Page 18 of Beyond the Winter Kingdom (Faeted Seasons #2)

Meera

“What in the actual ...?” I said mostly to myself, stumbling toward her makeshift throne. “Sadie! Why are they fanning you? Why is the prince here?”

My sister snapped to attention, her warm brown eyes lighting up, and without a word, she dropped the glass in hand and ran toward me, knocking Damon aside. We collided in a bone-crunching hug that felt more like a lifeline than a greeting.

“Oh my god, Meera!” Her voice shook against my shoulder. “I tried to find you. I thought you were kidnapped.”

“I was,” I said into her hair. “You, on the other hand, look like you were tossed into a resort for Care Bears and have been getting the royal treatment.”

She pulled back, eyes bright and fierce. “After you vanished the night you apparently nabbed this one”—she angled her head toward Damon, who stood quietly—”I tried finding you. When I couldn’t, I tracked down Lou. Cornered him at the Witching Hour. He told me the fae king took you.”

“I heard, and he did. Kind of. It’s a long story. And after you disappeared, Mom and Dad hired Lou, and he tracked me down and tried to hire me to find you.”

Red flashed through Sadie’s eyes. “The fuck?”

“I think we should start from the beginning,” Vareck interjected, reminding us both that we were not alone. His tone was calm, collected—everything Sadie and I were not. He looked at his nephew, dipping his chin once. “Good to see you both in one piece.”

My sister pulled back, narrowing her gaze on Vareck. “Wait, who are you?”

I stepped between them before he could say something that would make her want to punch him. “He’s, um ... my fated mate.”

Sadie blinked. “Excuse me?”

“Yeah, so apparently the curse is weakening or something because you remember that guy I was dreaming about ...” I lowered my voice and widened my eyes to give Sadie the hint.

“Yeah, and?”

“Well,” I jutted my chin toward Vareck. “He’s real. This is him.”

Sadie blanched. “No way.”

“Yes way.”

She slapped a hand over her mouth. “Okay, but you were kidnapped by the fae king. So where does this guy play into—” She stopped short, the pieces coming together in her expression. “Ooooh shit. You’re King Vareck?”

He inclined his head once, calm and unapologetic. “I am.”

Her eyes snapped back to me, and she muttered not so quietly, “And he’s your fated mate?”

“Erm. Sort of. Yes.” I cleared my throat and winced. Yeah, it was a tad painful to hear even to my own ears.

Vareck’s jaw tightened. He said nothing, but the air around him shifted; quieter, colder. Not angry. Just ... distant. Like he was pulling the pieces of himself back. Away from me. I sighed. I needed to do better at this.

Sadie didn’t seem to notice. She stared between us, frowning. “So let me get this straight. You’ve been off playing royal mate with the freaking king of Faerie while I’ve been stuck in a nightmare dimension with knockoff Ewoks?”

Damon sighed and rolled his eyes. “This keeps getting better.”

“It wasn’t a vacation,” I muttered defensively, glancing at Damon with an apologetic look.

“We’ve been attacked multiple times. After I was taken from my apartment, I fell out of a castle window.

I got kidnapped by some asshole brownies at the castle and hauled off in a freezing wagon.

Well, one asshole. The brother was mostly going along with what his bitchy sister wanted.

Then Lou’s cousin tried to force me into prostitution, then his familiar knocked over a bottle of pixie dust, and let me tell you, Atlas was right. That stuff’s no joke.”

“You got kidnapped by brownies? Why didn’t you use persuasion?” She raised a brow.

“There were ... circumstances preventing me from being able to. That changed later. I have my powers back now.”

“You have them back ?” she repeated slowly, then narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips, assessing Vareck. “So this is all your fault.”

Vareck sighed. “I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

“That’s not really helping your case,” Sadie snapped.

“Wasn’t trying to make one,” he said, voice steady.

“Okay,” I cut in, rubbing the bridge of my nose. “Let’s not do this. There’s a lot to unpack, and none of it’s going to get better if we turn on each other.”

Sadie crossed her arms. “Fine. But I’m still mad.”

“Welcome to the club,” I said, then waved a hand. “Now go on. Tell me about Lou. Portal. These weird bears.”

She nodded. “Right. I tracked down Lou at the Witching Hour, cornered him. He told me you were with the fae king, and I was about to knock his teeth out when Amelia dragged me away. She asked me to grab something from the back of the bar before I left to chase more leads. Next thing I know there’s a portal in front of me and she’s gabbing some bullshit about playing the long game. ”

“Guessing we went through the same portal, then,” I mumbled.

Sadie cocked an eyebrow. “One minute I’m reaching for a light switch, the next—poof. I’m landing flat on my ass in the middle of a cave.”

