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That was it. I could take her to the Elysian Fields and—and maybe I could barter with the Fates like a ransom. They could only take her to Moirai if we could stay together, because I wasn’t letting her out of my sight.

“So who was the rabbit creature we saw?” I asked the group. I was certain it was going to be some judge of Envy or something mysterious.

Walter stopped. “I have no clue what that was.”

“Me either,” said Eletha. “But when it was near me, I got the weirdest feeling like I knew it.”

“Me too,” said Anna .

I looked at Bexley. “I was too busy running from it to feel anything,” he said with a small hiccup. He frowned when he reached into his pocket and found that all of his bottles had been smashed with his fall into the painting.

“You ever think about going to the human realm and helping them? You know, see if you could keep them from going to hell with your dad?” I asked him.

He scowled at me. “Why would I?” He looked at the ground thoughtfully though, as though no one had ever asked him that before.

The little tremble in my chest pulsed—the same one that I felt before I knew I was going to try and save someone.

“How do we know this is tier six and not just a landscape painting?” Anna asked.

“What is six? Acedia?” I asked.

“Six is Fraud, seven is Acedia,” she returned. “Fraud,” I repeated. “This has to be it; it’s a painting.”

The others looked around before looking to one another conspiratorially.

“Looks an awful lot like the landscape painting that was hanging on the wall of the ballroom,” said Anna.

She wasn’t wrong—there was nothing out here but landscape. Boring, wide-open, no-tree landscape. As a fae, I was partial to trees.

“Wait a second; maybe he’s right,” said Walter. “It all looks like a landscape painting, but I bet that’s the trick of it.” He and I exchanged looks. “The portal door to the next tier has to be hidden, made to look like it’s something else.”

“Fraud,” Eletha said with slow nod of agreement.

“Well then, what are we doing? Let’s split up and look for it,” Anna said with a clap of her hands.

That was that, so we all split up in a different direction of the field to look for a hidden door. As soon as I was alone, I reached out to the only person that could help me right now.

‘Tell me that I am mistaken and you are not bothering me,’ Mendax hissed .

My eyes were supposed to be scouring the field, but they held on to Anna instead.

She had settled on the ground and was trying to brush the pink-and-gold moths that had swarmed her out of her face.

I looked at her smiling as the fluttering wings tickled her face and wondered how anybody could think she would be fit to rule the realm of the dead.

She was meant to be a goddess. I looked away for a second, and when my eyes returned, Anna had all of the large moths working together, helping her lift leaves and tufts of dried grass into the air so she could look under them.

Huh.

It was possible she’d make a better ruler than I’d thought.

‘I need help kidnapping a woman I might be in love with.’ I refused to take my eyes off her. Even when she saw me staring and made a face at me.

‘Finally, you have come to your senses,’ he said with a wave of relief.

‘About Anna?’ I asked with a laugh.

‘About kidnapping women. You’re far too ugly to get them the standard way,’ he replied.

I rolled my eyes, finally removing my gaze from Anna and starting to look for the hidden door.

‘I’m tied to her and I’m not leaving her here. I’m going to take her with me to the Elysian Fields and try to negotiate a deal with the Fates for her,’ I said.

The other end was filled with silence. For a moment I worried he’d left and was going to get me in trouble with Cal, though I actually thought Cal might have sided with me on this one.

‘Is she willing?’ he questioned.

‘Why do you have to word it like that?’ I asked while my lips curled in disgust.

‘Does she want to come?’ He tittered.

‘Stop.’ I thought about slamming my head into something, but the only thing around was a dried stump that was barely the size of my foot .

‘Either way, it’s the same actions. If she is smart or unwilling, then you are going to use physical violence. If she is tempted, then you are going to use trickery, and of course if she is anything like her sister, then you are fucked and she is only going to do what she wants.’

‘She is definitely not willing. She won’t leave Tartarus or Kaohs,’ I said.

‘She’s a good kid. He was a good father to her,’ Mendax said.

A spark of something flickered in my mind where Mendax was. I stilled for a second realizing what it was.

‘You are going to be a great father,’ I said.

‘You are correct,’ he replied.

‘I wish my father would have been as fierce and as tough as you,’ I said. ‘Maybe then mother wouldn’t have killed him as easily as she did. But also, perhaps I would have been a better warrior.’

