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THE MORE TIME KATERINA spent in the world outside the castle, the more she realized how inter-connected it really was. Over the next few days of travelling, there wasn’t a town or village that either Dylan or Tanya hadn’t been to personally. There wasn’t a situation or creature they hadn’t dealt with before. There wasn’t a single barman they didn’t know by name.
By the time they ended up in Lakewood, the town for which they’d been aiming, Katerina had developed a whole new level of respect for her travelling companions. What was more, they’d developed a whole new level of respect for each other.
“Dylan, if you don’t slow down, I’m going to stab you in the back with a tent peg.”
Respect. Friendship was still a ways off.
The ranger cast a long-suffering look behind him, but slowed his pace as they made their way out of the forest and onto a bluff that overlooked the town. It was here that the trio came to a simultaneous stop, looking down with a bit of apprehension as they considered what was to come.
Dylan had been deliberately vague about the ‘old friend’ they were travelling to meet. The one who would supposedly help them on their journey. Whatever it was he was keeping to himself, the girls didn’t know. But one way or another, they were in no position to be refusing help.
“How do you know he’ll be here?” Katerina asked curiously. “You guys keep in touch?”
“Not much,” Dylan replied evasively, shifting his weight as he gazed out over the town. “But Lakewood’s hosting the Festival of Woodland Lights. He’ll be here. And he won’t be hard to find.”
The girls exchanged a quick look. Won’t be hard to find? What did that mean?
“Come on.” Dylan seemed eager to end the conversation before it could really get off the ground. “It’s coming up on mid-day. With any luck, he’s still in bed. And mostly sober...”
Another look. This time it was paired with a grin.
Katerina’s mind bubbled with a million questions, but she held her tongue. Even Tanya, who had no filter whatsoever, had the sense to keep quiet. Instead, the three of them started heading down the mountain. Bracing for whatever mischief the day had in store...
* * *
MAGICAL HOLIDAYS WERE never celebrated in the castle. As such, Katerina had never even heard of the Festival of Woodland Lights. But walking through the town, it quickly became clear what Dylan meant when he said his friend would be there. There wasn’t a man in the realm who wasn’t.
The purpose of the festival was to celebrate the spirits of the forest along with the coming of the new celestial year. To get into the festive mood, the store fronts were strung with garlands of white flowers. Giant vats of nectar and baskets of ambrosia cast a heavenly aroma over the streets. Musicians armed with fiddles and lutes were walking through the crowd, and the festival-goers had painted their faces green in order to honor the spirit of the trees...
...which meant that all the wood nymphs had come out to play.
Never before had the princess seen so many beautiful women in one place. And beautiful didn’t begin to cover it. She had long ago read that nymphs were famed for their beauty, but the writing in the castle library hardly did them justice.
They were like angels. Waif-like, woodsy angels that floated along down the street. Dresses of gauzy silk. Clouds of white hair that fell down to their waists. Eyes so bright, they made everything around them dim in comparison. They moved in little clusters. Pausing every now and then to buy another flowery adornment for their long hair. Casting occasional glances in mirrors and store-front windows to admire their flawless reflections. Shooting bewitching smiles at the gaggles of men that followed in their wake—openly salivating as they tried to remember how to speak.
Katerina raised her eyebrows as one of them blew a playful kiss at Dylan, shaking back a wave of silky white-blonde hair. Her friends were quick to pick up on the chase—shooting curious glances at the rugged ranger as they giggled quietly and whispered behind their hands.
Obvious, much?
He blushed faintly, but did nothing to encourage them. He merely flashed a polite smile as he and the girls walked past. Unfortunately, that did nothing to stop the giggling. Nor did it stop Tanya from taking great delight in the entire exchange. Her face lit up with mischief as she ostentatiously elbowed him in the ribs, raising her voice for everyone to hear.
“What’s that?” She cupped a hand around her ear with a theatric frown. “You just got out of a serious relationship, and you’re looking for someone special to help you rebuild?”
He looked down with a start, paling to the color of sour milk as he lowered his voice to a frantic hiss. “What the heck are you doing?”
“Well, I know you’re shy, sweetie, but you’ve just got to get past it.” She patted him sympathetically on the shoulder, staying carefully out of reach of his blade. “Nobody here is going to judge. We all just want what’s best for you.”
