Page 31 of Faeheart (Widdershins Supernatural Academy #2)

I took a deep breath, centering myself as I pictured my parents in their opulent chambers within the Seelie Court.

Their disapproving faces formed in my mind’s eye with painful clarity.

I saw my mother’s perfect posture as she sat at her vanity, and my father’s perpetual frown as he reviewed court documents.

“Here goes nothing,” I murmured, closing my eyes and channeling my fae magic into the witch’s glass.

The crystal flared to life beneath my palms, pulsing with emerald energy that matched my magical signature.

The surface clouded, then cleared to reveal an image of my mother’s private sitting room, exactly as I’d pictured it.

She sat alone, reading correspondence with the same detached expression she always wore when dealing with matters she considered beneath her.

“Mother,” I called, my voice echoing strangely through the magical connection.

She startled, her perfect composure slipping for just a moment before her eyes found the magical projection that must have appeared before her. “Wilderain?” Her voice was cool, controlled, but I detected the faintest note of surprise. “This is unexpected.”

“Mother, I need help,” I said, letting my voice waver with carefully calculated weakness. Through our bond, I felt Elias’s magic supporting my deception, helping me project exactly the right mix of desperation and fear. “The mansion is failing. The wards were damaged in an attack.”

Her perfect eyebrows arched slightly, the only indication of her interest. “What attack? What do you mean?”

“The Purity Front found us,” I continued, allowing my form in the projection to flicker slightly, as if my connection were unstable.

“They nearly broke through. We managed to drive them back, but...” I paused, letting my image waver again for dramatic effect.

“The Resonance Stones are destabilizing. The tetrad bond is breaking down.”

That caught her attention fully. She set aside her correspondence, her eyes narrowing as she studied my projection. “The Resonance Stones are destabilizing? How is that possible?”

“I don’t know,” I said, letting my voice crack with desperation.

“When the Purity Front attacked, I had to call on the dead in the river. I used too much power, Mother. I’m.

.. I’m fading. The others are trying to hold the bond together, but without me.

..” I let the implication hang in the air, watching her carefully for any reaction.

For a moment, something that might have been concern flickered across her perfect features, so quickly I almost missed it. Then her mask of cool indifference slid back into place.

“Where are the Council members who brought you to this sanctuary?” she asked, her voice crisp and businesslike.

“Gone,” I said bitterly. “They abandoned us here with promises to return, but we haven’t heard from them since. The Elder Council has left us to die.”

Through our bond, I felt Elias’s approval at this embellishment. The more isolated we appeared, the more tempting a target we would be.

My mother’s lips thinned slightly. “And what exactly do you expect me to do, Wilderain? You know your father and I cannot leave court during the Autumn Conclave. It is forbidden.”

“Send help,” I pleaded, making my projection flicker dramatically. “Anyone. The mansion’s defenses are failing more each day. We estimate we have a week at most before the wards collapse completely. If the Purity Front returns before then...”

“I see,” she said, studying her perfectly manicured nails with apparent disinterest. But I knew my mother well enough to recognize the calculating look in her eyes.

She was weighing options, considering implications.

“I will discuss this with your father. Perhaps the Seelie Court can spare some of their guard for the son of Briar Hall.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, allowing genuine relief to color my voice. The more convincing this performance, the more likely our trap would work. “Please hurry. I don’t know how much longer I can maintain the bond.”

With a final dramatic flicker, I withdrew my magic from the witch’s glass, letting the connection dissolve. The crystal dimmed, its surface clouding over before returning to its normal silvery glow. I stepped back, suddenly exhausted from the effort of maintaining the deception.

“Well?” Atlas asked, his golden eyes intent on my face. “Do you think she bought it?”

I nodded slowly, collapsing into a nearby chair. “She bought it. Or at least, she’s intrigued enough to investigate. My mother is many things, but she’s not stupid. She’ll want to verify what I told her.”

“No offense, Wild,” Caden said, shaking his head. “But your mother is cold as fuck.”

“Yep,” I sighed, giving him a half smirk. “That’s just how she’s always been. Fae in the Seelie Court aren’t exactly known for being warm with their children.”

“That conversation sounded like a business transaction,” Elias observed, his voice tight with sympathy. Through our soul bond, I felt his horror at the coldness my mother had displayed, so different from his own parents’ suffocating but genuine affection. “She didn’t even ask if you were hurt.”

“Because she doesn’t care,” I said simply, standing and brushing imaginary dust from my clothes. “The only reason she’ll act on this information is because it affects the family’s political standing. A dead son looks bad for their reputation.”

Atlas moved closer, his protective energy wrapping around all of us through the tetrad bond. “How long do you think we have before the message reaches the Purity Front?”

“Not long,” I replied, studying the now-dormant witch’s glass. “My mother will want to gather intelligence before making any moves. She’ll reach out to her contacts, ask careful questions. Within hours, whoever’s feeding information to the Purity Front will know everything I just told her.”

“And then?” Caden asked, though his expression suggested he already knew the answer.

“Then they’ll mobilize everything they have,” Elias said grimly. “If they believe the tetrad bond is failing and we’re trapped here with weakening defenses, they’ll see this as their best chance to eliminate us permanently.”

I felt a surge of satisfaction through our connection as the pieces of our trap clicked into place. “They’ll bring their strongest fighters, their most powerful artifacts. They won’t risk letting us escape or recover.”

“Which means we need to be ready for them,” Atlas said, his tactical mind already working through defensive positions. “We have a couple of days, if not mere hours, to prepare for this battle.”

“So, where do we start?” Elias asked.

“The training room,” Atlas nodded. “All of us. As much as we can.”

“Well,” I sighed, gesturing back into the house. “Lead the way, big guy.”