Page 3 of Cursed (Court of Isles #1)

Chapter 3

“We’ve got to stop meeting like this.” Millie knocked, then poked her head in the door of my bedroom with her signature warm smile and ginger hair and cheeky humor. “How are you feeling, Alessia?”

I sat up in bed, feeling quite tuckered out, to be honest. But in a pleasant way, as if I’d put my body through something grueling but beneficial, like a hard run or a challenging swim.

“How long did I sleep this time?” I asked. “I don’t think I’ve slept this much since I was a child.”

“It’s not you, it’s the magic,” Millie said. “I expect you’re ravenous. Will you join me for breakfast in the garden?”

I calculated. Breakfast meant another day had passed in this place, this land, this... I couldn’t quite bring myself to call it a magical island, so we were going to call it a strange territory and leave it at that.

“Breakfast sounds great. Give me five minutes to get ready. ”

After I’d slipped into unconsciousness from the excess of magic or power or whatever had happened in this house to save Irina’s life, I’d eventually been roused by Millie. I had been confused, in an exhausted trance after waking, but everyone had assured me that Irina and Henry were fine, which had been a great relief.

Then I’d hauled myself to the shower, where I’d scrubbed myself clean, scrubbed so hard it felt like my skin was raw. Like maybe that would be enough to strip this magical place from my memories and send me right back to New York where inevitably I’d end up marrying Simon and entering a very dull portion of my life. The rest of my life, most likely.

I didn’t want that to happen. I didn’t want to be picked up like a stuffed animal in a claw machine and dropped back into a life that wasn’t mine. A life that belonged to Simon and my parents. But letting myself believe in this place was dangerous.

It didn’t hurt to be taken away from a person I didn’t love. It would hurt to be taken away from here.

Yet I was still here, miraculously. The dawn of a new morning, with skin a little rawer, heart a little fuller, body a little sorer—and a lot of questions.

I found clothing in my size stocked in the dresser, which made me wonder if Millie had rushed out last night, or if maybe she’d been instructed to prepare for my arrival. Did that make her an accomplice in my kidnapping?

Granted, I hadn’t technically been kidnapped because I’d gone with Silas willingly, and with a huge dose of curiosity. Still, I had no doubt that Silas would’ve taken me one way or another, and he was just lucky that I hadn’t put up a fight.

Or maybe I was the lucky one.

I found Millie waiting for me in the garden. She had a spread of crumpets and jam, eggs and bacon, and a silver pot of piping hot coffee lying in wait. I poured myself a cup of coffee, pushed some food around my plate while Millie watched.

“Not hungry?” she asked.

“I’m trying to digest a lot already,” I said. “No pun intended.”

“You should’ve intended it,” Millie offered graciously. “It’s a very clever pun.”

Millie reached over and filled my cup of coffee.

“Come with me, and take your drink,” she encouraged. “Caffeine helps everything.”

“I’m glad there’s one universal truth between our two worlds.” I stood and took a fortifying sip of coffee before following Millie. “Where are we going?”

“I’d like to introduce you to The Isle.” Millie smiled at me, a faintly nostalgic smile, a hopeful smile, a sad smile. A smile packed with a lot of emotion .

As I watched, Millie reached for me, then muttered something under her breath. As she touched her fingertips to the cup in my hands, it transformed in front of my eyes from a dainty little teacup into a travel mug, complete with a lid and sturdy handle. The glimmer of magic left my fingers tingling.

“I’m starting to have a really hard time denying the possibility of enchantments and curses.” Mystified, I took a sip from my cup. Same coffee, different cup.

“It’s service magic,” Millie said again hurriedly, as if I might tattle to her to some unknown higher power. “Please don’t say anything.”

“Millie,” I told her bluntly, “I’m not a snitch. You can do as much magic as you want. Your secret’s safe with me.”

Millie considered this for a moment, then gave me a pleasant, grateful smile. “You make for a good friend, Ms. Alessia.”

“Friends don’t call each other ‘Ms.’,” I pointed out.

“How about Doctor?” she asked. “Maybe just Doc?”

“Alessia is fine.”

