Page 26 of Queen of Ever (Curse of Fate and Fae #2)

Chapter 26

Tarian

‘I think this is right.’ Ethan was looking around us in consternation. We’d stepped out of a small, unmanned waystation, the sort so infrequently used that you had to arrange for a portal watcher to be there in advance. The water had been stagnant and littered with plant debris, the cavern partially collapsed. It was situated in that slip of land in the fork of the Sunder, the one I’d been flying so fruitlessly over earlier in the day, which would explain why no one was taking responsibility for its maintenance. It was a no-man’s land, a dead zone, a craggy island of woody, spiny plants where no one should have been living.

Ethan’s eyes kept coming back to a mess of plant life before us, a dark, glossy vine spilling down a rocky outcrop. It had thick, fleshy leaves veined with purple and shaped like pointed stars. ‘I’m pretty sure the entrance is there,’ he said, pointing. ‘I suppose they’re a little more paranoid about hiding it now that they’re provoking High Fae royalty by blowing up their palaces and snatching their mates.’

I eyed the vine with a sinking feeling in my stomach. If I stared hard enough, I thought I could catch a glimpse of a dark cave mouth from between dense patches of foliage. ‘A lot more paranoid. That’s a grivandra.’

‘A what now?’

‘A grivandra,’ I repeated, recognising the fleshy, star-shaped leaves and deep purple veins from a book in Dreadhold’s library documenting an array of incredibly rare and exceptionally deadly plants my grandmother had been desperate to get her hands on. ‘Maybe take a few steps back. It’ll be tracking our movements.’

‘I’m sorry, it’ll be what ?’

‘Watch.’ I picked up a stone, hefting it in my hand before tossing it at the mess of vines. The plant reacted like a nest of vipers. Haddock and Ethan both stumbled back as vines began to squirm and slither, running over each other in a race to reach the point of impact. To the left of where I’d thought the opening to the cave was, a glimpse of something I could only call a mouth was revealed, a fleshy pit lined with sharp spines dripping with bile. The plant poked at the site the rock fell with the tip of several vines, its movements slowing until it settled back into stillness again, apparently having decided there was nothing worth eating.

‘Well, that’s a pretty piece of foliage to decorate your secret hiding place,’ Ethan spluttered, staring at the plant in horror. ‘How the hell are we supposed to get past it? How is anyone?’

Haddock started to sob. ‘Oh, your lordship. I’m mighty sorry, mighty sorry for your loss. She was so nice. Such pretty hair. What a way to go. Eaten by a plant.’

‘Stop it, both of you. Let me think.’ I closed my eyes, massaging the bridge of my nose.

‘Can’t you just rot it away?’ Ethan asked.

‘No. Any plant with any form of sentience is usually ancient. Most of them have evolved a resistance to magic over millions of years of exposure.’ I couldn’t tell if Imogen really was in there. I could get a sense of her being somewhere nearby, but whether it was because the place was warded or because we were just in the wrong fucking location, there wasn’t a particular pull in the direction of the cave. But if Ethan said this was the entrance, well, then I had to get inside. I had no other leads. ‘Haddock, do you have a knife on you?’ I asked, remembering the flick knife he’d once produced to seal his blood oath to me. I didn’t carry weapons. There wasn’t much point when I could destroy things with the touch of my hand.

The satyr patted at his jacket, peering inside an inner pocket before jamming his hand down another. He produced the knife and handed it to me. It was small, which wasn’t ideal. I’d have to move fast.

‘Listen, lover boy, I know you’re pretty optimistic about your own abilities, but I don’t think you’re going to be chopping your way through with that,’ Ethan said, eyeing the knife.

‘I’m not going to chop it. There are one or two sentient plants at Dreadhold. They can be trained.’ Normally they were trained over a period of several months, but more extreme methods might get faster results.

‘Trained to what?!’

‘That we aren’t food. Look, just stay way back.’ I approached the dormant plant, knife held before me. It shivered to life slowly, as though in anticipation, then slowly began to stir, creeping towards me with grasping vines as thick as my forearm, prodding at the ground in its blind search for warmth and movement that indicated prey was within its grasp. When it touched my boot, it suddenly sped up, coils writhing in excitement to curl around my ankle, up my leg.