“That’s where I found her,” Damon said, stepping into the circle with a dry look. “Or she found me, I suppose.”

“Wait, how are you here?” I asked, and Sadie groaned.

“I would very much like to know that answer as well,” Vareck chimed in.

“I figured you already knew, seeing as you are the reason I am here,” Damon answered coldly, ignoring his uncle altogether.

“I deserve that,” I said softly, nodding. “For what it’s worth, after I handed you over to Lou, my intent was to track you back down. People aren’t property. I wasn’t okay with what happened.”

He scoffed but decided to answer my initial question, and maybe not for my benefit, but to inform Vareck.

I had a feeling my sister had heard the story more than once considering she mumbled in a familiar tone she had when she was annoyed.

“Not long after you left, your man Lou knocked me out. The witch made a speech about the fact I was bait and that I shouldn’t take it personally, though I can’t imagine how anyone wouldn’t take it personally when they were kidnapped and then shoved through a portal into Eversus. ”

“I’m really sorry, Damon. There’s nothing I can say that justifies it, but I really am sorry.” He inhaled sharply, then nodded. It wasn’t forgiveness, but it was something. I turned to my sister. “And you; are you okay?”

“I’m in a fucked up Wonderland. Why wouldn’t I be okay?” She laughed lightly, barely hiding the strain in her voice. “I landed in a cave with this one,” she jerked her thumb toward Damon, “who scared the shit out of me, and it’s been a fucking treat ever since.”

“Here we go again.” Damon leaned casually against the wall and crossed his arms. “You burst out of a portal through the ceiling without warning and I’m the one that scared you?”

“You were shirtless and standing in the shadows like a creeper ,” she shot back at him, wrinkling her nose. “What did you expect?”

“For the last time, I was shirtless because that hell realm is hot . As for the rest, I expected you not to throw a rock at my head when I offered to help you stand up.”

“You startled me!”

“You asked where you were, and I answered, and politely offered my hand while you were laid out on the ground. Sorry for being a gentleman.”

They glared at each other.

“Okay...” I drawled, feeling the tension between them. “What happened then?”

Damon raised his brows, glaring at Sadie. “Yeah, Sadie, what happened then?”

“Look, we would’ve sat in that cave for gods know how long if we did what you wanted?—”

“‘That cave’ was shelter, and I was doing the smart thing and not wandering around Eversus like I was on a goddamn vacation.”

“I wasn’t wandering,” she snapped. “I was looking for a way out. We weren’t going to find one playing cave trolls.”

“If you would have listened to a word I said, you’d know there was no way out of Eversus, but instead, you spent a solid hour shouting at the ceiling before declaring it a dead end, scribbling in the sand, and then storming off into the desert.”

“I was yelling at Amelia!”

“Right. Because obviously she can hear you from another realm . My mistake! Who knew interdimensional communication was possible simply by yelling through a portal. Bravo! What a discovery.” He clapped mockingly, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“All right, gods.” I held my hands up to stop the arguing. “You left the cave. Obviously. Did you go back?”

Damon jabbed a thumb at Sadie. “She wandered too far. We couldn’t get back. I warned her?—”

“In my defense,” Sadie interrupted, “the terrain started to shift. Damon said something about the landscape changing, but he explained it like an idiot.”

Damon’s hands flew into the air. “How else do I explain it? In the twin hells”—he held up two fingers—” that means two; okay? The twin landscapes”—he gestured grandly to the village around us—“change and flip at random. With magic.” He flailed his hands. “Poof.”

“In my continued defense,” Sadie said, folding her arms in classic sibling fashion, “I thought you were dehydrated and hallucinating.”

Damon’s eye twitched, and I almost smirked.

“And now we’re here. We lost the cave and the consistent shelter.

Lost the stream of food that damn witch had the decency to toss down.

Was punched and kicked when I grabbed her during the shift so she wouldn’t get hurt.

Got prodded and pushed by the baby bear army.

I said Evorsus was dangerous, and maybe we should be calm and observe what they wanted from us. She decided to start a revolution.”

“I didn’t start a revolution,” Sadie argued. “They just stopped shoving me when I shoved back. Then they started fanning me. I wasn’t gonna tell them ‘no, don’t be nice to me.’”

“You conquered them?” I said slowly. Because of course my sister would shove back and prove herself to be the strongest. There was no world in which Sadie took that kind of crap from anyone. Not even in hell.

“I wouldn’t say conquered.”

Damon snorted. “She made them braid her hair and bring her drinks.”

Sadie shrugged. “They offered. I said yes. You’re just mad they don’t like you.”

Vareck, who’d been silent through most of this exchange, finally spoke. “How long have you been playing queen?”