“Okay, Doc.” Millie seemed unable to drop some version of a formal name. “Have you considered how easy it would be if you just accepted it?”

“That magic is real?”

“Yes. Try it on, like a new pair of shoes. If it works out for you, that’s just lovely. ”

“And if not?” I asked. “Return to sender? Just ship me back to New York?”

“I’m pretty sure these shoes will fit,” Millie said. “It’s kind of a one-size fits all situation.”

I gave a snort of disbelief, but she had a point. I was already here. I hadn’t technically been kidnapped, even if it’d felt like I’d been mildly coerced. Though I did wonder what would happen if I asked to go home. Would Silas keep me here against my will, or would he allow me to return to my old life?

“Silas isn’t a bad man,” Millie said, watching my face.

“Would he let me return to Manhattan if I wanted?”

Millie licked her lips, and when she spoke, it was a whisper. “I don’t know the answer to that.”

“But—”

“It’s complicated,” she said, her words clipped and acutely defensive of Silas. “Give him a chance.”

“He believes I’m someone...” I tripped over the word. “Special.”

I fumbled my fingers over the thick cardstock in my pocket. I’d found a perfectly fitted, easy white summer dress—with luxurious pockets—that I’d paired with sandals. I hadn’t been a dress person before; I’d been more of a scrubs or New-York-Business-Black sort of person.

Here, it felt wrong to wear a Wall Street power suit on a sugar-sand beach. When I’d gotten dressed, I’d brought the card with me. Slipped it into that pocket like a little reminder that I wasn’t daydreaming.

“Welcome to your new home.” Millie blatantly ignored my statement. “You’re on The Isle. A magnificent little magical oasis tucked in the waters of Lake Superior.”

“Lake Superior?” I blinked. “You’re kidding me. It feels like we’re in the tropics. And why does the air smell salty, like ocean water?”

“Centuries ago, this island was warded with powerful enchantments. The wards keep The Isle safe.”

“From humans?”

“From everyone,” Millie said. “It does keep our location off mortal maps, to be sure. The wards are secured to a set of salt crystals around the perimeter of the island, anchored deep in the waters of the lake.”

“Salt crystals—that’s what gives off the salt air smell, even though there’s no ocean around?”

“Partially. Also, being a magical island does have some perks.”

“Like nice weather?” I asked, squinting as I glanced toward the perpetually beautiful sky.

“It’s like this all year round,” Millie said. “Perfect summer days. Part of the built-in enchantments.”

“The wards,” I said, latching onto what Millie had said. “Silas mentioned them too. He said they might be failing. What did he mean by that? ”

“You’ll have to discuss the specifics with him,” Millie said. “All I know is that while The Isle has had its share of problems over the years, the wards have never failed. They’ve never collapsed, never broken down. But the curse appears to be debilitating to the wards, and I believe it’s getting worse. As far as I can tell, nobody has a clue how it’s happening. Or how to fix it.”

“What would happen if the wards broke down completely?”

Millie’s eyes were the size of silver dollars. Her mouth moved, but it was like she couldn’t find the words.

“Right,” I said. “I’ll discuss this with Silas. Where is he, by the way?”

“Tending to some things. I told him to collect you later. I figured you’d have some questions, but I wanted to ease you into your surroundings first. Silas, while good intentioned, can be a bit rough around the edges. Direct would be a good way to say it.”

At this, I stopped walking and tried to clear my mind. I’d been thrown into a new land and new problems before I’d had time to adjust to regular life. And by regular life, I meant an enchanted fairy tale in which the evil curse was currently winning and a happily ever after seemed entirely out of reach.

“It’s unfortunate you’ve arrived at The Isle at this time. Our home is really a wonderful place,” Millie said. “If you give it a chance, you might really love it here. ”

I scanned the horizon as Millie gestured. It felt like someone slugged me in the stomach with a sack full of bricks as I caught sight of the lands around me. The breath whooshed right out of me as I got my first real glimpse of my surroundings.

We stood outside the small cottage where I’d arrived, a home that made it seem like Hansel and Gretel had taken up residence on the beach. The cottage I’d slept in, the one belonging to Silas, was all purple on the outside—a deep, royal purple.

