“What?” Zoey gaped.
Caynin approached her and pulled the emerald from her neck. He flipped it over for Zoey to see the reverse – which boasted a beautiful black flower petal on. It was the same as the petals that decorated Rane’s dagger. Zoey had mistaken it as a drawing when it really was Black Illusion.
“The flower is so strong, it even works on us – the Enerly. We can use it to control the minds of our enemies by giving the enemy a gift with a hidden flower petal in and keeping the stem of the flower ourselves. You don’t have to inhale the scent of the flower for it to work. In this case, you only need to touch the petal while the controller touches the stem. This way you are linked, and the controller can make you see whatever they want.” Caynin had told her.
Zoey looked over to Dagan, who held the stem. Smiling, he approached her, and she resisted the urge to slap him. He had used the Black Illusion to make both her and Rane hallucinate – and that was why Caynin had been on edge. He had known that the second trial was going to take place, so he had worried for her. Zoey had mistaken that worry for jealousy over Dagan. She hadn’t seen this coming because of her trusting, innocent nature. Fool. Judging by Rane’s pale face, he had no idea what was going to happen when Flint gave him the dagger. It made her feel slightly less foolish.
Everyone had known except for Zoey and Rane. For once, both had been left out of the loop, which made Zoey feel oddly close to Rane. Rane got to his feet and rubbed his thigh where, only moments ago, he had thought he’d been impaled on a spear.
“When did your illusion wear off?” Zoey asked him.
“When I tossed the dagger to you,” he said.
“I do hope you are not too angry with me.” There was no trace of remorse in Dagan’s beautiful, perfect face.
“The first trial was to resist compulsion,” Zoey said. “What was this? What were you testing?”
“I was testing your loyalty,” Dagan said. “If you want to live among us, like one of us, you have to be able to choose us over your own kind.”
“If I had left Rane and Caynin,” she realized. “I would have failed.”
Caynin held the emerald necklace by its chain when Zoey took it from him and stuck it into her pocket. She was not going to let Dagan use it against anyone else.
“You were so willing to accept my gift,” Dagan told Zoey. He made no indication that he wanted it back.
“I was being polite,” she said. When really, she was being naïve. She should stop trusting the faeries when they were kind to her.
“You’re in the wrong world for that.” His gaze was so intense, she felt as if she had enemies all around, people who had it in for her.
She swallowed.
Rane glared at Flint. “You set me up.”
Flint raised his hands, as if surrendering. “I was following orders.”
“We are going to fight this out,” Rane growled.
Zoey understood his anger. He had accepted a gift from a friend, and that gift had been used to control his mind. Why had they needed Rane? Couldn’t they only have used the Black Illusion on her? She figured now that she had passed the trial she would have more of Rane’s respect. If she had failed, would he have killed her for abandoning him?
“I thought you were going to run away, human,” Tarragon said. Did this mean he approved of her living here, among them? She did not need his approval. She wanted nothing from him.
Caynin grinned, clearly pleased. “That’s not an apology.”
Caynin met Tarragon’s eyes, and she realized the two of them must have discussed the second trial. “You said she’d lose. I said she’d win,” Caynin continued. “We agreed if I was right, you’d apologize to her.”
Zoey couldn’t help but feel flattered. Caynin had her back, and he was helping her find her place in the Everwhite Kingdom. He was helping her gain the respect of the most powerful Fata. He was worthy of her trust.
Tarragon looked at her with his dark eyes and said in his most sincere voice, “I am sorry for doubting you.”
She nodded but didn’t reply. She was never going to like him, and no matter how sincere he sounded, she knew he was never going to like her either.
***
When Zoey left her room, so that she could join the Fata for dinner, she saw a grim-faced Rane leaving Kismet’s room.
“Rane!” she called.
She did not expect him to approach her, but he did. He came to her room and stopped in front of the door, looking sad and tired.
“Is everything okay?”
“It’s been a long day.” He sighed. “I told Kismet it is over.”
Zoey was surprised to hear that. She tried placing herself in Rane’s shoes. It must be so hard not to be allowed to be with someone he loved.
“I am sorry.”
He gave her a weak smile. “I should never have let things go this far in the first place. It was stupid, selfish, and I placed her life in danger.”
Zoey almost touched his arm but then reminded herself who he was. Only days ago, she had stabbed him in self-defense. They were still far from friends, but something had changed. He was not as angry around her as he used to be, nor was he throwing insults her way or telling her how pathetic she was. It was because she hadn’t betrayed him and because she hadn’t abandoned him in the fighting ring.
“Thank you for not leaving me today,” Rane said.
“Of course.”
His intense, dark-blue eyes fell onto her like a wave of cold water. “If the situation had been reversed, I would have left you.”
