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Estrella

I felt like a walking corpse later that day, like my body was far too heavy to function. Pulling on Caldris’s magic had never taken that much from me before, so I suspected it had more to do with the physical exertion of fighting a creature twice my size than anything. But my magic had begun to stir in my veins once again—the faintest whisper of it awakening after the trauma of the Labyrinth.

Malachi led me down to the throne room. The hall was oddly empty as we stepped in. Mab stood with two other people, and only one of them I recognized. Fallon hung her head forward, worrying the bridge of her nose between her fingers.

The male who stood across from her couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her, studying her intently in a way that made the hair raise upon my arms. His deep auburn hair hung around his shoulders in waves, his brown eyes cold and unyielding as he shifted his gaze to me.

I forced my chin high, even though I wanted to collapse into a puddle on the throne room floor, only stopping when I stood opposite Mab, with Fallon to one side and the stranger to the other.

“You summoned me?” I asked, my insolence showing in my refusal to bow.

Mab didn’t pause, unbothered by my lack of formality. I knew there would come a day when she tired of our games, but I hadn’t reached the point where I ceasedto be entertaining yet.

Soon enough.

“I tire of having two incompetent children beneath my roof. You cannot seem to summon the magic that we both know you possess, magic that would make youuseful. Maeve cannot seem to summonanymagic at all. Both are unacceptable to me,” Mab said, running her tongue over her teeth in dissatisfaction.

“Her name is Fallon,” I corrected, staring down the woman who seemed to refuse to accept that her daughter was not the child she’d birthed. That she’d had centuries and lives for her soul to grow into her own person, not just possessing the traits her mother wanted to instill in her. “But I fail to see what you would like either of us to do. Magic cannot be forced. If it does not come when summoned, then perhaps we are not fit to control it.”

Mab sneered as she huffed a laugh. “I might have believed that to be true if I hadn’t heard rumors of all the things you’ve done. If I hadn’tseenthem in your memories and for myself, Little Mouse.” Her voice was low and soft, a quiet reprimand for my assertion that was as close to a lie as any Faerie could come. We both knew that while unwieldy, my power responded when it needed to protect someone I loved.

I ignored the challenge in her dark stare. “I think I have proven myself to be more than a mouse,” I said, smiling sweetly. I could still feel the stain of the Minotaur’s blood upon my skin. Could still feel the way he had nearly choked the life out of me.

Yet as promised, only one of us had left that Labyrinth alive, and it hadn’t been him.

“Occasionally, the mouse’s bite carries a deadly disease. But it is still just a mouse, at the end of the day,” Mab said, making me clench my jaw at the insult. It drove me further into that well, into the determination to have a hand in her demise when the time came.

“What do you want from us?” I asked, glancing to where Fallon looked as if she might be sick. I had no doubt she already knew of Mab’s plans, but I would do anything within my power to see her safely protected from harm.

She wasn’t helpless, but she was far too sweet to be broken. Far too kind to suffer the worst of Mab.

“I only have the energy to invest my time into one of you. You will determine which of you remains here with me,” Mab said, waving a hand as if it was inconsequential.

I glanced toward Fallon hopefully, knowing that if it was the opportunity to free her from Mab, then we would take it.

“Will the one who does not stay go free?” I asked, feeling the catch in Mab’s conditions. Something didn’t add up, and I could only picture the dungeon calling my name all over again.

“Of course not,” Mab said with a cruel laugh. “Etan is in need of a wife, and he is owed one for the loyalty he has shown me during my brother’s reign as king. Whoever does not remain with me shall be betrothed to him and return to the Summer Court with him after the Solstice.”

My ears rang, the sound of water rushing through them as I tried to understand her words. “I have a mate,” I said, turning a cautious glance toward Etan. He shifted, as if the idea of taking another man’s mate made him uncomfortable as well.

“It is adorable that you think I care about such trivialities. Political marriages happen all the time. Caldris will learn to share you and rememberhis place,” Mab said, dismissing the thought of it being an issue.

I gave her a small smile. “I somehow doubt that,” I said with a scoff, thinking of all the people Caldris would kill to reach me when he found out. But I couldn’t leave Fallon to that fate. Turning my head, I found her face twisted with sadness.

“It’s okay, Estrella,” she said, her eyes filling with water. I knew she would make the sacrifice, that she would give herself to save me from the agony of being taken from Caldris.

I shook my head, pursing my lips to fight back the sting of tears. I couldn’t do it. Couldn’t condemn her to a marriage to a man she didn’t love. That had always been my destiny. I had been prepared to survive it—when she hadn’t.

“Whoever displays the magic I wish to see first will stay here with me,” Mab said, interrupting the moment.

“And if neither of us do?” I asked, prepared to simply refuse to make the choice. If I didn’t summon my magic…

“Then I’ll marry the other one of you off to one of my other allies. Perhaps a far crueler one than Etan. I have done you a kindness in selecting him. He is not a cruel man and will not be a cruel husband. He is distant but will see that your needs are met. I would tolerate nothing less for my daughter,” Mab said, turning to Fallon with a knowing stare. “Even if she does not obey me.”

Mab knew without a doubt that Fallon would be the one she sent to this marriage, that I would remain behind. She knew and was willing to sacrifice her own daughter to force my hand.