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eighteen

I found Rafael and Louis at breakfast the following day.

It was rare for them to be in Monrovia at the same time, since they took turns patrolling nearby towns.

Lately they’d been visiting villages still reeling from recent attacks; monitoring human Fae relations, searching for evidence, and taking stock of the magic supply in each city.

They had their own agenda as well. Secretly, they were searching abandoned buildings, trying to find the missing humans, and learning anything they could about the Elders.

I pulled up a seat, peering around to make sure no servants were close enough to listen. As I threw an ice shield around us, I received a look of glowing pride from Louis.

“I was in the village yesterday visiting Meli,” I whispered. “She’s been getting harassed due to the blood shortage. I want to take her to Erador with us. It’s time we discuss how I’m going to learn to world walk… I’m ready to go to the garden and see if I can open a portal. I’m ready for answers.”

We’d been waiting until I had more control over my magic, waiting until they gathered more evidence. I was sick of waiting. Louis and Rafael formed shields of water and shadow over us, while I let mine sputter out, grabbing toast and fruit.

“World walking will demand a lot of energy. If you try to open a doorway and aren’t ready, it may consume you,” Louis said before shoving a bite of omelet into his mouth.

“I’m ready to try . The longer we wait, the more time they have to amass power,” I replied .

Raf ran his hands through his hair before shaking it out. One stubborn lock fell back over his eyes and I had to hide my smile. He met my gaze as he said, “You’re right. But there’s something else we need to tell you.”

Louis blurted out, “Healers have been going missing.”

Rafael scowled at him. “Don’t say it like that.

You’re going to scare her.” He turned towards me.

“Several have disappeared from surrounding towns, while others voluntarily left their homes with vague excuses and quick departures. We haven’t been able to find out where they’re going, but we can only assume they’re all in the same place. ”

Meli . My stomach fell to my feet.

“You think they’re with the missing humans?” I set down my half-eaten toast, losing my appetite.

“We don’t know. It’s been difficult to gather evidence. The Elders have so many spies and a seemingly unlimited amount of blood for bribery. It doesn’t help that we keep hitting dead ends,” Louis grumbled, tearing off a piece of croissant.

“Well, do you have spies? You’re only two males—you can’t possibly solve this by yourselves,” I said.

“Of course I have spies,” Rafael bit back. “But I’d like one more. Would you mind if I ask Meli some questions? In return, I’ll make sure her and Odin are protected.”

“I think she’d be happy to help, but only in ways that don’t put her in danger. She’s not in a position to do anything risky,” I said firmly.

“Nothing dangerous. I promise. We just need all the eyes and ears we can get.”

A weight lifted from me, knowing that Meli and Odin would now be getting real protection. It was the kindest thing Raf had ever done for me—well, not for me , of course. All the same, it eased my mind to know they’d have more security.

“It sounds like the perfect time to go to the portal. We’re at a dead end and need answers—hopefully visiting will give us some,” I reasoned.

Rafael turned to Louis. “If she’s ready, we should go. We need to be a step ahead of them. At any moment they may force her to open a doorway for them, by any means necessary. If they make it to Erador, they’ll be unstoppable. We can’t let that happen.”

His eyes blazed with fervor; I’d never seen him look so… passionate .

My stomach dipped. I was finally willing to admit that I might’ve been wrong about him.

I’d reduced him to a spoiled rake when we’d first met and it hadn’t been an accurate assessment.

In fact, I didn’t even know if he was a rake.

I’d never seen him with a woman… not that a Prince was likely to parade around with prostitutes—especially one as private as him.

Regardless, I’d decided that what he did in his personal time was his business.

His cruel quips, his secretive nature, his aloofness; maybe those were traits he’d needed in order to survive.

Sylvia never would’ve let him live this long if she’d seen fire behind his eyes.

Any hint of ambition towards the Crown would’ve caused an internal war between the family.

But it seemed like war was coming, regardless. Perhaps it had always been inevitable.

I studied him as he said, “We don’t have time to waste.