“I know.” She swallowed then willed herself to ask the question she had been wanting to for so long. “Rane, why do you hate me?”
“I hate all humans.” She knew he would not open up to her easily because all his life he had trained himself to be invulnerable. But she had to know.
“That’s not a reason,” she pressed. “What did I ever do to you?”
“Nothing,” he said after a short pause. “You did nothing. But your kind…”
“Yes?”
“Years ago, when we fled to Earth, I brought my parents with me. It was hard to save them, and many Fata were left behind on Erken. I don’t have any siblings, and I am not allowed to love any females. I will watch over Caynin for eternity. All I had was my parents. As immortals, we don’t expect to watch each other die.” He drew a deep breath. “I brought my parents here so that they could be safe from the Prenumbras. One day, they went exploring in the woods…they went so close to the border.”
Eric had told her the Slaerie placed many traps close to the border in an attempt to keep the Fata on their own land.
“My parents fell into their traps, and by the time I got there, it was too late. They were murdered.”
Rane’s voice broke at the end, and he cleared his throat. Zoey shuddered as she saw things from his point of view. He had fled his home planet with the two Fata he had loved most. He had brought them here to be safe, but they had been murdered. Rane couldn’t protect them. He had not saved them. He blamed all of it on the humans.
“Just because there are a few bad humans who kill, does not mean all of us are bad.”
Rane studied her, and she wished she knew what he was thinking. Surely, he had killed, too. Surely, he had murdered innocents. He was also guilty of horrible things.
“My parents weren’t evil,” he whispered. “They never hurt anyone.” He swallowed. “They were nothing like me.”
Zoey hadn’t considered that Rane thought so little of himself. Her heart caved. “You’re not that bad,” Zoey mumbled and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
Rane tensed, and for a moment she thought he was going to push her away. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her and welcomed the comfort like a warm blanket.
That was when Zoey knew things were going to be different from then on.
***
That night, Zoey found herself laughing at the dinner table with the others. Rane effortlessly brought her into the conversations and chose topics on which she could also speak. She was seated next to Caynin, where she felt most comfortable.
The table was set beautifully, with a cloth that fell to the ground. This gave Caynin the perfect opportunity to sneak his hand onto Zoey’s thigh. She jumped slightly because it was so unexpected. Caynin spoke to everyone at the table as he did this, and it made Zoey feel alive and exhilarated doing something they weren’t supposed to, without anyone knowing.
Dagan was charming as ever, but Zoey had not quite forgiven him. Every time he spoke, she pictured the emerald necklace he had given her and told her it would bring her luck. But, like a Trojan horse, it had concealed the Black Illusion. It didn’t matter how nice Dagan was to her, he was not her friend.
He was not Rane’s friend, either. No friend would have made Rane hallucinate about Slaerie, not after they had killed his parents. Was Dagan heartless or did he not know about Rane’s parents? There was something sinister about the Evergreen Kingdom’s prince. A power-hungry glint was lodged in his eye, and Zoey felt as if he always had an ulterior motive. He and Tarragon hated each other, and Caynin had told her that the baby princess Celine had been promised to Dagan. If she had grown up, and he had married her, would he also have had control over the whole Everblossom Kingdom?
After dinner, Zoey did not go to her room. Three weeks ago, she had promised Eric she would meet him, and that time had come. She left the castle alone, wearing a thick winter coat. She was not stopped nor followed, as she was not a prisoner.
As she hiked through the woods she thought about Rane and Kismet. It was not safe for them to see each other, just like it was not safe for her to see Eric. He should not be in these woods alone, especially at night. But she was not as selfless as Rane; she could not tell Eric goodbye. She walked for a long time and then wondered if she was going to be able to find the same spot where they had previously met. Luckily, she saw him.
“Zoey!” He was leaning against a tree and came to her. He wrapped her into a warm hug, and she closed her eyes.
“I missed you,” he told her.
“I missed you, too,” she said automatically, but realized she didn’t mean it, and ended the hug. She had hardly thought about him at all these past few weeks. “How are you?”
“I’m good,” Eric said. “Everyone is good. I visited your family, and they are happy and healthy. They don’t find it strange that neither you nor your uncle in London ever call.”
Zoey felt guilty that Caynin tampered with their minds, but it was better if they weren’t worried about her. Caynin was her friend, and he had done it to help her because he cared about her happiness and what was best for her.
“How are you?” Eric asked. The answer required more information than a simple, ‘I’m okay.’
“I’ve finished two trials,” she told him. “I passed both.”
Eric nodded but did not congratulate her. She wished he would be proud of her for trying to fit in and be respected. It was not easy living in the Everwhite Kingdom, yet she was doing it. She was not just surviving, but she was also making friends and not falling into depression. Something told her that most people couldn’t do what she did.