Across the front of it, wisteria vines weeping with heavy violet blooms dripped from every surface. A rock wall fenced in a lush cottage garden with poppies and lilacs and roses and anemones. Grape vines were heavy with purple gems. Foxgloves and delphiniums stood on thick stems, all shades of amethyst and lilac and violet.

“This place is called Wisteria Cottage,” Millie said, giving me a side eye. “For obvious reasons.”

“Uh huh,” I muttered.

I finally managed to look beyond the structure to the lands beyond. Wisteria Cottage was the only dwelling as far as the eye could see. To the north was water, lapping onto white-sand shores. To the west, a forest rose on the other side of a massive wooden bridge. I couldn’t see much to the south, as we were shielded by a ridge of rolling hills. To the east, more water, more sand. We were cocooned in our own little nook of nature.

“Where does Silas live?” I asked.

“Technically he lives in the main residence, but I’m not sure how much time he spends there.”

“Where does he spend his time?” I asked.

“Elsewhere,” Millie said, ever-evasive when it came to personal questions about Silas.

It was hard to tell if she was bound to secrecy by some paranormal law as a Commoner Fairy, or if she just didn’t know the answers. I’d normally have thought it wasn’t my business, but seeing as Silas was the reason I was here in the first place, I felt it very much was my business.

“Take it up with him,” Millie encouraged again. “I’m happy to answer any new questions you might have about Wisteria Cottage or The Isle. Questions about Silas or the curse can be directed to him. By the way, I should show you this.”

I followed Millie on a flagstone path through a bustling display of lupines and bee balm—purple, again—and the bumblebees flitting over them around to the back of the house, into the garden.

It took me a moment to register what Millie was showing me. It was a pile of gift bags and wrapped presents.

“They’re all for you,” Millie said. “Everyone has heard about the new doctor on The Isle.”

“But—”

“Word has spread that you delivered Irina’s baby in a complicated situation.” Millie leveled her gaze at me. “Irina, though a forest dweller, is a very accomplished portal writer. Her word means a lot to the other islanders.”

“Only the baby.” I tried to read her expression. “They don’t know Irina was affected by the curse?”

Millie shook her head. I wanted to ask more, but I knew I’d hit a wall. She’d just direct me to Silas, who I was getting very, very eager to speak with. And more and more annoyed with, the longer it took for him to arrive.

“I don’t know that I’d call myself the new island doctor.”

“The islanders feel otherwise,” Millie said gently. “I’ve set up a meet and greet for tomorrow.”

“Meet and greet,” I echoed vaguely. “Who am I meeting?”

“Whoever wants to come?” Millie’s voice lilted with uncertainty. “There will be coffee,” she added, as if that made it any better. She must have seen the dismayed look on my face. “Just meet them, please. They want to see you. They want to thank you. We take care of one another here, and with you helping Henry and Irina like you did… They all just want to thank you.”

“I don’t need thanks,” I muttered. “I was just doing my job.”

“Were you though?” Millie asked the question, but not to me directly. She walked away, leaving the sentiment trailing behind as something for me to contemplate on my own time. She paused, turned back. “You can open them whenever you want.”

Before I could respond, I felt his presence. I couldn’t see him, couldn’t hear him. It was like the moon sliding in front of the sun, a shadow eclipsing the brightness that was this whimsical cottage garden. The birds quieted, the buzzing of the bees silenced. The world felt still and weighty.

Silas was the nightshade to my baby’s breath, the eerie silence to my chirping garden. His presence seeped around me like a pen bleeding ink, and by the time I turned to find him barely a foot away from me, I wasn’t surprised in the slightest.

Funny enough, he seemed to be the one surprised.

“What?” I asked. “Why are you looking at me like I startled you? You’re the one creeping around on my property.”

“It’s my property,” he growled.

“We’re going to have to discuss logistics,” I shot back. “Among other things. Many other things.”

His eyes glinted as he studied me with a newfound curiosity. “Usually people can’t detect my arrival or my movements. I didn’t take you by surprise.”

“So you’ve met your match.” I set my jaw as I turned to face him. “The sooner you learn that lesson the better.”