“Hard to tell,” Sadie replied, then looked at Damon. “We’ve had bedtime tea, what, maybe three or four times?”

Damon nodded. “Three.”

“Bedtime tea?” Vareck repeated.

“There’s no sun here, just a moon and a half, so I’m guessing three days. They bring us bedtime tea and tuck me in.”

“They bring her tea. I won’t drink it,” Damon corrected.

“You rearranged the seating. Bold move,” came a familiar voice, dry and unmistakably feline.

I turned, and my stomach dipped.

“Corvo?” I breathed. “How are you here?”

Vareck’s shoulders tensed beside me. “Of course it’s you.”

Sadie blinked, glancing between us and the sleek, smoky-black and silver feline who appeared on the ‘throne’ Sadie had vacated. The pastel creatures began fanning him without hesitation, one going so far as to attempt hand-feeding him some sort of sparkly fruit.

Sadie eyed him warily. “Who are you?”

Damon straightened. “Oh great. The talking cat is here. We’re saved.” There was no mistaking the equally dry quality in his voice.

Corvo’s tail flicked in annoyance, presumably at Damon’s tone.

“That’s Corvo,” I murmured. “He’s ... it’s complicated.”

“I’m right here, Meera,” Corvo said, sniffing the offered fruit in disgust and turning away to show his asshole to the dejected pastel teddy bear. “Vareck’s right, you know. ‘Complicated’ doesn’t sound like a compliment.”

I rubbed my temples. “Corvo, seriously. What are you doing here?”

“Checking in.” Corvo sighed like we were all disturbing him. “This was my realm. Back when I was a demon. God. Demongod. You get me? Before the cat thing.”

“Wait, wait ...” I stared at him, holding my hands out in a pause gesture. “So all that weird stuff you said before about being a god was actually true?”

“Yes, Meera,” he said dryly. “I occasionally tell the truth. Usually when it’s inconvenient.”

Sadie looked from me to the cat. “Okay, you’re going to need to explain that.”

“I’d love to,” Corvo said, watching the little bear creatures toddle up to Sadie with a platter and goblet. They chittered and made a motion of tapping their mouths with their paws. “But you’ve got a more pressing issue.”

“Which is?” Sadie asked, taking the wine and a piece of sweet bread before patting the bear on its head in thanks. They gestured the same to Damon and he took a piece of shiny fruit.

“They’re fattening you up so they can eat you.”

The words dropped like a stone in water.

“Come again?” Sadie spluttered. As her drink slipped from her fingers, Damon caught it, then smiled big at the tiny hell bears.

“They’re not worshiping you,” Corvo clarified, curling his tail around his paws. “They’re seasoning you.”

Vareck swore. “You want to maybe lead with that next time?”

“Can you command them to like, not eat us maybe?” I asked, scrubbing my hands down my face.

“They don’t listen to me anymore. I’m a cat, remember?”

“You said this was your realm,” Damon growled. “Can’t you control them?”

“I used to,” Corvo replied. “Then the whole getting-cursed-into-an-adorable-form thing happened, and my loyal minions turned me into their house pet.”

“Lovely,” I muttered. “What now?”

Corvo stretched. “Well, if you don’t want to be dinner, I suppose I could go fetch some help.”

“Drayden,” Vareck said instantly. “Find him or Kaia. Anyone who can get a witch to open a portal.”

“Wait,” I said. “What if they try to eat us while you’re gone?”

“Don’t let them eat you.” Corvo paused, cocking his head. “I mean, I thought that went without saying. Kinda shocking you made it this far to be honest.”

Damon frowned. “I think what we all want to know is when they consider us ‘ready.’”

Corvo tapped his chin. “Could be an hour. Could be a few days. Could be now. Time is weird here.” Corvo licked his paw and pointed it at Sadie. “That one’s kinda scrawny, meaty for sure, but you know meat is better with marbling, so I imagine it’ll be longer for her.”

“Then hurry,” Vareck growled.

Corvo looked over his shoulder and purred. “What’s the magic word?”

Vareck gritted his teeth. “Please.”

Corvo smirked. “And?”

Vareck looked like he’d rather stab himself than say it. “Thank you.”

Sadie snorted. I pressed a hand over my mouth to stifle my laugh. Damon just shook his head, muttering something about never trusting cats.

Corvo smiled, infuriatingly smug. “There it is. Back soon.”

And with that, he vanished into the shadows, leaving us behind in the pastel village of doom, surrounded by smiling creatures who were starting to look far too interested in our nutritional value.

Sadie stared at the now-empty throne. “We need a plan in the meantime.”

“Agreed,” I muttered. “Let’s just hope Corvo brings back someone who doesn’t want to turn us into a stew.”