He grabbed the back of her coat and dragged her along at a faster pace, ignoring the chorus of snickering laughter that followed in their wake.
“Okay, level with me...do you really have a friend here, or did you just want to find a nymph?”
Even Katerina had to smile at that one, but Dylan shot the shifter a look that promised certain death the second they were out of the public eye. Sensing trouble, the princess intercepted the look and pulled them both to a stop as they reached a fountain in the center of the town square.
“You, hand over the dagger. You, keep the colorful commentary to yourself unless you want to get killed.” She cast each one a stern look of warning before glancing back at the bustling crowd. “Let’s just find this friend of yours and get the bloody heck out of here.” She cast Dylan a sideways glance. “The less time we spend out in the open, the better.”
For all our sakes.
“Fine.” Tanya rolled her eyes, but abandoned her teasing and got down to business. “You said this guy wouldn’t be hard to find. What did you mean?”
With a quiet sigh, Dylan slipped his knife back into its sheath.
“That’s easy.” His eyes drifted briefly around the square before zeroing in on a specific target. “Just look for the fanciest hotel...”
* * *
OVER THE COURSE OF the last few weeks, Katerina had seen Dylan in a variety of different circumstances. She’d seen him tired, and charming, and defensive, and even adorably upbeat. She’d never once seen him nervous. Not until that very moment.
“Okay, Dylan, what the heck happened with this guy?? Did you accidentally kill his dog? Or purposely?”
They were standing in front of the door to the best room in the best tavern in the entire town. The proprietor had confirmed the identity of his guest, after a significant bribe, and after locating the correct room all that was left to do was knock on the door.
Except that Dylan couldn’t seem to raise his hand.
He shot Katerina a quick glance, as if she wasn’t too far off the mark, before forcing a casual smile onto his face. “No, it’s...it’s going to be fine.” He lifted his hand, then paused again, staring at the door like it had burst into flames. An almost sickly expression swept over him and he muttered the words again, saying them only to himself. “It’s going to be fine.”
After taking a deep breath, he knocked three times on the door.
By now, even the girls were a bit nervous as to what was waiting on the other side. Was the man going to be horrifically disfigured? Had Dylan accidentally set the guy on fire? Burned off an arm? They listened breathlessly as the silence gave way to a faint shuffling, then the sound of light footsteps making their way to the door. By the time it pulled open, they had mentally prepared themselves for anything and everything.
Except for the exquisite nymph who stood in the doorway.
“Yes?”
Everything about her was perfect. From her pearly smile, to her sparkling eyes, to the silky hair that billowed in waves down her bare back. Both Katerina and Tanya exchanged a quick look of confusion, but Dylan just rolled his eyes with a quiet sigh.
“I’m looking for Cass.”
She vanished without another word, closing the door behind her. When it opened again a moment later, there was another nymph. She was even more beautiful than the first. And if it was possible, she was wearing even less clothing. Just a tiny slip that stopped an inch below her thighs.
“Good morning.” Her face melted into a welcoming smile as she made a sleepy effort to smooth down her sex-tousled hair. “Are you here with the food?”
Katerina smothered a grin as Tanya bit down on her lip to keep from laughing. Dylan, however, looked almost physically sick as he forced a tight smile.
“Nope. Not here with the food. I’m looking for Cass. Is he here?”
She glanced behind her, gaze resting briefly on the bed, before she turned around with a mischievous giggle. “He’s still sleeping. I’m afraid we’re all a little worn out.”
Dylan’s smile tightened into a grimace. “I’ll bet. The thing is, I really need to speak with him—”
The door closed again. Mid-sentence. Right in his face. He stared at it a moment, then took a step back, his hands balling into fists as his teeth ground together.
“It had to be nymphs...”
“We should have intercepted their room service.” Tanya stepped forward with a grin, raising her hand to knock on the door. “Why don’t you let me try this time?”
Dylan took a step back as the air around her seemed to shimmer. By the time her fist came down on the wood she was no longer a young girl, but had taken the shape of a burly village constable. She had the mustache, the badge, everything down to the authoritative scowl.
A scowl that was only slightly ruined when she gave her friends an impish wink.
