Kellee
Eledan’s fairy knoll looked like a rolling set of hills, with the occasional balcony chiseled into its green, vine-covered edges. Its resemblance to Arcon—moss-covered and overgrown—was no mistake. As it happened, vines made an excellent alternative route up walls and over balustrades, leading me right into the heart of his chambers.
He wasn’t inside, which meant I was free to roam while Talen walked in through the front door, causing enough of a stir to draw Eledan out from whatever hole he was hiding in.
The trailing drapes and puffed cushions demanded to be shredded. My fingers twitched, claws itching to be free.
On the ride over, I’d had plenty of time to recall the dream the Hunt had been so fascinated by. Eledan had made sure he would live. “These marks, given to me and my brother, are the key to the weapon’s demise and the demise of both the darkness and the light.”
“I’m telling you this so that, when the time comes, you’ll remember and do the right thing.”
He’d known this would happen, and here I was, about to drag him out of the fire when I’d prefer to see him burn.
“C’mon, Talen… spook him already,” I muttered, drifting from room to room. The place smelled like his poisonous magic, like he was already here, watching. I freed the claws, relieving their itch, and craned my head, popping a muscle in my neck. The ghost of the scar he’d given me across my neck—long healed—itched too. I hadn’t yet paid him back for that.
The main chamber door peeled open, and in strode the prince, painted in purples and silver, his oak crown sitting neatly on a head of raven black hair. “… and where am I…” He spotted me, and his long-legged stride halted.
Talen entered behind him, silver and grays to Eledan’s bruised purples. The door closed, sealing the three of us inside. That didn’t mean we were alone. I’d learned there was always someone, or something, listening here, either from the outside or inside our thoughts.
“Eledan.” I smiled, displaying a hint of sharp teeth. “We’re leaving.”
“As I just told him,” he stiffly replied, “there’s nowhere to go.” He could straighten his back and lift his chin all he liked. Fear wrapped around him, smelling like old, wet metal.
A rumbling started overhead, growing louder.
Talen casually folded his arms. “And had you let me explain, I would have told you there most definitely is.”
Eledan veered straight for the balcony, tossing the drapes aside like he wanted to rip them off. I already had a good idea what we’d find.
The small shuttle gleamed in all its angular, human-made tek glory. The Sol Alliance’s crest, concentric circles around a central star, sparkled on the hull. Through the narrow observation window, Hulia sat at the controls.
The downdraft whipped dust, magic, and pollen into the air, upsetting Eledan’s immaculate appearance. He saw Hulia and snarled. She had stabbed him in the back once, and now here she was, saving his ass. That had to burn.
She saluted me. I mirrored the gesture. Then, wiping off her smile, she gave Eledan the middle finger.
“You fools are no match for the Hunt,” he snapped. “Bringing tek into Faerie’s sky is an insult—”
I struck him square in the jaw. I’d tucked the claws away, else I might have taken his head off. The weight behind the blow was enough to topple him. His head struck the banister on the way down, knocking him out cold. Now we had ourselves cargo that didn’t argue.
“That was unnecessary,” Talen remarked.
“Probably,” I cracked my knuckles. “But it felt real good.”
I scooped up the prince’s limp body and slung him over a shoulder. We waited as Hulia brought the shuttle in close enough to lower the docking ramp and open the shuttle door.
“Sugars, y’all didn’t tell me we were taking out the trash,” Hulia said once we’d secured Eledan on one of the shuttle’s fold-out bunks and pulled up, away from the knoll.
Talen took up the co-pilot’s chair beside her. “I wasn’t sure you’d agree if you knew.”
She snorted and ramped up the engines. The shuttle growled, and outside, the purple sky shifted as the shuttle nose dropped, its blasters launching us forward. “Where next?”
“To get Kesh, Sirius, and Sota,” Talen said as he effortlessly navigated the shuttle controls. “But we stay cloaked. Once the sidhe courts realize Eledan is missing, they’ll come searching.”
She winked. “Yeah, but they won’t be expecting human tek.”
I settled into a pull-down side seat and watched the unconscious prince for any sign he was waking. Hopefully, he’d stay out cold until we were all back on the Excalibur. What would happen when he woke and found himself there was anyone’s guess.
Just above his jacket collar, the tip of a warfae tattoo peeked out. They likely snaked all the way down his body, if they were anything like Kesh’s.
The hate I harbored for him hadn’t waned. He’d cut my throat, trapped Kesh in dreams for months, almost ruining her mind, and facilitated the return of the fae to Halow, killing billions. But he wasn’t his brother. Oberon’s vicious crusade to wipe out anything he disapproved of had been worse than anything Eledan had done. As much as I despised this Mad Prince, I couldn’t blame him for what he was, and that only made me want to hate him more.
“When we get to the Excalibur, we need to restrain him.”
Talen glanced back. “Physical restraints won’t stop him. It would be better not to restrain him. If we threaten him, he’ll respond in kind.”
“What am I supposed to do, treat him like he’s one of us?” I rubbed my bruised knuckles.
“No.” Talen’s tone warned me to back off. But how could I? This bastard didn’t deserve to be saved. How was he even still breathing when so many had died?
“Kellee…” Talen swiveled the co-pilot’s chair to face me. The fae had too much understanding on his face. “We need him alive.”
“He’s safe…” I grumbled. “Unless he hurts Kesh, then all bets are off.”
“He won’t.” Talen turned the chair to face the front again, hiding his expression, but he couldn’t hide the regret in his tone. He almost sounded as though he were sorry Eledan wouldn’t hurt Kesh.
It revealed the same fears I had. Eledan wouldn’t hurt her because the fool loved her and had done since this started. I’d seen as much when he thought he was twisting my thoughts to his whims. Maybe it had happened when he’d had her trapped beneath Arcon, or maybe he’d fallen for her when he’d been trapped in his own dreams. Love had a way of creeping up on us. I’d loved Kesh since I’d seen her fight to come back from the Dreamweaver’s grasp. Without Eledan’s scheming as the head of Arcon, I might never have crossed Kesh’s path.
Now there was an unsettling thought.
Leaning back against the shuttle’s bulkhead, I dug my golden marshal’s star out of my pocket and rubbed its battered surface clean. These next few days would be difficult. Whatever happened, I’d be there until the end, no matter the cost.
I pinned the star back onto my coat.