Millie snickered in the background. When Silas shot a dark gaze in her direction, she scurried into the house, leaving me and Silas in a garden spotted of purple and a pile of gifts towering behind me.

“I see the welcoming committee has caught wind of your arrival.” Silas eyed the colorful packages. “Sorry about that. I tried to keep things quiet, but alas, Irina has been showing off her new baby around town.”

“Henry’s beautiful,” I said. “I’d show him off too.”

Silas simply nodded, more of a bow than a nod, as if agreeing with my point.

“As for you,” I said, “I’ve got some bones to pick. Like a whole skeleton’s worth.”

Silas ran his tongue over his teeth. The man really towered over me. I wasn’t short by any means, but he towered . His arms were big. His legs were big. His shadow was big. His presence was big. There was a lot to him. Muscles and brooding darkness and stubbornness. Even his darkness was big.

Good thing I had my own healthy dose of stubbornness. A big heaping of it.

“Let’s chat about this curse, shall we?” I asked. “I want to see it. I want details and specifics and answers. If you tell me no , I’m going to—”

“Fine.”

“It’s really that easy?” I asked, registering genuine surprise. “You’re not going to argue with me?”

“I invited you here.” Silas’s voice was low, almost amused. “I’d like to keep you away from the curse, but I’m afraid that’s not possible. I’d prefer you to be well-informed and alive instead of surprised and dead.”

It was my turn to think for a minute. This was new. Simon had always preferred to make all our decisions by himself. I’d eventually just given up trying to contribute to our life, and mostly floated along like a cute little bobber sometimes dressed in nice clothes.

“Okay,” I said. “Let’s not waste any time.”

“I’m ready if you are.” Silas’s gaze flicked toward my coffee cup.

“How are we going to get there?” I took a long pull. “Can I bring my coffee? I have a feeling I’m going to need it.”

Silas put his hand on my lower back, steering me deeper into the cottage garden. There was a white fence out the back, and once he opened that, I saw our mode of transportation.

“Horses?” I looked up at him. “You’ve got all this magic, and you still ride horses?”

Silas blinked at me. Definitely amusement in those onyx eyes now.

“That’s, like, the equivalent of using candles after Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb,” I said. “It’s unnecessary.”

“And yet, the candle business in America is booming.”

I blinked at him. “How do you have any knowledge of the Yankee Candle sales’ reports? ”

The man winked at me. Downright winked, a movement that sent my stomach flipping over.

“I know everything.” Silas spoke the words to my ear, soft and gravelly, and definitely a bit entertained as he said, “The sooner you learn that lesson, the better.”

We strode to the horses, beautiful creatures—a white and a black one. He waited while I finished my coffee and looked for a place to set the cup. Before I found a suitable location, it vanished from my hand.

My lips parted as I glanced up at Silas. His lip was curved up in amusement.

“I take it that was you,” I said dryly. “Which horse is mine?”

Silas nodded toward the white one. “Need a boost?”

“You’re just looking for an excuse to touch my butt, aren’t you?”

Silas gave the softest of snorts. “Trust me, if I wanted to touch your ass, you’d know.”

I chewed on that, not sure how I should take it. It felt a little bit not like a compliment.

“A boost would be nice,” I said finally, through gritted teeth.

Silas gently put his hands on me, giving my rear end a wide berth. He hoisted me, and I couldn’t help but feel like the care and caution with which he held me, balanced me, so gentle and so firm all at once, was more intimate than anything else.

Then his touch was gone, and he was mounting the black horse. “Did that pass HR standards?”

It was my turn to snort.

“I would’ve normally taken you via a more magic route.” The teasing notes disappeared from Silas’s voice. He gave his heels a little kick, urged the horse into motion. “But we can’t risk turning up in an area where the curse has spread without my knowledge. So, we’re taking the old-fashioned way.”

My horse followed his lead, taking off with easy, loping strides. Though I was a New Yorker through and through, my mother had seen fit to put me in horse riding lessons as a child when we summered on Martha’s Vineyard. It had been the thing that all the rich people were doing at the time.