I aimed the knife, jabbed it down. The vine recoiled, releasing me, slithering back and leaving a trail of thick black sap in its wake. But another was already in its place. I stabbed at this one too as another wound around my other leg.

‘Is whatever you’re attempting to do working the way it’s meant to?’ Ethan called as I stabbed and slashed at the onslaught of vines, spraying sap in every direction, but the fact that I was prey too troublesome to catch didn’t seem to be translating. Vines were winding up my legs, my waist, squeezing my chest, and if the thing got a hold of the arm with the knife, I was done for.

My legs were yanked out from beneath me. I hit the ground hard, landing on my back to be dragged through the dirt. I kicked out, twisting, trying to loosen the death grip of the grivandra, grit grinding into my face as it hauled me towards that oozing mouth. Ethan and Haddock were yelling and I kept slashing until it got a coil around my arm, pinning it quickly to my side, wrapping me tight, hoisting me into the air by my ankles. The mouth stretched, acidic bile steaming, smelling caustic, like something that would peel the skin from my bones in minutes.

‘Well, you’re a big fucker, aren’t you?’ I growled through my teeth, managing to yank my hand free, stabbing towards the fleshy part of the mouth sack, ripping it open. Acid spilled to the ground in a hissing stream. Magic gnawed at my skin, and I tried to keep a hold of it, knowing I’d just end up destroying the knife if I released it. The grivandra convulsed, jerking me upwards, ready to sink those long spines into me.

And then it dropped me.

I crashed to the ground, my breath knocked out of me as the mess of vines recoiled, drawing back into a knot around its gaping maw. And there was a face above me; dark hair, glinting flecks of scale, a scowl.

‘Apparently I’m supposed to stop you doing some serious damage,’ the fae said. ‘I didn’t think they meant to yourself.’

Pushing myself up, I rubbed my neck, wincing up at the group of lesser fae gathered around me, some holding hooked poles of twisted brass the grivandra seemed to shrink away from. So it could be trained. Just perhaps not the way I was doing it.

‘You have until I get my breath back before you find out what they meant,’ I said, climbing to my feet, dusting dirt from my shirt, then facing the dark-haired one head on, who seemed like the leader. ‘I’ve come for my mate.’

‘Tarian!’ Imogen’s voice cut through the tension, and with a burst of movement she pushed through the others, flinging herself onto me, arms around my neck. I caught her, bewildered at her sudden appearance, before drawing her close, embracing her tightly, releasing a shuddering sigh as relief washed through me, relaxing that suffocating fear for her safety that had wrapped around me more tightly than the grivandra. Then I drew her back.

‘Are you alright?’ I asked, scanning her. ‘Did they hurt you?’

‘No, I’m fine,’ she said, smiling a little too brightly as I caught sight of the gash on her head, poorly hidden by her hair. Immediately, anger roared through me. I carefully brushed her hair back, revealing the size, the bruising.

‘Then who did this?’ My voice was dark, deadly calm, my gaze flicking to the dark-haired leader of the lesser fae.

‘It’s nothing, it was just to get me back here,’ Imogen replied quickly, but I was already pulling her behind me, already crossing the distance to the male who I’d now pegged with the crime, already had him by the throat. Movement broke out around me as I pinned him to the stone of the cave, his companions shouting and brandishing their weapons in my direction, but I wasn’t focused on those.

‘Who touched her?’ I snarled. ‘Do you want to give up the offender, or will I hold you responsible?’

‘Tarian, stop.’ Imogen gripped my arm, tugging at me. ‘It happened when they took me. They didn’t mean to do it, and I’ve been looked after since then. I don’t want you to hurt anyone for it.’

‘ I want to hurt someone for it.’ My captive was scrabbling at my hand, trying to tug it off his throat as his face turned red, opening and closing his mouth as he spluttered.

‘Doesn’t what I want matter to you?’ she said quietly. I let out a sigh of frustration, switching my gaze to her as I pointedly released my grip. The fae staggered, gasping for breath as he steadied himself against the wall.

‘There, I let him go. Is there anyone else set on attacking you that you’d like to beg for pardon now?’

‘Don’t be salty.’ She took my hand, entwining our fingers, the firm grip betraying her intention to hold me hostage to her mercy. ‘Let me just be glad that you’re here without worrying about your temper.’

Before I could respond to that—she could hardly blame my anger at the fact she’d been hurt on my temper —Ethan was pushing towards us, planting a hand on each of Imogen’s shoulders. She didn’t relinquish her grip on me as she let him turn her this way and that.

‘Can you stop disappearing on me?’ he scolded. ‘Someone needs to get you a bell.’ His expression soured as his gaze landed on the fae I’d so recently had by the throat. ‘Cassian,’ he said. ‘Why am I not surprised?’

‘Etheren,’ the fae growled in reply.

Imogen looked between them. ‘ Etheren?’ she repeated, brows raised, suppressing a smirk.

But the grivandra was stirring behind her, prodding at the boundaries of those trying to keep it at bay.

‘We’re leaving,’ I said, trying to tug her away. But she planted her feet firmly in place. ‘Come on, Imogen,’ I pressed, pulling on her hand as the vine reached out a probing coil and tried to take hold of one of the brass hooks.

‘I want to show you something first,’ she said. She was trying to draw back towards the deep, sloping tunnel burrowing towards the back of the cave entrance. And simultaneously, I understood two things. One, that the rebels had managed to appeal to her sympathies and she was going to argue their case, just like she’d taken it on herself to hold me to account for the changelings and the amendment and any other hopeless cause she landed on. And two, she wasn’t going to leave with me until she’d shown me whatever she thought I needed to see. Which meant continuing to stand here tempting the grivandra to have another go at a meal.

I shot a look at the sky, then headed for the cave. ‘Alright. Show me.’

A smile lit Imogen’s face, and I felt all over again how relieved I was to find her safe, to have her hand in mine. That was what mattered.

But the dark-haired fae, Cassian, was suddenly before us, brandishing a blade. His gaze flicked between me and Imogen. ‘How do we know we can trust him?’

‘You can’t trust me,’ I said. ‘I have no qualms about reducing this place to rubble if any of you take a step in a direction I don’t like.’

‘Your queen has already decided it’s worth the risk,’ Imogen said softly, ‘and I can vouch for him.’

Your queen. Like they were a legitimate power. They had some nerve, I’d give them that.

Ethan sashayed past, patting Cassian on the shoulder as he went. ‘Come on, Cass. Don’t give him an excuse to live up to his reputation.’

‘So, you really are brothers?’ Imogen asked as we began our descent. The dark quickly grew deeper, colder, difficult to see through. It put me on edge when we were trekking through it surrounded by enemies. I didn’t like the way those enemies hung back, murmuring to each other in voices too quiet to hear.

‘Yes,’ Cassian grumbled. ‘Though you wouldn’t know it, since last I heard Etheren had fled to the human world to avoid having to fight for any cause more worthwhile than his own comfort.’

‘Gods, Cass, no one has called me Etheren since—’

‘Father,’ Cassian snapped back, which seemed to pummel Ethan into silence. ‘And how proud he’d be to see you now, trailing along after a High Fae overlord like an obedient dog. Imagine his disgust, to know you gave up our location to the heir to the fucking Unseelie throne.’

‘You know, I was worried the years might have changed you, but I’m glad to see you still have that stick wedged nice and tightly up your ass,’ Ethan shot back. ‘If you wanted to remain a secret, then attacking both kingdoms with a storm of furies was not the best way to go about it.’

‘So, we were supposed to just sit and wait quietly for them to sign their amendment and come find us?’

‘No, idiot. You should have been packing up and getting the hell out of here. It doesn’t take an oracle to see how this is all going to play out.’

‘Ethan, where’s Haddock?’ I asked, suddenly reminded of my oracle and the fact he wasn’t with us.

‘Oh he took off when it looked like you were going to be eaten. He said there were a few futures he could see eventuating and most of them he didn’t want any part in. I think he was hiding in a bush or something.’

‘You had someone else with you?’ Cassian asked sharply, pausing.

‘A satyr. He’s harmless,’ I said.

‘We’ll bring him in.’ He gestured at two of his companions, who peeled away from the group to head back the way we’d come.

‘You look very comfortable issuing orders. Been climbing the ranks, have we?’ Ethan folded his arms, eyeing his brother.

‘Well, it’s not like you were around to fill the void,’ Cassian snapped tersely, and the two continued to bicker back and forth, making snarky references to disappointed family members and accusing each other of all kinds of betrayal as the tunnel spiralled steeply down, winding around and in on itself. The deeper into the earth we trekked, the more doors and openings to other tunnels fed off the one we travelled down. There were increasing signs of life, with lanterns strung along the walls, potted plants and mats placed by heavy wooden doors carved with names and numbers, a rag doll left strewn across the path where a child had dropped it. That, I didn’t like seeing. It seemed there were more than just a handful of resistance fighters hiding down here.

The tunnel widened, and the few of Cassian’s companions following behind us drew further back, seeming to relax the longer I didn’t demonstrate any sign that I was going to turn on them, and their talk became more casual and animated as one shared some story about a drunk game of cards she’d played the night before.

I spied a fork in the tunnel ahead. I waited until we were almost past it, dropping back a little further, before I caught Imogen’s hand and pulled her after me, slipping out of one corridor and into another by a shift small enough not to be noticed. At least, not noticed before we could get away. Imogen didn’t protest, only glancing once over her shoulder before running after me, our footsteps light and quick. Another crossroads brought a duo of trolls lumbering along, arguing about where to find the fattest grubs, and I pulled her against a wall until they passed, finger to my lips when she looked up at me with a question in her eyes.

‘Are you really alright?’ I asked when we were alone again. I held her shoulders and searched her face, seeking any sign, any hint, that she was keeping something hidden for the sake of her new friends, some injury or cruelty I couldn’t see.

‘I really am. Truly, I’m okay. Just glad you’re here.’ She ran her hands up my neck, cupped my face. Pulled me down to her, kissing me with less calm than she was trying to sell me on. Looping an arm around her waist, I pulled her close, relishing in the way touching her seemed to calm the turbulence of my emotions, finally dissolving the dregs of madness that had been staining my thoughts since the fury attack.

‘I could have razed the whole fucking world to the ground when I was watching them carry you away.’ I leaned my forehead against hers, eyes closed, still a little drunk on the fact that she was with me again. ‘I’m so tired of losing you.’

She ran her thumbs along my skin, back and forth, each breath she took softening her. ‘I knew you’d come this time. My first thought when I woke up was about how stupid they must have been to take me.’

These words ushered in a wave of regret. Maybe I’d been trying to do the right thing by refraining from going after her when she was in the Summer Palace. Maybe everything had turned out better for it. Or maybe I should have just followed her over the Sunder the moment she’d disappeared. ‘There will be no more waiting around trying to toe the line,’ I swore. ‘I go where you go.’

She took a steadying breath, hands slipping down, looping around my neck. ‘So, if where I go is to see the queen of the rebel court...’

I chuckled, fingers tracing up her back. ‘You aren’t going anywhere.’ I kissed her again, savouring the way she bent to me, the familiarity of it, the sense of right that consumed me, the way her breath hitched and her hands curled through my hair.

‘They’ll be wondering where we are,’ she gasped as my hands found her thighs, lifting her from her feet, pressing her against the wall.

‘I don’t care.’

‘You will when they come looking for us and catch us in an awkward position.’

‘Dirty girl.’ I drew my mouth to her neck, traced my lips against her pulse. ‘What kind of position do you think they’re going to catch us in?’

‘Well, this one for starters.’ She drew her fingers from my hair, pushed half-heartedly against my chest.

‘Oh yeah? For starters? What other positions do you plan to be in?’

‘Stop it.’ But she arched her neck, contradicting the words, breath quickening as I kissed the hollow beneath her ear and my hands tightened around her thighs. ‘You know, you’re covered in muck.’

‘I had a disagreement with a plant on the way in.’

‘It’s sticky and gross. You should wash it off.’

‘Are you trying to get me out of my clothes?’

‘Perhaps. There’s a bath in the room they’ve given me.’

‘A bath. That’s an idea I like. I could check over every inch of you to make sure you’re in the same condition I left you in. They better not have hurt you, Imogen, because I’m going to be very thorough.’

‘Then put me down and come with me.’

I pressed my face into the crook of her neck, breathing her in, pressing our bodies closer together, before setting her back on the ground. She took a deep, shuddering breath and found my hand with hers as she slid free of my grip.

‘Come on,’ she said, twining our fingers together and tugging me forwards. I readily followed her deeper into the earth, down a dark, curling tunnel in a hideout for a group of rebels who thought of me as the enemy. Followed her without hesitation.

I’d follow her anywhere.