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Waylen waved him off. “It’s his job to know things.”

“It’s not ideal,” Hadeon admitted. “But we now have the map and someone who can read it.” He raised an eyebrow in Arabella’s direction.

Leaning back on the sofa, she crossed her arms. “Why do you want to find the shadow fae?”

She knew her body posture screamed one thing: Convince me to help you.

While she found it unlikely the shadow fae were still alive, Hadeon clearly believed they were—enough to risk seeking her out when Magnus’ army was close by.

For the first time since she’d met him, uncertainty flickered in Hadeon’s gaze. The scheming male who always seemed so certain, so confident in his every move, hesitated.

The fae prince shifted so that his elbows rested atop his knees as he eyed Arabella, then Jessamine, and turned back to Arabella. “Let’s just say I don’t like what the queen has been doing in the Twilight Court.”

“What does that have to do with the shadow fae?” she pressed.

The prince laced his fingers together. “I imagine they don’t like what she’s done either.”

Eyes narrowing, she considered his words.

There was one possible reason a prince would be making moves in the shadows to oppose the reigning queen.

“If this is some coup to usurp the throne, count me out,” she said, not bothering to disguise the disgust in her tone.

To her surprise, Hadeon tilted his head back and laughed—a deep, booming sound that was faintly musical.

“I have no aspirations to rule the Twilight Court.” He ran a hand through his short black hair.

“My mother is obsessed with immortality. There’s nothing she wouldn’t do to evade death—even at the expense of her court.

After the erox denied her request to be turned, she grew more eager to achieve her ends.

” He spared a knowing glance at Breckett.

“And I suspect if I locate the shadow fae, they might be amenable to assist me in stopping my mother before she does anything she can’t come back from. ”

“This is irrelevant,” Jessamine interjected. “The shadow fae were killed during the fae wars. By your court.”

The Twilight Court had led the combined fae armies against their shared enemy—the shadow fae.

“That little tale might not be entirely true.” A sudden fierceness brightened Hadeon’s eyes. “I have reason to believe some of the shadow fae escaped.”

Impossible.

There was no way the shadow fae not only escaped their fate but weren’t found for hundreds of years.

She shook her head. “Let’s pretend I believe you. You think this map will lead us to wherever they’re hiding?”

“The map leads to one of the underrealms, a place called the Abyss,” he said. “I believe that’s where Prince Arden of the Shadow Court fled with what remains of the shadow fae army.”

There were those who believed that the underrealms were the home of the demons.

It was said that, long ago, someone opened a portal between an underrealm and the mortal realm, allowing demons through.

Ever since, they’d feasted on mortals, and groups like the enchantresses had been formed to stop the demons from wiping humans out of existence.

She had no idea if any of this held credence though.

Pursing her lips, she said, “Explain.”

“Prince Arden’s body was never found amongst the dead. Some of my mother’s generals remarked that the shadow fae army was smaller than they’d originally thought,” Hadeon said. “I’m wagering Arden is still alive and that he might be amenable to helping not just me but you as well.”

“Fuck, Hadeon, what are you up to now?” Waylen rubbed his eyes. Exasperation saturated his words—like he’d been exposed to Hadeon’s schemes one too many times. “Do I want to know who she is?” He flicked his fingers in her direction.

Her irritation flared. “She has a name.”

Hadeon turned to the water fae before his gaze settled on Arabella. “She’s an enchantress from a human village, the mate of a powerful erox, and a shadow fae-human hybrid.”

“She does smell different,” Kazimir said, chin lifting as though he were sniffing the air. “Not fully human.”

Her thoughts swirled, and she found herself shaking her head.

“I hope you can understand my skepticism that your nose holds the answer to all things. It could be the ogre blood.” She waved a hand in dismissal.

“While origin stories are fun at a fireside, none of this matters. Not when my mate is in Magnus’ clutches.

If you’re not going to help me, I fail to see why I should care about some army that is most likely long dead. ”

A smile lifted one corner of Hadeon’s lips as he leaned back, one arm stretching out over the top of the sofa, the other resting in his lap.

“I can’t help you openly. No one in my court would risk angering a sorcerer with an army.

But the shadow fae? If they’re alive, they might be itching for a fight. ”

She snorted. “You want me to convince Prince Arden to lead what remains of the shadow fae army against Magnus? Who’s to say they won’t refuse and turn toward the Twilight Court to take their revenge and slaughter everyone?”

“He might listen to his niece,” he said, a hint of mischief in his eyes.

She blinked. “What?”

Waylen turned fully toward Hadeon, a similar look of incredulity on his face.