The door was pulled open by yet a third nymph, but this one stepped back in surprise when she saw the officer standing in front of her. Her eyes widened and she hurried to slip on a robe.
“Can I help you, Constable?”
Tanya didn’t waste any time. And she didn’t pull any punches. “This is the third time my associates and I have knocked on this door, and let me assure you there will not be a fourth. We’re looking for a man named Cass. Now either you send him out in the next thirty seconds, or I’m going to cite you for obstruction of justice.”
The girl melted away so fast, Katerina could have sworn she vanished on the spot. The three of them waited in tense silence, wondering if their plan had worked, but only a few seconds later the door pulled open again and a beautiful man walked outside.
Holy bloomin’ cow!
Katerina said ‘man’ because she didn’t know what else to call him. And she said ‘beautiful’ even though the word fell utterly short. It was like the guy walked straight out of a fairytale.
He was pure grace. There was no other way to describe him. An ethereal, radiant sort of grace that seemed to shine a little brighter than everything in the world around it. He was as tall as Dylan, and just as strong. But while one man was all dark—tan skin, chocolate hair—the other was all light. Fair skin. A silver tunic. White-blond hair that fell to his shoulders. The only thing that differed were his eyes. He had dark, rich eyes. Eyes that shone so bright, they leapt right off his face.
Right now, those enchanting eyes were resting curiously on Constable Tanya.
“My apologies,” he said courteously. “What seems to be the...”
He trailed off a second later, staring in absolute shock.
Katerina felt Dylan stiffen beside her, and sure enough it only took a moment for that lovely face to tighten with unspeakable rage.
“...you.”
Dylan held up his hands, trying his very best to project an air of rational calm.
“Now, just hold on a second. Let’s not do anything we’ll both—”
A sudden punch caught him right in the face.
“—regret.”
A river of blood streamed from his nose as he cupped his face in his hand. The other was still raised in supplication, though he didn’t seem to expect much of a reprieve.
“Cass, I didn’t come here to—”
Another punch. This one was even harder than the first.
“—fight.”
Dylan staggered back a step, this time blinking away a stream of blood that was pouring from a cut above his eye. His face tightened with pain as he lifted his free hand like a shield.
“Seven hells, man! Will you just let me—”
A third punch. This one threatened to finish him completely.
“—talk?!”
The nymphs scattered to the four winds, while Katerina and Tanya stood there in absolute shock. They hadn’t exactly been expecting a warm welcome, but they certainly hadn’t been expecting a blow-out either. That being said, it wasn’t like either one of them was particularly inclined to jump in. Not only was it all a bit out of their league, but it sounded like Dylan certainly had it coming. And there wasn’t a force in the world that would get them to stand in the way of those fists.
There was a savage cry as Cass lifted Dylan straight off his feet and slammed him into the adjacent wall, dangling him a foot above the floor.
“You dare to come here?!” he cried, smashing his head against the stone. “You dare to look me in the face?! After what you’ve done!”
Yep, certainly had it coming.
Cass bashed him into the wall once more, his blonde hair falling to reveal the tips of his pointed ears. It was only then Katerina realized what he was. Realized that he wasn’t a man at all. Realized why he looked like the ancient prince from all of her storybooks come to life.
He’s a fae.
She sucked in a gasp of surprise, staring in fascination. Completely ignoring the fact that her new best friend was slowly getting beaten to a pulp against a hotel wall.
I can’t believe it! Right here in the flesh!
Dylan was slightly less enchanted. He was making no attempt to defend himself, but that did nothing to temper the fae’s rage. It wasn’t until an actual constable rounded the corner that the four of them slipped inside the hotel room, closing the door with a hasty click.
The second that he was free Dylan fell to his knees, panting, and bleeding freely onto the floor. Tanya melted quickly back to her actual shape, looking pale, while Katerina stared at Cass with equal parts terror and fascination. A childish part of her hoped he would get past his murderous vendetta quickly. Then maybe he’d let her touch his ears...
“Well, now that that’s out of the way,” Dylan began as he pushed painfully to his feet, gesturing from one person to the next, “I believe introductions are in order. Cass, this is Tanya and Katerina. Girls, this is my oldest friend, Cassiel.”
