I’m just… scared.”

She sighed. “I get it. I did something like this with my mother. When she shifted into her animal, she was more vulnerable. I was able to cast a spell and lock her away.”

“So you think we can do the same here?” I asked hopefully, but not ignoring the fact she was sharing something about her mother.

“I don’t know. It’s a little different.”

“Why is that?”