“If I’m right, Enchantress Arabella is the child of Princess Myla,” Hadeon said. “She’d taken human lovers before. I have reason to believe you were brought to the human realm in secret.”

If what Hadeon said was true, her mother was a princess. What did that make her?

Royalty in a kingdom that was no more.

This was all too much.

Jessamine gestured to Arabella’s ears. “I think we’d know if she was fae.”

A patronizing twinkle filled Hadeon’s gaze. “Not all demi-fae have pointed ears. Besides, don’t you find it unusual that a shadow whisperer just… appeared in a remote human village that happens to be near a gateway to the fae realm?”

“Stranger things have happened. Like you showing up at the very moment an ogre broke through the ward.” Jessamine’s gaze was unflinching. “Besides, why the Abyss? Why not one of the other underrealms?”

“It has ties to the fae realm,” Hadeon said.

“The exit from the Abyss leads into the Twilight Court territory. However, no one knows exactly where the entrance is. Prince Arden believed there were gateways that couldn’t be seen or could only be opened by certain fae.

I’m guessing the shadow fae made their final stand in the western tundra because he thought the Abyss’ gateway was here.

It might have been his backup plan to protect the shadow fae—or as many of them as he could.

” He cleared his throat before continuing.

“The Abyss was an obsession of Prince Arden’s when he was still alive.

I can’t recall the number of times he made me listen to his research on the place at dinner parties and balls. ”

Arabella’s brows drew together. “You knew him?”

The fae wars took place at least five hundred years ago. If Hadeon had known Arden before then, that would have made him at least six hundred years old.

Hadeon waited as she put the pieces together. “I look good for my age, no?” He waved a hand. “Call it a hunch that Arden fled to the Abyss. But if I’m right, the shadow fae are there. And they might be able to teach you to control those powers of yours.”

“That doesn’t explain why you want to find the shadow fae,” Jessamine interrupted. “Your mother is obsessed with immortality. So, what? Are you trying to start a civil war by bringing the shadow fae back?”

A muscle pulsed in Hadeon’s jaw. “Not only is she obsessed with immortality, but my mother seeks power. She’s convinced some of the fae courts will rise up against the Twilight Court. She’s been in talks with some courts, forming secret alliances. I fear that she may start another war—and soon.”

Jessamine sniffed. “And you think bringing back an army won’t be the very thing that instigates the start of another war?”

He rubbed his hands together. “It’s my hope the presence of an army will make my mother think twice before starting another war that could lead to the death of thousands.

I don’t want them to actually fight. In fact, I’m counting on them not fighting the Twilight Court for fear of getting wiped out of existence for real this time. ”

Jessamine scoffed. “Idiocy.”

While Arabella didn’t disagree with her friend, she had more she needed to know. “You think you know a way into the Abyss, and you think this map will lead us to the shadow fae. How do you know we’ll be able to get out of there?”

While she needed allies, she wasn’t about to get herself stuck in an underrealm, unable to help Elias and forever parted from her mate.

“There’s an exit.” His eyes fixed on her. “But I don’t know how to open that particular gateway or why the shadow fae wouldn’t have used it already.”

“And you’re willing to risk being stuck there?” she pressed.

“For a chance to avoid another war? Yes,” he said without hesitation. “Not to mention any other consequences from my mother’s pursuit of immortality.”

For a moment, Arabella considered—truly considered—what this male was suggesting.

She was up against an army of erox, ogres, gargoyles, and who knew what other kind of dark creatures.

Frankly, she needed her own army to get Elias back.

Stealth wouldn’t be enough to rescue him.

Even if she did somehow manage to free Elias, the sorcerer would just hunt them down again.

They’d never be free if she didn’t kill Magnus and make sure his army was dispersed.

Was this the answer she needed?

However, her need for an army to rescue Elias was separate from the fact that her shadows had become stronger since using the amplifier, and they’d become wilder since her memories had returned.

If she was honest, she didn’t feel entirely herself.

She was impulsive, quick to anger, and more prone to give in to the wills of the shadows.

She needed help to figure out what was going on with her magic—and how to control it.

Perhaps Hadeon was right that only the shadow fae could help her.

Her training with Lucinda had been relatively unsuccessful.

Had it been because her magic was fae and not from a mortal source of power?

The idea of taking time to train—rather than push to rescue her mate immediately—filled her with guilt.

How long could Elias hold out with Magnus torturing him?

At that moment, she realized there was no other option. The enchantresses couldn’t aid her in rescuing Elias. They had to remain within the walls of Shadowbank to protect her home. Hadeon and the Twilight Court wouldn’t help her.

Which left her with only one option.

Sighing, she said, “If we’re going to the Abyss, we leave tomorrow. My mate is waiting for me to rescue him.”