All four of them froze perfectly still, looking from one to the other.
What the heck are we supposed to do? Shake hands?
Luckily, though he might have been about two seconds away from committing a daylight homicide, the fae still seemed to have some manners. He tore his murderous eyes away from Dylan, wiped the blood off his knuckles, and offered a polite hand to each of the women in turn. “A pleasure to meet you,” he said softly.
The girls blinked, then hastened to comply.
“Pleasure’s all mine.”
“Yeah, it’s...it’s really nice to meet you.”
The three of them shook quickly, giving each other a cursory glance before turning back to the fourth member of their party, who was still bleeding a small ocean onto the floor. At this point, exsanguination was an actual risk, but you’d never have known it from his face. Now that the savage beating was over, he seemed to think the little reunion was going brilliantly.
“There—see?” Dylan flashed them all a beaming smile. “No reason we can’t all get along.”
The girls stared at him in disbelief, while Cassiel gave him an icy glare.
“What do you want, Dylan?” he asked coldly.
A bloody good question. Given the bad blood that was literally staining the ground between them, what could Dylan possibly expect to come of the surprise visit?
As it turned out, his request was as simple as it was disarming.
“I want to buy you a drink.”
* * *
TEN MINUTES LATER THE four of them were circled around a booth in a local tavern, sitting in an almost comically uncomfortable silence. The ranger, the fae, the shifter, and the princess. Never was there such an unlikely gathering, and what a priceless picture they made.
Dylan had yet to stop bleeding, Cassiel was glaring a hole into the table, Tanya was chewing anxiously on her lip, and Katerina was so nervous she was having some kind of heart palpitations.
It wasn’t until a full minute had passed that Cassiel looked up with a glare.
“So where’s the flippin’ drink?”
Dylan jumped in surprise, as if he’d been thinking about something else, before pulling a handful of bronze coins out of his pocket and laying them quickly upon the table. “Right. Get yourself whatever you want.”
Three pairs of eyes shot down to the coins, each more baffled than the last, then back up to Dylan. Tanya kicked him under the table for good measure.
“Are you serious?” Cassiel asked in disgust. “This is your grand gesture?”
“What do you expect?” Dylan shot back. “It looks like a carriage ran over my face.”
The two men shared an indecipherable look, but unless Katerina was mistaken she could have sworn there was a hint of a grin beneath it. A second later, Cassiel pushed to his feet with a frustrated sigh, leaving the money behind as he headed off to the bar. The trio stared after him for a moment before Tanya leapt up as well, hurrying after him.
“I’m going to help.”
The second it was just Katerina and Dylan, the mood at the table relaxed significantly. It relaxed to the point where she smacked him in the chest before pelting him with peanuts.
“What the heck is going on?!” she demanded, lobbing one after another. “You bring us to a festival of lusty nymphs, just to get your butt kicked by the one person in the world you call a friend?!”
“Hey!” He grabbed her wrists with a bloody grin, putting an end to the attack. “I have a plan, all right? It’s not like we’re going into this blind.”
She yanked herself free, shaking her head with a reluctant smile. “And that plan is to let the one person you think can help us beat you to a pulp?”
“Yeah, that’s the way it starts.”
There was a beat of silence.
“And how does it end?”
He wiped his face clean with the hem of his shirt, helping himself to a peanut in the process.
“It ends different than that.”
Seven hells! This man is exasperating.
Resigned that it was the only answer she was going to get Katerina leaned back against the cracked leather, staring curiously towards the bar. As much as he seemed to hate Dylan, Cassiel didn’t seemed to have any problem with the rest of them. He and Tanya were talking quietly as they waited for drinks, lighting up with the occasional smile whenever something amusing was said.
“So, who is he, anyway?” Katerina asked. “This friend of yours?”
Dylan followed her gaze with a thoughtful expression on his face. Despite having taken a brutal beating, there wasn’t an ounce of malice as he stared at the fae. Just a kind of brotherly affection and nostalgia Katerina didn’t completely understand. “Cassiel is one of the High Born.”
The surprises just kept coming.