Sylvia and her advisors are asking for a fight—challenging anyone with a shred of moral fiber to rise up and demand justice.

But first, we need to even the odds. We’ve got to find the humans, break the curse, and rally faeries to our side.

It’s the only way we can win against them. ”

“I agree, but if we’re caught—if something happens to Marigold, then all is lost,” Louis replied in a low voice. “We must appear obedient. Going to the garden is a risk. If we’re caught, my mother might imprison Marigold… or turn her over to them.”

If anyone would’ve walked onto the terrace at that moment, they’d assume we were all fighting over the last slice of coffee cake.

Our heads were bent over the table and we had vengeance in our eyes.

But then I heard Isla’s trill of laughter as she and Galen entered through the terrace doors and I was jolted back to reality.

“I’m a shadow wielder. I won’t get caught,” Rafael growled. “And neither will she if we go under the cover of darkness. Marigold and I are going— tonight .”

Sneaking through the woods with a shadow wielder, in the middle of the night, was not my idea of a good time—but for Meli, I’d do it.

Before Galen made it to the table, Rafael was gone. Those gods damned shadows. Any warmth I’d been feeling towards him was replaced with annoyance at his abrupt departure.

At least I had Louis. My head swiveled around as I realized… he’d left me too. I curled my frosted fists. I was going to freeze their balls off for leaving me as the third wheel .

I was stuck with Galen and Isla. My heart dropped into my stomach as I took in Isla’s porcelain doll face. It took considerable effort not to flare my nostrils like a bull seeing red as Galen helped her into her seat.

“Good morning, Marigold. What a beautiful day it is. Don’t you look pretty as a portrait,” she beamed. She was radiant in an indigo dress with matching violets in her hair.

I would’ve liked to believe the compliment, but her smile never quite reached her baby-blue eyes when she looked at me. I was wearing a yellow dress that accentuated my curves and flowed into a loose skirt. I did feel beautiful—until she sat down.

She reminded me of the elegant, two-faced aristocratic women I encountered so frequently at court in Aurelius. They were demure, sweet, breezy… until you felt a dagger in your back. Pretty little assassins . And was I any better? Smiling back at her as I fantasized about ripping out her throat?

“Good morning. I trust you both slept well,” I said with too much sugar as I sipped my bitter coffee.

Isla looked at Galen with a knowing grin. I was going to be sick. Had they been sleeping together? My bed had grown cold over the last month and I’d taken to thinking of Galen when I couldn’t sleep. It led to the filthiest dreams I’d ever had. I blamed the romance novels.

A flush crawled up my neck as I tried to push away the images that were now at the forefront of my mind. Thoughts of him swiping everything off this table, picking me up, and spreading me out… then ripping my dress off with those strong, capable hands.

I could feel his eyes on me, assessing what my rosy cheeks meant. I met his gaze and held it. A fire smoldered in his eyes, making me bite my cheek to keep from smiling.

He cleared his throat. “How have your meetings with Melisandre been going?” At least he was steering the conversation away from anything that made Isla giggle.

“Good. But I haven’t been able to heal anyone other than myself yet.”

“With your aptitude, I'm sure you’ll be healing me from my battle wounds in no time.” He smiled and I watched his canines push into that delicious bottom lip of his.

“You’re a healer?” Isla stepped in, resting her hand possessively on his bicep. I deflated with a long shaky sigh .

“A healer in training… I still have a lot to learn.” I needed to get out of here. Now . It was a unique kind of torture, sitting with the man I wanted… and the woman he was promised to.

“Excuse me, but I have somewhere to be.” I got up, screeching my chair across the floor as I bolted. Robert trailed behind me, while I nearly slammed the door in his face in my haste to escape.

It was the weekend. I didn’t have training and Galen knew it. The sad little human had nowhere to be.

But then I remembered the plan— tonight. Tonight , I would find out if I could open a door between worlds. I regained my focus. I did have somewhere to be.

