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She patted her torso. “Same crappy attitude toward authority figures? Yup, I’m sure it’s me.” The door behind her burst open, and she turned to the two security guards. “Hey Mitch, hey Frankie, what’s up?”

Feehan waved them away. “False alarm. Ms. Walsh has suffered some kind of magical accident. Can you ask Liz and Sam to come in here, please?”

After a long look at her new face, the guys departed and were quickly replaced by the rest of the special team. They all started talking at once.

“Everyone, sit down!” Feehan shouted. “Ella, shut the door and tell us what the hell is going on.”

She told them the bare minimum of what had happened on the previous evening. For a change, no one interrupted her, their expressions ranging from horrified to appalled. Liz’s Fae-Web hovered over her head like a billowing veil in a storm.

“So I need to get to Otherworld, find out what Adam’s done with my face and get it back before he decides to come after me.” Ella concluded. “I just wanted to let you know what was going on. I don’t think I have much time.”

“You don’t.” Liz said. “Adam is very sure of his victory.”

“Not until I’m dead, he isn’t.”

Sam raised his hand. “What about Vad?”

“What about him?”

“Aren’t you going to save him, too?”

“That idiot?” Ella snorted. “He went to Otherworld to prove what a big bad fairy he is. I’m not getting involved in his petty squabbles.”

“Ella—” Feehan hesitated. “You might have no choice.”

“Because of the mating crap? He’s the one who left, not me. I don’t owe him a thing.”

“Hang on,” Sam said. “You’re, like, mated to Vad? Dude! That’s awesome!” He tried to high-five her. “That’s why you haven’t gone nuts!”

Liz reached out and touched Ella’s knee. “You have to save him.”

“I damn well do not!”

“Whatever you think, he did what he did to save you. That’s his primary goal. That’s all I see.”

Ella swallowed hard. “Bullshit.” She pulled away. “I have to go. Is the portal by the Bay Bridge still working?”

Even as Feehan was promising her backup, she left and magicked herself directly to the portal.

She could probably get there without one, but this wasn’t the occasion to be trying new things.

Time sometimes moved differently in Otherworld.

She might arrive and find Vadim hadn’t even got there yet or that he’d already fought and died.

Not that she cared. Not that the bastard owed her anything…

Then why was she so pissed at him? Because he hadn’t believed in her after all? She swiped at something wet on her cheek. Dammit, was she crying?

Had she really fallen for all his shit about forever together?

Apparently she had.

She checked her weapons and stashed a silver dagger in her back pocket.

Didn’t he know that saying about scorned women and revenge?

She’d go to Otherworld, kill Adam and reclaim her face by herself.

If she did see the slimy worm, she’d make him grovel and beg for forgiveness before she killed him with his own magic.

Buoyed by this magnificent image, she stepped into the portal.

“Otherworld central, please.”

Within a heartbeat she was stepping out into a wide paved square with a fantastic fountain set in the center of it.

She’d arrived at this point in Otherworld once before, so was familiar with the layout.

The sky overhead was a bruised purple and filled with storm clouds.

Warily, she approached the statue, which depicted a male Fae dominating a female.

She angled her head to study the face of the woman who appeared to be having an orgasm.

Or was she? Clutched in the female’s hand was the hilt of a dagger that had already pierced the male’s side.

“Checkmate.” Ella murmured.

“Indeed.”

She spun around to see the still-beautiful-but-elderly woman she’d met briefly on her last visit to Otherworld.

This time the Fae queen mother was unattended.

Not that it mattered. Her power was immense.

She wore a pale yellow gown made up of a thousand floating panels that shifted and mutated at will.

Her dark hair was unbound and reached her waist.

“You are cygnet’s mate.”

“So he says.”

“I am his grandmother.”

“He already told me that.”

The female raised her chin. “Did he also tell you who I am?”

“Don’t you mean, what you are?” Ella studied the older woman. “You’re wearing a crown, so I guess you’re Fae royalty. Do you want me to curtsy? The thing is, I’m not in a curtsying kind of mood at the moment.”

“Why are you here?”

“Don’t you know?” Ella pointed at herself. “I want my face back. Where’s the creature called Adam?”

“Where is cygnet?”

Ella grimaced. “What is it with you Fae not being able to answer a simple question? I have no idea where Morosov is, and I don’t care. I want my face back.”

“He is not with you?”

Ella pretended to look around. “Nope. He left last night with Adam.”

A tiny wrinkle appeared on the queen’s perfect brow. “That wasn’t what we agreed.”