A moment of silence from Mendax, no doubt realizing what I was doing and that I had sensed his insecurities about fatherhood through the bond.

‘You’re one of the best fighters I’ve ever battled, and I heard nice things about your father, Felix.

Bit of a soft hand for a king, but he was honored and loved by all of Seelie,’ he said.

‘You’re going to be a great father. Just don’t go too hard on her. And don’t forget to take her to Aunt Tarani so she can hear all about her devastatingly handsome uncle,’ I said.

‘Calypso named a realm after you. I don’t need to tell her anything about you,’ he said.

‘Also, Calypso has been poring through tomes looking for why our bond and tie have merged as they have.’ Something in his air turned happy…

and maybe a little worried. ‘She thinks that your tie to the magic is stagnant and staying with her because it’s not been reclaimed yet.

She also thinks that you and I are only speaking because it’s echoing into her and my bond. ’

‘So what does that mean for when the powers do get reclaimed? Does that mean that the tie will shift from her? That she and I will no longer be able to talk to each other?’ I asked.

‘Yes. She is certain that once the drop of power in the pendant goes to Anna, any residual tie with her will be broken or transferred. It’s not for certain, but Caly is quite sure.

She has spent every spare moment she has researching this.

She gathered every old witch and wizard from the nearby realms and offered them her protection if they would help her.

Besides the tie, she has been working to develop a means of safety for Aurelius that involves using a shaving from the blade her father created for her. She’s as happy as I’ve ever seen her.’

His words landed in my chest like a bullet: I might never talk to either of them again if I gave Anna her powers. ‘I will never see you guys again. Neither one of you can enter the Elysian Fields.’

‘Oh no,’ he said sarcastically. ‘What will my life consist of without this discourse?’ I felt something near giddiness float up from him. ‘Did you not hear what my new title is?’

‘No, don’t you fucking—‘ I tried to cut him off.

‘Mendax, the King of Aurelius. Has a certain ring to it, doesn’t it?’ he said proudly.

‘Stop,’ I pleaded.

‘Aurelius touches everyone,’ he projected proudly. ‘That’s the slogan we decided would showcase the inclusive nature of the new realm.’

‘I’m begging you to stop,’ I said.

‘Would you believe, I got to pick it?’ he declared.

‘Don’t you have an army to train or someone you need to kill?’ I grumbled.

‘Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. The boy that catches on fire asked your sister to marry him.’

I wasn’t sure I’d heard him correctly. ‘What did you say?’

‘Yeah. All of the Fallen Fae seem to look up to the two of them. They have handled everything together, making certain the Fallen are taken care of,’ he said absently.

‘What did Tarani tell him? Did she accept the proposal?’ I asked feeling my heart ache a little.

‘She said yes; aren’t you listening to me? I just told you I have someone I need to kill. She is under my protection; he is not,’ he growled.

Goose bumps covered the skin of my arms. ‘Thank you. For keeping an eye on Tarani for me,’ I said .

‘I’m not doing it for you. Calypso and Tarani have become inseparable. She is important to Caly, which makes her important to me. She has my full protection whether she wants it or not.’

‘Still, thanks,’ I said. Grateful beyond words that everything was going so well for all of them. Time seemed to move on so quickly with them.

The tie felt empty, and I knew Mendax had left. Too much appreciation for one broody king, I suppose. I glanced around the wide-open field to where the others were busy scouring every surface they could for the portal to the next tier.

Tarani is engaged to be married. My heart began to beat faster as I struggled to bottle my frustration and anger.

Tarani would soon be married. Calypso was married with a child arriving soon.

My people and castle had all changed. All of these things I would miss out on because I had to be the good guy and fix everything for everyone else and wound up here.

Why did I always do that? Why did I always have to sacrifice myself?

My eyes raked over Anna’s body as she inspected the one leafless tree in the field where she continued to hunt for the portal that would take us from Fraud to Acedia.

Would she hate me for taking her to the Elysian Fields?

Did I care? In that moment, as I watched her, I felt selfish enough that I didn’t care if she hated me.

I wanted her and I wanted out of here. It was time I started listening to my true feelings and not what I thought was expected of me.

“Find anything? I know it’s somewhere around here. It’s going to be where we least expect to find it,” Anna said.