I hadn’t ridden a horse in years, but fortunately, it came back to me quickly, and we were able to settle into a nice rhythm together. We lapsed into a companionable silence as the horses trotted through gorgeous countryside. It seemed that this island had a wide array of wildlife and natural beauty of all different types. From beaches to forests to prairies to clusters of dwellings that resembled little towns.

“Are there any cities on The Isle?” I asked. I had yet to see any of the towns that Millie had assured me existed.

Silas glanced over his shoulder. “Probably not to the level of a New Yorker’s standards.” He paused. “I wouldn’t call them cities. We have areas of denser populations, but that’s mostly due to safety. Our island is split in half—there’s the East Isle and the West Isle, split down the middle by a river.”

“You live on the East Isle?”

“Yes, but very close to the river. It’s the one that runs near the cottage.” Silas nodded ahead. “We’ll be crossing it shortly via the Upper Bridge. Lily Locke and Ranger X are among the few who live on the other side of the island, but they’re very well-equipped to take care of themselves.”

“Where do you live, specifically?”

“Around here,” Silas said. “Sometimes.”

“That’s completely unspecific.” I paused. “What are you?”

“What am I?”

“Nobody seems to have a lot of information about you, and Millie seemed to think that calling you a man was somehow not grandiose enough.”

“You’ve been asking around about me?”

“It’s good to know your kidnapper.”

“I didn’t kidnap you.”

“The threat was there,” I said. “Would you have taken me against my will if I said I didn’t want to go with you?”

“You didn’t,” he pointed out.

“But what if I did? ”

His silence spoke volumes. I wasn’t totally sure what was in those volumes, but it was something. I was pretty sure he’d have taken me any which way, but I couldn’t be sure.

“The Isle is home to a relatively low number of residents, but they’re a loyal group,” Silas said. “You won’t find anyone who loves their homeland more than an islander.”

“I guess that answers the question as to why you guys don’t just move?” When Silas raised an eyebrow at me, I continued. “If the curse is as bad as you say it is, and if it’s affecting The Isle, then you could theoretically all just evacuate. New York’s nice this time of year.”

“Would everyone just leave New York because there was a threat?”

I licked my lips. I knew for a fact that wouldn’t happen. New York had been through its share of hard times and threats. We were staying put.

“Still,” I argued half-heartedly. “Moving is better than death.”

“Some islanders would disagree with that,” Silas said. “They will not abandon their home. The Isle was initially created as a safe haven for our kind.”

“ Our kind?”

Silas met my gaze with a firm one of his own. He doubled down. “ Our kind.”

“You mean magical kinds of people. ”

“Sure,” he said. “If that’s what you want to call it.”

“What would you call it?”

“We’re crossing the bridge now into The Forest.” Silas nodded ahead. “Very, very few people venture into The Forest by the light of day, let alone the dark of night. It’s not recommended.”

“I thought Irina lived in The Forest.”

“She’s one of very few who call this place their home. Her kind are natural wanderers, sacrificing safety and modern comforts to live in tune with nature. Again—it’s a specific breed, well equipped to live here. Doesn’t mean it’s still not dangerous. Creatures live within its shadows that you could never imagine.”

“Creatures like you?” I asked. “You never did tell me what you are.”

“I’m Silas,” he said, like that was enough.

As if that explained the darkness that loomed around him like a thundercloud, little wisps of black spiraling from him in invisible waves. Like on a scorching day, when tremors of heat visibly radiate through the air so thick they’re palpable—that was Silas.

It wasn’t a bad magic he possessed, but a powerful one. I couldn’t say how I knew this, just that I was confident in my gut feeling.

As our horses’ hooves clop-clopped over the bridge, the air grew still, the sounds around us fading to eerie silence. Silas’s waves of power seemed to grow in direct proportion to the silence, thickening like a thundercloud on the cusp of a summer storm, enveloping him in a protective shield. Tension hovered around us, and I wasn’t sure how much of it was Silas and how much of it was The Forest.

The world ahead of us—the lands on the west side of the bridge—were sheathed in shadow like a villain. As I glanced behind me toward the fading Wisteria Cottage, the airiness of The Isle seemed to be diminishing, as if I were seeing it through the lens of a telescope.

