“What else do you have a gut feeling about?”
Where did I begin? “This shadow weaver obviously has an agenda. We thought it was Mason at first. We believed he had sensed the power of darkness in my brother and saw the potential to either recruit him or somehow steal his powers, but that wasn’t the case. He’d been surprised by my brother’s abilities.”
“Which means it wasn’t your brother he was after. He was after something else,” Aiden said.
“Right. I think that’s why he’s here in Otherworld. There has to be something here he wants too.”
Aiden pondered the question in silence before speaking. “I have no clue what that could be. We don’t have anything of value to anyone else. We are simple folk.”
“I know,” I said. “So it must be something so unordinary it’s easily overlooked. And I think we’ve all been guilty of looking past the obvious.”
“What do you mean?”
“If he’s here to further his plans, then it makes logical sense that when he was in Havenbridge during Mabon, he was after something while he was there. And I bet he got it.” What would that have been? All he’d managed to accomplish was to order the vampyre doing his dirty work to murder four innocent people, who had been turned into vampyren.
My heart broke again at the memory of Drake’s surprise when that vampyre had claimed to be his Aunt Millie. Had she been telling the truth? And if it was Aunt Millie, how would Drake deal with that knowledge if he was still alive? Or Gerald Wa? He had been in love with Millicent Carpenter.
“The Conclave thinks he’s amassing an army,” Aiden said. “Maybe that was what the shadow weaver was after. That might have been phase one of his plan.”
I bit my lip.
“Okay,” he said. “You obviously disagree.”
I did. But why?
The only answer I had was the tightening in my gut.
ONCE WE
crested the hilltop, the Hearth was a few hundred feet away, nestled on the edge of the cliff visible from the Arbor. Curtain walls, constructed from red brick, formed a protective rectangle around the perimeter, making the kingdom impregnable. The raised drawbridge appeared to be the only way inside.
“It’s beautiful,” I said. Roofs that appeared to be made from gold covered the main building and the conical spires that topped the turrets. Hadn’t Aiden said the fae were simple folk? The structure seemed to disprove that. The sheer opulence of their kingdom put Blackmoor Manor to shame. “Must be nice being a prince.”
“Says the man with a sprawling estate,” he replied with a wink. “Don’t be fooled, though. It’s not what you think. We didn’t build the castle for the sake of ceremony. It’s mainly for protection.”
“From the dark fae?”
“No. The Hearth was built long before the civil war.”
My gaze swept over the castle keep, which rose at least thirty feet into the sky. From the round arched windows at the very top, any approaching enemy would be spotted. “Then what’s it all for?”
Aiden glanced at me out of the corners of his eyes, uncertain if he should reveal the information he possessed.
“What’s the big secret?” I asked.
He stared straight ahead in silence instead of answering my question.
“Aiden?”
He blew out a lungful of air before finally settling his emerald gaze on mine. “It’s not something we talk about with outsiders,” he said.
Since when had I been relegated to outsider status? “You don’t trust me?”
He shook his head and grabbed my hand. He squeezed it tightly before letting go. “It’s not that. I promise.”
“Then what?”
We continued on for a few more minutes. Only the wind, which whistled around us, broke the silence. Threatening clouds gathered in towering thunderheads above us, signaling the onset of a powerful storm.
Aiden stopped walking, his eyes fixed on me. He either was oblivious to the encroaching darkness or choosing to ignore it. “If warlocks had a weakness, would you go around telling people what that was?”
We did have a weakness, and Aiden, and every magical creature that existed, knew what that was. “But we do,” I answered. “It’s called the Gate. Why do you think we protect it?”
“Because it’s the source of all magic,” he replied. Why did he suddenly seem irritated?
“Well, yes,” I said. If we didn’t protect the Gate and it was destroyed, well, I couldn’t even fathom the consequences. “So you’re saying the fire fae have their own version of the Gate?”
“In a way,” he replied but didn’t elaborate.
As much as it irritated me, I understood Aiden’s reluctance. While the existence of the Gate was a well-known fact in the magical community, its location was not. The Gate had existed in various spots throughout the ages. Right now, it opened up in Havenbridge, but only the Conclave possessed knowledge of its precise location.
Whatever the fire fae protected did not move. It rested somewhere within the kingdom, and remaining unidentified kept it more secure than the castle walls that surrounded it and the fire fae who guarded it.
“Okay, so you’re not going to tell me what it is,” I said. The clouds eclipsed more light from the previously golden sky, and thunder rumbled in the distance. “But can you at least tell me why you’re protecting it?”
He mulled it over for a few second before reluctantly nodding. “It’s the bedrock of Otherworld. We call it the Hearthstone.”
His answer shocked me. In everything I’d ever read about the land of the fae, I never once came across information on such a powerful talisman. I’d been told Otherworld was created for those composed of pure magic, who couldn’t reside among humans without revealing our existence. Of course, that hadn’t been the complete truth. I’d never once considered that the survival of this place depended upon a magical token.
“Do you see why I’m reluctant to share much more about it?”
I did, and the knot that wound in my stomach told me something far more important. “I have a feeling that’s what the shadow weaver is after.”
Aiden’s eyes grew wide as he glanced over his shoulder in a panic. He started toward his kingdom, but I held him back. “We have to think this through,” I said. “We can’t go charging in there without a plan.”