Raf decided to make an appearance while I was eating dinner in my room. I’d been enjoying a candle-lit meal with myself before he ruined the ambiance.

He didn’t even bother to use the door, opting to go through the wall in his shadow form. I had a book in my nose and looked up to find him standing in front of me—staring in his dark and mysterious way.

His black shirt accentuated his toned body, clinging to his muscles. I could tell that I was feeling especially lonely, because my heart skipped a beat when his glowing eyes locked with mine. A reaction to him scaring me senseless, no doubt.

“How dare you come into my room unannounced!” I slammed my book shut and stood, thanking the gods I was fully dressed and presentable.

“I didn’t want anyone to see me using the door. I assumed you’d be waiting for me to come by and tell you the plan. Or did you think you were just going to jump out the window at midnight and hope I caught you?”

Was he trying to irritate me or did it just come naturally to him?

I noticed him staring at my chest—at the pronounced rise and fall of my breasts as my heart rate returned to normal. “Eyes up here,” I hissed.

His gaze flicked up to my face and he smirked. “Your necklace is glowing.”

I shoved it under my bodice, huffing. “Regardless of your excuses, a gentleman would never come into my room uninvited . ”

I became flustered as he stepped closer to me, within range for that misty forest scent to waft its way towards me. It assaulted my senses, disorienting me even further.

“Does it make you nervous to be alone with me? I can hear your heart racing. I suppose a gentleman wouldn’t point such things out… but I never claimed to be one.” He smiled at me in his wolfish way.

I rolled my eyes at him. “You startled me. Don’t let it go to your head. Are you going to just stand there and preen ? Or are you going to tell me the plan?”

Ignoring my question, he turned his attention to the book I’d been reading. He picked it up from the table with a tendril of shadow. I was mortified as I watched it float over to his waiting hands—at the realization that he was about to find out that I read romance.

“A Night to Remember,” he read aloud, before opening to the middle of the book.

“He looked deep into her eyes before whispering, ‘I am going to give you the ride of your life.’” Raf gave me a wide grin—the largest one I’d ever seen from him.

Two dimples and a full set of pearly white teeth… that were about to be smashed in.

“Give me that!” I yelled, diving for it and snatching it back.

“Don’t be embarrassed! We all need to find ways to… release our stress.” He couldn’t resist loosing a laugh and I felt the crests of my cheeks bloom with embarrassment.

“If you’re quite done humiliating me, perhaps you can tell me the plan and then see yourself out. ”

“Of course, Princess ,” he said with an exaggerated bow. “Tonight, at midnight, you’ll look out your window and find me below. It’ll be dark, so if you can’t see me, trust that I will be there.” He emphasized this point with raised brows, making sure I understood.

“Yes, yes. You’re all shadow and smoke. If I can’t see you, I’ll still believe that you’re there.” I glared at him, as I tried to control my temper that he knew just how to stoke.

“You’ll wear this.” He threw me a black cloak. “And you’ll throw this out your window.” He stepped back and grew three black vines that were long enough to reach from my window to the ground.

Watching him grow something from nothing was so remarkable that I just stared in awe as seed transformed to plant. His shadows weaved the vines together into a tight, thick braided rope .

He proceeded to tie knots down the vine, creating grip along the entire length of it. “Don’t forget to secure it to something before you throw it out the window.”

I gave him the largest eye roll I could muster. “I understand the concept of a rope ladder. Thank you for your wisdom, Prince of Pricks.” I smiled at my joke and he had the good sense to laugh along.

“Do you feel comfortable climbing down a rope?” he asked with genuine concern, dropping his self-possession momentarily.

“Yes, I’m not a complete saint. I used to climb out of my own bedroom window, once upon a time.”

“Did you? The Princess was a little renegade, all along. I’m shocked .” His smile beckoned for me to smack him in the arm, so I did. It was hard and unforgiving and I was sure I’d caused more pain towards myself than him.

“I’m not a Princess.” I stuck out my tongue at him before he promptly disappeared into smoke and shadow.