“I’m a Hunter.” Silas’s voice startled me as our horses exited the bridge on the western lands, their hooves padding into the dangerous shadows ahead. “That’s what they call me.”

“Who’s they?” I felt grateful he’d trusted me enough to share this information. It was clear he hadn’t wanted to.

“Our people,” Silas said. “Paranormals.”

“What does a Hunter do?”

“He hunts things.” Silas gave a darkly amused grin in my direction.

“Do you hunt things like curses or things like…people?”

“Depends. Though one might say I have a personal interest in this curse.”

“Have you lived on this island your whole life?”

“No.”

“So you like to use ‘no’ as a full sentence, too? ”

Silas gave a short laugh. “I’ve moved around a lot. Hunters tend to do that. I’ve been called back recently.”

“You must have roots here,” I ventured. “You own a lot of land. People know you. Your grandmother’s house is on your property.”

“Some of my roots live here,” Silas said. “I have many roots.”

I let my line of questioning collapse as we approached the looming edge of The Forest. Another glance back, and I could see an actual distinction where the sunshine ended and the darkness began. Exactly at the halfway point on the bridge.

I pulled my gaze forward, working up courage to face what came before me. Med school hadn’t prepared me for this.

“Keep your wits about you,” Silas offered as his horse paused, hooves stuttering at the edge, resistance written all over the poor creature in every tense and strained muscle.

I studied the reluctant horse. “How risky is this situation on, like, a 1-10 sliding scale?”

“There is no way to quantify the risks in this forest on your little human scale.”

“That’s supposed to make me feel better?” I muttered.

“It’s not.”

“Well,” I said. “At least you’re honest. ”

The Forest reached for us, a cluster of closely knit trees with sharp limbs drawing its prey inwards. The temperature in the air dropped ten degrees the minute we stepped foot under the canopy, a roof so thick with greenery it bordered on claustrophobic, like the entire thing was a living, breathing entity. In a way, it was.

I’d mostly felt annoyed and confused up until this point on our journey. This was the first time I felt true fear. I hadn’t had enough time to feel frightened during the Irina situation. Med school had prepared me to act first, save lives, figure out everything else later.

Now the reality of this situation was hitting me. What if I died here? I wasn’t dreaming, so if I died here, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t regenerate like a video game avatar. I was pretty sure that if I died here, I’d just be...dead.

“I’ve got you, Alessia.” Silas’s voice was hushed, as if to not upset the forces at work within the darkness. “I will die before I let you die.”

“My.” I feigned swooning. “You have a romantic way with words.”

But my joke fell short, seeing as my teeth were chattering from the chill.

“Can you talk to me?” I asked in a small voice. “Just something to keep my mind off the shadows.”

“What do you want to hear?”

“I don’t care,” I said. “Something fantastical. Something real. Bonus points for both. ”

“Our world used to be run by queens,” Silas said, his voice reverent and calming. “The Fae Queens. The immortal lands used to be split up by courts: The Court of Cities. The Court of Skies. The Court of Isles.”

“You guys have a queen?”

“We should.” Silas didn’t meet my gaze. “We don’t any longer. The Fae have been extinct for centuries.”

“Every last one?” I asked. “There are no Fae left?”

“Occasionally, a person comes forward claiming to be a distant descendent of the Fae. There’s one woman, Elle, who lives here on The Isle and works for the Rangers. She seems to have whispers of Fae magic in her veins. The Rangers keep her tucked away and protected, as she’s the closest thing we’ve found to our ancient ancestors.”

“Why don’t you let her be the queen?”

“Queens are born—not made,” Silas said. “If she was a Fae Queen, we’d know it by now. The island would know it. The world would know it.”

“That’s so sad. What happened to wipe out an entire species?”

“The Fae Queens were known to be wise and fair. Beautiful and powerful. Exceptional in every way. They were beloved by everyone. Almost everyone.”

I barely noticed the way branches scraped at my cheek and leaves rustled my hair. My horse’s footsteps fell gently on beds of pine needles .