“I don’t actually care what you agreed. I simply want to find Adam.”

The Fae queen studied her. “I’m afraid I can’t let you meddle.”

“With all due respect, it’s not up to you what I do, is it?” She scanned the empty square and drew her weapon. “All I need to do is get a fix on Adam, and I’m off.”

“No, Soul Sucker.”

The Fae snapped her fingers and Ella was hurtled backward through walls and time and…

oh, God, she was going to puke. She landed with a thump on a stone floor.

Manacles slithered toward her and attached themselves to her ankles.

By the time she righted herself, all sense of the Fae queen had gone.

She was alone in what appeared to be a castle dungeon complete with burning torches in sconces and an arched oak doorway up a flight of stone steps.

“How very Disneyesque.” She raised her voice. “Where the hell am I?”

“Shh.”

A familiar voice answered her from the shadows.

“Rossa?”

“Shh!”

“Can you get me out of here?”

“Not exactly.”

“Then what do you want?”

He eased out from the darkness and crouched in front of her, golden eyes wide. “Where’s cygnet?”

“How the hell should I know? He disappeared off with Adam.”

He touched her cheek. “But your face! That wasn’t supposed to happen!”

He disappeared. Ella was left staring at nothing.

“Come back, you idiot!”

After a few more shouts, she stopped wasting her breath and contemplated her options.

Her gun had disappeared, but she still had her backpack.

Did she have anything sharp enough in it to cut through the chains?

If they were bespelled, which seemed likely, she might be able to use iron to destroy them.

She rummaged in her backpack. Why didn’t she carry an iron bar around with her?

She really needed to be more prepared. She unearthed a small silver knife, but that proved totally ineffectual against the strength of the chains and merely blunted the blade.

“Dammit! This isn’t how it’s supposed to go.”

The wall in front of her quivered and a man came through. He was tall, and blond like Rossa, but one hundred times more beautiful. His power flooded over her and through her, and she instinctively raised her shields.

“Soul Sucker.”

“I prefer Ms. Walsh. Who are you?”

He leaned back against the stone wall and contemplated her, arms crossed over his bare, muscled chest. Thank God he had pants on, or from her viewing point she’d be getting quite an eyeful.

“I’m cygnet’s father.”

“Oh.” That couldn’t be good. Wasn’t he the one who hated Vadim’s guts and didn’t want him anywhere near Otherworld? “What’s up?”

“With me or with you?” He nodded at her chains. “You seem to be in some trouble.”

“I’m good, thanks.”

He smiled and for the first time she saw a hint of Vadim in him. “I can see why my son finds you so amusing, child.”

“He doesn’t anymore. He left me.”

His smile disappeared. “So I hear.”

“Do you know where he is?”

“I always know. He is my son and in some ways my creation.” He sat down cross-legged on the floor and settled his massive shoulders against the wall. “You probably know I wish him ill, but not why.”

“Um, you don’t have to tell me anything. Families are hell sometimes, aren’t they? You should meet mine.” Ella gabbled away, with a horrible feeling that whatever came next wouldn’t be good.

“Nevertheless, I feel you should understand the male you are bonded to for all eternity. The monster my wife’s mother mated you with simply to fulfill her own selfish desires.”

He half smiled. “Once upon a time, a male child was born from my loins. As is traditional amongst my kind, my kin were invited to celebrate his birth and bestow their various magical gifts on him, if they so chose.”

She pretended to yawn. “I think I’ve heard this one before.”

“As I said, amusing and very brave. After the guests arrived for the feast, a storm gathered overhead and disgorged another presence.” His luscious mouth hardened.

“A Fae of a different kind from the Dark Lord’s court appeared.

He insisted the child was marked in his master’s name and that he was ‘special.’ When we examined the babe we discovered the mark on him and knew the Dark Lord’s ambassador spoke the truth. ”

“So?”

Hell, she’d seen that weird mark just below his hip—kissed and licked it, actually. Was that the one?

“For every gift our Fae bestowed on the child, the Dark Court offered him another. For every positive, there was a negative.”

“The gifts balanced each other out.”

The Fae sighed. “If he had been left alone, then yes, he would probably have been the most magical being ever created.”

“Then what happened?”

“We couldn’t allow him to be that powerful.” He met her gaze fully for the first time, and it was like looking into a furnace. “I decided to train him as a weapon against the Dark Court.”

“When he was a kid ?”

“Of course. His instruction had to start immediately to instill the correct discipline in him.”

“With what end in view?”