The fae didn’t have royalty, but if they did Cassiel would have been in their inner circle. It was even more shocking because, of the thousands of fae that had died in the rebellions, none of the High Born were said to have survived. That being said, the princess was quickly coming to discover that news of the royal army’s stunning victories had been greatly exaggerated.
That’s all well and good, but why in the world would he ever help me?
Dylan read her thoughts as easily as if she’d spoken them aloud.
“Believe it or not, he actually has a strong moral compass—buried beneath all the bitterness and resentment. A sense of honor.” Dylan gave his friend another fond look. “A frightened girl on the run? The legitimate heir to the throne being hunted down by assassins? He won’t be able to walk away from something like that.”
Katerina’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “So we’re going to tell him the truth? That I’m the princess?”
“We’re going to have to,” Dylan replied practically. “You can’t lie to a fae. They’ll always know.” He glanced towards the bar again before kicking back in his chair. “Besides, Cass is just like every other High Born exiled by your father’s rule. He’s drunk, and bored, and restless like you wouldn’t believe. We can use that.”
As if on cue Tanya and Cassiel returned, their arms laden down with drinks. They doled them out around the table before sliding into the booth, smelling of whiskey and looking significantly more relaxed than when they’d left.
“Looks like you started without us,” Dylan said with a smile.
Cassiel’s eyes flashed up and Katerina braced for another punch but, much to her surprise, the smile was returned. “You’ve made some charming friends since the last time we met. Do they simply not know you yet, or have you paid them off?”
Dylan took the insult in stride, downing a shot of whisky with a grin. “You’ll soon learn that Cass has a delightful sense of humor—just one of his endearing qualities. Second only to that inflated sense of self.”
The two girls stiffened but the fae lifted his drink to Dylan’s, clinking the glass.
“Cheers.”
It was the strangest reconciliation Katerina had ever seen, but it couldn’t have been more welcome all around. Together, the four of them downed their whiskey and reached for another. It went down as smoothly as the first, and before long they were starting on their third.
The liquor did the trick. Loosening their tongues and lowering their defenses all at once. It didn’t take long for the ice to break and the conversations to begin. It wasn’t easy at first, but it did get considerably easier the more they drank. Katerina suspected this was why Dylan suggested a bar.
“So it looked like you were enjoying the festival,” Tanya began slyly, shooting the fae a sideways grin as she downed her fourth drink. “I’m sorry if we interrupted...”
“This year wasn’t half bad.” Cassiel leaned back in his chair, stretching his long legs beneath the table. “It was nothing compared to the summer of forty-two, but—”
“Wait. The summer of forty-two?” Katerina frowned in confusion before glancing at Dylan for help. “But that was almost half a century ago.”
Dylan tipped back his drink with a grin. “The fae don’t age the way the rest of us do. Cass is about a hundred years old.”
Katerina’s mouth fell open in shock. He didn’t look more than twenty. It could have been an awkward moment, but Cassiel simply offered her a lovely smile. “Eighty of those years were good...then I met Dylan.”
The ranger leaned forward with a hopeful smile.
“...and they got great?”
Even Cassiel had to laugh at that one. Albeit, rather reluctantly. The mood at the table lightened even more as the conversation and drinks continued flowing, and it wasn’t that long before the better part of an hour had passed. They ordered food, ordered more drinks, and another hour passed by after that. Not long after, they finally came around to the inevitable question.
“So what are you doing here, Dylan?” Cassiel’s dark eyes landed on him curiously, taking in every detail. “What kind of trouble have you landed yourself in this time?”
Dylan’s eyes flashed instinctively to Katerina before he set his drink down with a deliberate smile. “Believe it or not, it isn’t me this time. It’s her.”
Cassiel followed his gaze, landing on Katerina with a touch of surprise.
Despite the lively conversation, the fae and the princess hadn’t talked directly much. Katerina couldn’t look at him without feeling incredibly intimidated and shy, and Cassiel wasn’t one to force his company. But all that seemed to fall away as they studied each other for the first time.
“You look familiar,” he murmured, almost to himself. His dark eyes took on a faraway look as he tried to place it. “I feel like we’ve met before.”
Katerina shifted nervously in her chair, glancing again at Dylan. She was fairly certain that if this beautiful man had stepped anywhere near the castle, she would have remembered. But his age made that another matter entirely. He could have very easily visited the castle when she was only a child, and she would never have known.