“A set of men were envious of the power our queens held.” Silas had to grind the words out through his teeth. His knuckles were white holding onto his horse’s reins.

“Men,” I said, half joking, half not.

Silas cocked his head sideways, listening for something. Eventually, he continued. “The Fae Queens were slaughtered in one day. Men, jealous of every fiber of these magnificent queens, prepared an attack against them for years.”

“But if the queens were so powerful, how could they be defeated by these… men ?”

“It’s rumored these men—who were quite powerful alone—recruited the help of Hades and his Furies to launch a massive attack on every throne in the immortal lands.” Silas shook his head. “At the end of the day, the Fae Queens believed in the beauty and goodness in everyone, and that was their downfall. They couldn’t fathom such pure evil and selfishness.”

“That is terrible.”

“The slaughter lasted a single night. It is still the darkest day of the year.”

“You don’t mean literally?”

“I do, yes. It’s linked to the Winter Solstice, a day our world mourns for the loss of our beloved queens.”

“Who runs this place now?”

“After that day of bloodshed and horror, the rest of the world scrambled.” Silas raised a shoulder and let it drop. “ Unfortunately, the Fae population take their power from their queens. Without queens, the rest of the Fae were weakened. They were quickly hunted down and eliminated. It was a swift and complete genocide of the Fae species.”

“Why kill off the rest of the species? Why not stop with the queens, especially if the rest of the Fae don’t have power without their queen?”

“That was the deal between the men orchestrating the attack and Hades. The only creatures ever thought powerful enough to defeat Hades were the Fae Queens. By snuffing out the whole species, it ensured there would never be a Fae Queen who would attempt to defeat the King of the Underworld. That was always one of his insecurities.” My heart felt heavy, thumping against my chest. A sorrow I’d never experienced seemed to dwell deep in my belly, a longing for a time that had been millennia before I’d been born. It didn’t make sense, except that maybe the sadness of this cataclysmic event transcended boundaries between magic and mortals.

“The courts formally fell shortly thereafter,” Silas said. “The men responsible tried to take over and set up kings to rule in their places. They failed.”

“How did they fail to rule the courts if all the queens were dead, and the courts were open for the taking?”

“That’s not how it works. They found out the hard way. You see, the courts do not exist without the queens,” Silas said. “Without queens, there are no courts. There is no reign. There are only power-hungry individuals, and that does not unite a kingdom. Not in the way the queens did, so worshipped and cherished by many.”

“So the courts just fell apart?”

“Over hundreds of years,” Silas said. “The crumbling of this institution didn’t happen overnight. But when it did fall, it fell hard. Now, the courts are all but a dream. A nightmare, rather. We’ve moved on, forgotten what an honor it was to serve a fair and wonderful queen. Our world slowly fractured, splitting into different lands and kingdoms, each with their own systems of rules and regulations.”

“What sort of systems?”

“We’ve got MAGIC, Inc.,” Silas said. “They’re the corporate bureaucracy that runs most of the American society of paranormals. There’s the Sixth Borough, another exclusively paranormal community tucked into New York. Wishery, Olympia, Crystalvia, The Hollow—all different hidden communities.”

“You’re kidding me.” I blinked at him. “There’s an enchanted wonderland right in my New York backyard, an actual Sixth Borough , and you whisked me all the way to Minnesota?”

Silas grinned for the first time since speaking of his beloved queens .

“You weren’t...” I hesitated. It seemed ridiculous to ask. “You weren’t alive when the queens were slaughtered, were you?”

“That was millennia ago,” Silas said.

That didn’t answer my question. “Silas—”

“There’s one more thing you should know,” he interrupted.

Silas came to a stop, holding up a hand so I stilled next to him. He waited until we were even, then he looked into my eyes, scanning me like an X-ray. I felt like he was reading pieces of myself even I hadn’t discovered.

“What?” I asked.

“The people who killed the Fae.” Silas looked down, as if he couldn’t bear the sentiment about to spill out of his mouth. He pulled his gaze upward as if his very words were weighted by bricks. “They were Hunters. Every last one.”

I swallowed. Hard.

Because here I was, alone in the woods, with a Hunter.