“When is the third trial?” Eric asked.
“I don’t know,” she answered.
He did not ask for any more details on the first two trials, and she figured he did not know what she had done. She was glad he did not want to know. He would not react well if he discovered that she had killed Slaerie in her hallucination. Although it was not real, it had proved that she was willing to choose Fata over her own kind.
“I’ve been doing my research on Globetrot-trees and curses,” he said, “but I need more time. I’ve not found anything on your curse or how to break it – yet.”
He sounded hopeful and positive, but Zoey’s heart fell. “Maybe you should stop looking and just accept that my curse can’t be broken.”
“Don’t say that.” He grasped her arm gently. “I’m not going to give up.”
“Why not?” The harshness in her voice made him release her arm. “These past few years we hardly saw each other. We never spend time together.”
“That’s not your fault,” Eric said. “It was because I was told about the Fata and the Slaerie. My priorities changed.”
“Yes, and I was no longer a priority,” she said bitterly.
Eric glanced at the ground. “I was wrong. I just didn’t want you to be a part of this world. I would never forgive myself if something bad happened to you.”
“You’re not responsible for me,” she said, “but I needed you. I needed you to stick around. I needed you to be my friend, or maybe more…”
He stepped closer to her so that she could feel his breath on her face.
“Did you know I was in love with you?”
“Yes,” Eric confessed, “and I should have done this sooner.”
Then he kissed her. He pulled her into a warm, messy kiss that she had craved for so long. But now that the moment was finally there, Zoey just wanted it to end. What had changed?
Did you know I was in love with you? WAS. That was past tense. Her feelings had changed.
She pulled away. “Stop.”
He gently drew her back. “Zoey—”
The next moment, someone grabbed Eric by the shoulders and effortlessly ripped him away from Zoey and threw him to the ground.
“Caynin! Stop!” Zoey cried.
Caynin’s teeth were bared, and his hands resembled claws. For a moment, she thought he was going to ignore her, but then he stopped and looked down at Eric, who gaped at him. Eric had seen Fata before, but she doubted he had ever seen one as terrifying as the Everwhite prince. The previous time he had seen the prince he had hurt him, and the anger now showed in Caynin’s eyes. Eric reached for his iron knife, and Zoey immediately stepped in front of Caynin to protect him. She stood between them, like a wall – a flimsy wall made of paper.
“Neither of you get to hurt each other,” she told them in the firmest voice she could muster.
“You told him to stop,” Caynin growled. “He didn’t listen. I was defending you.”
Zoey was not sure how much of the conversation Caynin had heard. She could talk to him about eavesdropping and invading her privacy later. Right now, she had to keep the peace.
“I could handle that myself,” she told him.
“Listen to this thing, Zoey.” Eric got to his feet and held out the knife. “He speaks about you as if you belong to him.”
“She doesn’t belong to you,” Caynin countered.
“Eric, I need you to leave,” Zoey said desperately. “Please leave.”
“So, you are his possession,” Eric said, clearly intending to hurt her.
“Just go.” She was relieved when he did as she asked. If he stayed, she feared for his life. Of course, if Caynin hurt him, she would never forgive him. She turned around to face Caynin, who looked like a rabid animal with his fangs out.
“Are you stalking me now?” Eric was gone, and her fear of him getting ripped to shreds had been replaced by anger.
“After dinner, I went to your room,” he said, and she remembered his hand on her thigh. “You weren’t there, so I went looking for you. It was easy to follow your scent.”
When he said that, it made him sound even more wild and predatory. No human would be able to track another human simply by smell.
“How long before you found me?”
“Not long.” He glanced over her shoulder to see if Eric had reappeared, but he had not.
“Then you followed me here and eavesdropped?”
Zoey was not sure whether Caynin understood that he was in the wrong, or if he did not care. He seemed angry with her. How could he be? She hadn’t done anything that she wasn’t supposed to. She was allowed to meet up with her friend. Whether he liked her friend was irrelevant.
“I just wanted to know that you were okay,” Caynin said gently.
His sudden mildness was not enough to calm her.
She jabbed a threatening finger against his chest. “You had no right to do that. I’m not your slave.”
Lore and Bane had told her she was not the first human Caynin had accepted into the castle. She was willing to bet her life that the previous humans he had accepted had been slaves – blood slaves.
Caynin looked at her finger but did not attempt to push her away. Had she been anyone else, she would no doubt have lost her finger. Caynin stepped closer to her, forcing her to retract her finger and place her hand against his chest.
“Zoey, I already told you, I don’t share.” His voice was low, and she struggled to think clearly.
I don’t share.
“You might not like Eric,” she told Caynin, “but he is right. I am not your possession.”
With that said, she walked away and did not look back.