“You haven’t met her,” Dylan said softly. “But I believe you met her mother. Adelaide.”
It was hard to tell who was more surprised—the princess or the fae. Both stared at Dylan in complete shock before turning back to each other. Pale as a ghost. At a loss for words. It was quiet for only a fleeting moment, then Cassiel pushed to his feet in a single, fluid movement.
“You’ve brought me here to help put a Damaris on the throne?” As frightening as they’d seen him, it was nothing compared to how he was now. “You must be out of your bloody mind.”
Without another word, he stormed out of the tavern. Leaving them all behind.
They stared after him for a moment, still frozen with shock, before Katerina folded her arms across her chest and shot Dylan a withering glare.
“And was that part of the plan?”
A cluster of coins rained down on the table as the three of them bolted outside and into the busy street. The festival was still in full swing, but it only took a second to spot Cassiel striding swiftly through the crowd. Try as he might to blend in, the guy was hard to miss.
“Hey!” Dylan sprinted after him, Katerina and Tanya hot on his tail. “Come on, man, don’t just walk away!” Still nothing. The three of them ran faster. “Will you hold on for one da—”
His voice choked off with a sudden gasp as Cassiel spun around at the last second and yanked him into an alley. The girls skidded to a stop on the slick cobblestones a moment later, panting, and watching with wide eyes as the two men faced off.
“A Damaris, Dylan?” Cassiel was the first to speak, shoving his friend hard in the chest to make his point. “Katerina Damaris—that’s who this is?”
The princess shrank back against the wall, suddenly jealous of Tanya’s ability to change shape at will. Right now, she’d give anything to have a different face. To have a different name.
Dylan held up his hands, purposely slowing down the building momentum. “She’s not what you think. Trust me, I thought the same thing when she first sought me out, but I was wrong—”
“And why exactly did she seek you out?” Cassiel’s voice took on a strange tone, layered with a context Katerina didn’t understand. “Did you ever stop to think about that?”
For a split second, Dylan actually paused. Then he shook his head firmly, refusing to acknowledge whatever implication had been silently made. “The fairies sent her.”
That got Cassiel’s attention.
He stopped pacing at once, turning to Dylan with honest surprise. His dark eyes dilated with impossible intensity as they took in every inch of the ranger’s face, before he slowly turned to the pale-faced, fire-haired girl standing by his side.
“The fairies,” he repeated softly, still breathing hard but calming down. “Marigold and—”
“—and Nixie and Beck,” Katerina finished quickly, anxious to prove the validity of her claim. “They found me passed out in the woods after... well... it’s kind of a long story.”
Cassiel’s face hardened to beautiful stone. “Summarize.”
The word sent chills down her back, and she glanced at Dylan for confirmation. He nodded his head a fraction of an inch and she took a deep breath, bracing once again to tell her story.
“My brother Kailas killed the king.” She didn’t know why she was calling him the king instead of her father. “He tried to kill me, too, as I’m the next in line for the throne, but I was snuck out of the castle by those I trust. They chased me through the woods, but I managed to make it to the edge of the kingdom before passing out. When I woke up, I met Marigold and the others. They nursed me back to health for a day, then gave me Dylan’s name. We’ve been running ever since.”
It was certainly the quick version—missing several key details. But he asked for a summary.
The little alley fell silent as all those gathered absorbed the enormity of those words. Here they were, just four people standing in the middle of a woodland festival, but they happened to be the only four people alive who knew the crown prince had committed high treason.
Unfortunately, that didn’t prove enough of a selling point for the fae.
“And why should I care?” He didn’t ask the question of Katerina, but of Dylan. Angry as he was, he wouldn’t antagonize a young woman about the death of her kin. “Tell me, Dylan, why should I, or any of those like me, care about the death of the king? The man was a monster.”
“Cass,” Dylan chided him with soft reproach, but it didn’t sound like his heart was really in it. Standing just a few feet away, Tanya looked as though she agreed with the fae.