“I have one,” he growled. He strained against my embrace. “I’m going to kill him before he lays one hand on our most precious relic.”
I turned him around in my arms, caressing his cheeks. I cupped his chin in my palm and forced his panicked eyes to mine. I hoped my gentle strokes and soothing voice would calm him as he used his touch to center me. “That’s not good enough, and you know it.”
His eyes smoldered in green flame. “I’m not going to stand here one minute longer, debating the issue,” he said. Fiery wings sprouted from his back, and he hovered a few inches off the ground. As usual, whenever Aiden grew angry, he spoke as a prince. “I’m heading into the Hearth, where I will guard its contents with my life.”
“And what if he’s already there?” I asked.
His gaze snapped back to mine. “No,” he said, shaking his head. Fear doused the anger in his eyes, and instead of flying away, his wings disappeared. He landed beside me, clutching my arms as if I’d become a lifeline in the ocean of turmoil that churned around him. “I can’t be too late.”
“I don’t think you are,” I replied. Gloom dominated the sky, and lightning streaked overhead. “If you were, Otherworld would already be feeling its effects.”
My words offered some relief. He visibly relaxed and took several deep breaths.
“But he’s getting close,” I said. “Look around, Aiden. Do you see what’s happening?”
Aiden tore his gaze from me and focused on the long shadows that crept across the landscape. Dark clouds, resembling the skies that hung over the Shade, roiled overhead. “I thought it was just a storm,” he whispered. “But it isn’t, is it?”
I shook my head.
“We must do something,” he said. He squared his shoulders. Determination had replaced his fear and impulsive anger.
“We will,” I said. “I even have a plan.”
WE STOOD
before the raised drawbridge. No scuttling feet on the inside or calls welcoming Aiden home greeted us from the interior. The parapet walkway above remained free of guards, and eerie silence enveloped the castle.
“This isn’t good,” Aiden said.
“But we were prepared for this.”
Aiden craned his neck upward, trying to detect any movement on the walkway. “And you still don’t think we should fly over the wall?” he asked. “I can penetrate the spell that protects the castle from above.”
We’d already debated how to infiltrate the Hearth on our walk here. It was too dangerous to attempt a flyover. While Aiden believed it would be more expedient, we’d be vulnerable to attack. He hadn’t been pleased with my more cautious approach. Rage fueled by anxiety roared within him.
I understood the emotion. It was how I’d felt after the vampyren attack and Ben’s murder, but the red haze of rage, which had briefly colored my perceptions, was gone. For the moment at least. “It’s safer to go through the front door,” I replied. “Where we have some protection from the walls of the castle.”
“The drawbridge is enchanted,” he reminded me. “Only a fire fae inside the castle walls can open it.”
Aiden had already told me about this additional safety feature for the Hearth. It ensured that only those who needed to get in were allowed entrance, but the enchanted drawbridge and the protection spell had obviously been unsuccessful at repelling the shadow weaver.
He was inside. His presence tugged at my blood like the moon pulls upon the tide.
“How are you going to open it?”
“With magic,” I answered.
He crossed his arms. Irritation twisted his lips and scrunched his eyes into slits. “It won’t work. I’ve told you that.”
“And I told you I can feel my power growing.” I ran my hands down his arms and squeezed his biceps. “Trust me.”
“I do,” he said. A teasing smile hitched the right corner of his mouth. “But I won’t believe it until I see it.”
“Then stand back,” I said, extending my hands in front of me. “Because I’m about to get us in.”
I closed my eyes, hoping Aiden couldn’t sense I wasn’t as confident as I pretended to be. I had no knowledge of any spell that could cancel out fae magic, which was more powerful than I’d realized. I’d need to research the Grimoire to find one or piece together a spell from others in the book that might work. That was obviously out of the question.
The only option left was to improvise, do something only the most powerful warlocks could hope to do—cast my own incantation and hope it worked.
I opened my senses to the magic, and the bands of swirling colors almost blinded me. I’d never seen magic this alive or vibrant before. Blues and yellows and greens I’d never realized existed twined up to the sky, connected the trees to each other, and shot out in different directions, creating a latticework of energy that linked everything together.
All I had to do was find the words that would strike the right chords around me, and the best place to start was with the pure essence of the realm, what had likely filled my soul back in the Arbor.
“
Magia fairia
,” I said with my hands raised over my head, “
ad me veni
.”
Strings of yellow, red, and orange energy shot out of the sky, the ground, and from all around me in response to my summons. They pierced my flesh, snaking paths through every muscle and bone in my body. The pain was excruciating, but I couldn’t stop. Now that I had the attention of the magic in Otherworld, I had to do something with it.
“
Solve vinculum
,” I chanted, lowering my hands to point at the drawbridge. The cords of power within me flew out of my fingertips and struck the drawbridge in one loud thunderclap. The magic I’d summoned did as I asked, breaking the seal that kept the entrance to the Hearth closed. “
Et ianuam mihi aperi
.”
And with my final command, the chains holding the counterweights snapped, and the drawbridge fell open with a crash.
Drained, I sank to my knees. Sweat poured off my face, and my body exploded in pain.
“Thad!” Aiden said at my side. He kneeled beside me, glancing back and forth from me to the open drawbridge. “You did it,” he said in disbelief.
“I told you I would,” I replied through ragged breaths. I tried to stand, but my knees refused to lock. