Page 54

Sav

I leaned against Jack, hugging him to me, feeling his racing heart beat against my back in time with my own.

My sister’s court, and the magic she commanded, fell away as Kaspar slowed his pace.

This far from Sage she would have to expend a great deal of energy to reach us and though she’d put in some effort to chase us, it was a fraction of what my sister was capable of.

Had she let us go to ensure Kaspar didn’t break our treaty, or did some small piece of her heart still care for me?

Hazel slowed, falling into step beside us, and I loosened my hold on Jack. In the moment, when all I’d cared about was escaping Spring with our heads, I hadn’t had any time to dwell on everything that had happened.

Now, faced with this new truth, one I didn’t fully understand yet, my stomach sank as I released the strong arms wrapped around me.

Hazel’s large green eyes peered up at us and she gave me a toothy grin. I didn’t have to be a mind reader to know what she was thinking, and I glared at her. Jack’s eyes burned into the back of my head and the overwhelming heat radiating from him reminded me of the secret that lay between us.

I’d just begun to trust him—then he burned through prison bars and shattered my certainty.

Unless…

I hardly dared feed the tiny hope threatening to break through, but try as I might to tamp it down, it demanded to be heard.

It begged me to accept that he hadn’t known.

But how? How could he not know? He owed me answers and I would have them soon, but first, we needed a plan and I needed Hazel's help finding my lost satchel.

“Hazel. I lost my bag near your border. Where we were attacked. Can you find it for me?”

Hazel dipped her chin, looping through the forest and shifting direction toward Winter.

Kaspar snorted, following Hazel’s lead.

Jack’s hot breath blazed against my ear as he remained curled around me even after the danger had passed, and though I didn’t trust him, I was loath to push him away. Just a little while , I told myself. Until we reach the border and continue on foot.

On the horizon, a blanket of snow spread out, and I exhaled slowly.

My emotions were a dangerous mix of raw vulnerability and terror, both from my sister’s latest betrayal and the fresher one at my back.

The anxiety threatening to drown me in Sage’s prison had been dashed against the adrenaline pumping through my veins as we fled the spring court.

Something orange and black flashed in my periphery and I glanced to the side, spying the fox with purple eyes racing beside us. He wasn’t fast enough to keep up with a snow leopard, but he tried.

I leaned down, whispering in Kaspar’s ear. “We have a Spring Court tail. Lose him.”

Kaspar picked up speed and soon the fox’s pointed ears were nothing but a memory of my short-lived return home.

Barreling across the border between Spring and Winter, Hazel slid to a halt in deep snow and spun around.

Kaspar hovered just on the spring side of the line, steam puffing out in long exhales.

I swung my leg over his side and hopped down quickly. When I looked up, Jack sat motionless, a wild look in his eyes. Our gazes met for a moment before I broke our stare, scanning the forest behind him for any sign of Raine or his weapon clad army, but nothing and no one appeared on the horizon.

Kaspar snapped at Jack, shaking him out of his daze, and he moved, sliding off the kelpie’s back.

“Sav—”

My gaze moved from Kaspar’s sparkling flank to Jack, searching his face.

His eyes were normal again and the heat he’d been radiating before had vanished.

If I hadn’t seen it myself, I might not have believed it.

Where high fae began manifesting their gifts and retaining them, Jack had seamlessly slipped back into human form.

What did it mean? I would give him one chance to come clean.

One chance to be honest. But first, I had to put things right with Kaspar.

Kaspar’s form rippled as he shifted into fae form and turned to leave.

“Kaspar, wait.”

“Sav,” Jack said again.

I spun around. “Jack. I need a minute.”

His eyes darkened, sliding to Kaspar, but he said nothing, moving past me and crossing the border into Winter. He stopped beside Hazel, running a hand along her coat.

Turning back to Kaspar, I frowned, taking in his cold expression. He was never warm, never sweet, but something in his cool gaze was alive in a way I’d never seen before.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

His turquoise eyes gave nothing away, impassive as always, but I sensed the utter betrayal he was unwilling to give voice to. I reached for his hand, rubbing my thumb over his palm.

He glanced down, studying our clasped hands, saying nothing. When he looked up, that alien emotion I’d thought I’d seen was gone. “The free army is on Earth. Your former general, Creig, leads them.”

“What?”

His fingers tightened around mine. “I will offer them reprieve in my court if they aid you. I know the water is no place for land fae, but, if they desire to return to Faerie. There is a place for them. Offer them this and you may find a willing ally.”

“Kaspar.”

He dipped his head, pressing cool lips to my knuckles.

I squeezed his hand, warmth spreading from my chest and along my limbs. “You know why I don’t want your help with saving the humans. Don’t you?”

He swayed on an invisible breeze, his cool facade firmly in place. “You care for my safety and that of my people.”

I nodded. Those were the words I’d said to him after I was bound. When my sister sent me to live on Earth and he had offered to come with me to keep me safe. Even then, even when I hated him for putting me in that situation, I couldn’t let him risk his life for mine.

The words were no less true now, but I wasn’t sure if he understood what they meant.

He was my oldest friend, dear to me in a way no one else ever had been.

If something happened to him, I would never forgive myself.

I couldn’t protect him from everything, but I could keep him safe from the humans.

The memory of the emaciated kelpie rotting in Dane’s cage flashed in my mind and my stomach flipped.

I clasped his hand more tightly. “I need you,” I said honestly.

He shuddered and released my hand, stepping back. “If you’re in danger, call for me.”

The air rippled and in a blink, he was my favorite kelpie once more. The one who had taken me on wild adventures when we were young, racing through the forest when it seemed to stretch forever. He swung around, lashing his tail as he wove between massive trees.

Kaspar had been a lot of things to me in my life, best friend, confidant, fellow explorer and once, in my darkest hour, he’d been my hero. When he’d agreed to my sister’s terms, knowing my wishes, I’d thought our friendship had ended, but as I watched him go, admiration settled in my chest.

I exhaled a breath turning back to Hazel and Jack. We’d been lucky. My sister wouldn’t give up so easily now that she thought Jack was valuable, but she wouldn't stray so far from her castle for a prize.

“We need to find Creig and enlist him in our cause. I know you're needed here Hazel. Please find my bag. I'll come back for it.”

She eyed me as if she wanted to ask more about it, but nodded.

I glanced to Jack. “This close to the border, our best option is traveling through the Seelie Court.”

Hazel closed the distance between us. “I’ll find it.

” She pulled me in for a hug, pressing her nose to my ear.

“Come find me when this is all over. I’ve missed you.

You have a place in my court, no matter what your sister says.

” Her arms tightened around me and I hugged her back, my vision blurring.

“I’ve missed you.”

She squeezed once more, then released me. “Take care of my pet. I want him back in one piece.”

I grinned at her teasing tone. “You know I won’t give him back.”

She smiled, wiping snow off my cheek. “I know.”

I grabbed Jack’s hand, shocked at the warmth of his fingers. Answers. He would give me answers now.

“Are you sure we should go back to the spring court?” he whispered.

Continuing forward, I sighed as we crossed the border and the temperature increased by several degrees. Releasing Jack’s hand, I wiped my slick palm on my skirts. “Getting into the human realm is easier through a Seelie entrance.”

Jack looked dubious but trailed behind me as I marched deeper into the Maywood.

I glanced back when we were far enough from the Winter border that I was sure he wouldn’t catch cold. “Start talking.”

Jack crashed to a halt. “I would tell you whatever you want to know, but I swear, I have no idea what happened in the prison.”

I stopped, spinning around to face him, and let my gaze trail the length of him. Hadn’t I thought he looked like one of us when we first met? But he had none of our gifts, apart from his ability to nearly keep up with my speed and whatever happened in my sister’s prison.

“Tell me about your mother.” I turned around. “But walk and talk. We need to get back to Earth.”

Jack moved, footsteps lighter than before.

He was silent for a long time as we moved through the Maywood.

It was more than a day’s trek from here to the spring pocket entrance to Earth.

There were four in total, one for each court, but why the points of access were so far from the castles in Faerie I didn’t know.

The ones in the Seelie court were strangely close to one another and it would mean coming dangerously close to Summer’s border, but it couldn’t be helped.

“My mom was amazing.” Jack said after a considerable silence.

I said nothing, listening to the steady beat of his heart.

“She used to call me her little prince.” He laughed. “Not that I was little for long. I was taller than her by fifth grade.”

There was so much warmth in his words that my heart ached for a love I’d never felt. “So, you’ve always lived in the human realm?”