“His arrogance, his bloodlust, his intolerance of those who weren’t his kind?” Cassiel was preaching to the choir, but it didn’t seem to matter. There was a fire in his eyes that set Katerina’s teeth on edge. A deep-seated hatred she was only beginning to understand. “It wouldn’t have been long before he rounded up all the rest of us and had his soldiers finish what they started.” His face tightened with rage and he stormed back towards the main street, only to whirl back around again—incensed beyond reason. “And don’t even get me started on the prince—”
“The prince who’s about to become the king?” Dylan interrupted fiercely.
For the second time, the alley went quiet. But while the others fumed and worried in silence, the princess was just starting to realize the key to her survival.
Cassiel didn’t want to see her brother on the throne. Neither did Tanya. Neither did Dylan. Neither did the rest of the supernatural community, for that matter. The weight of her family blood may have hung like a curse over her head, but this one crucial fact could prove her only salvation.
The silence stretched on for longer than was bearable before breaking with a quiet question.
“You have the rightful claim?”
Katerina’s head snapped up to see Cassiel’s eyes burning into hers. She hated the way he was looking at her. Like he was trying to decide between the lesser of two evils. But on this point, at least, she was perfectly clear.
“Yes. I am.”
There was something different about the way she said the words. A ringing sort of authority that echoed off the stones. The others lifted their heads, stared at her for a moment, then turned to the fae. Waiting for whatever came next.
But Cassiel had eyes only for Katerina. Staring so hard, it was like he was looking into her very soul. For a moment, he was unconvinced. Then his shoulders fell with an almost inaudible sigh. “What’s your plan?”
Dylan let out a quick breath, unaware he’d been holding it in. His face cleared with a deep kind of relief before his lips curved up into a smile. “My plan was to find you.”
There was a beat of silence.
“...and?”
Another beat.
“And hope you could come up with something better than ‘try not to panic.’”
Katerina closed her eyes, resisting the urge to wrap her fingers around Dylan’s neck. I knew it. I knew he didn’t have a plan.
Cassiel shot him a look of sheer exasperation, running his hands back through his blond hair. His eyes lifted towards the horizon, lost in thought, before lightening with a sudden idea. “Brookfield Hall.”
Just two simple words, but Katerina got the feeling they were going to change her life forever. At any rate, Dylan grabbed onto them like a life raft.
“You think that could work?” he asked quietly, not daring to hope.
Cassiel looked uncertain, then worried, then resigned. “It’s the only chance we have. At least until we figure out the next step.”
The four of them fell quiet for a moment before Tanya stomped her foot, her cinnamon hair quivering with impatience. “Does someone want to clue the rest of us in? Like now?”
Cassiel glanced over with a faint grin, while Dylan rolled his eyes.
“Brookfield Hall is a safe house we used to have in the mountains. It’s a long way from here, but it’s completely off the grid. No matter how many people might be hunting you, they’ll never make it all the way to Brookfield. You’ll be safe.”
“For a while,” Cassiel clarified. Katerina got the feeling the guy wasn’t exactly the ‘glass half-full’ type. “You’ll be safe for a while, until we figure out what the heck we’re going to do next.”
The others shared a quick glance, more worried than they were letting on, then Tanya flipped back her hair and set off towards the street with a confident smile.
“To Brookfield, then. We’ll get there in one piece, or die trying.”
“That’s the spirit,” Cassiel echoed, following along behind. “One day at a time.”
Katerina stared after them with wide eyes, shaking her head in disbelief. “You guys have got to learn to give a better pep talk—”
She took a step to follow them but a hand shot out of nowhere, pulling her back. She glanced back in surprise to see Dylan standing right behind her, staring down into her eyes.
“Is this all right?” he asked softly. “The four of us. Is this something you want?”
She pulled back a few inches in surprise. “Do I have a choice?”
His face tightened with concern, and he slowly shook his head. “No, I don’t think so.”
She absorbed this silently, trying not to look as frightened as she felt. “Is the fae going to kill me in my sleep?”
He shook his head much faster this time. “No, he’d make sure you were awake.”
“Oh, well, that’s comforting.” Katerina glanced up again, forcing a smile. A trick she’d learned from him. “Then it’s the four of us. Four of us against the world.”
There was a heavy pause. One that got even heavier by the second.
“...don’t say it like that.”
Katerina stifled a shudder, hurrying after him towards the street.
“Yeah, it sounded better in my head.”
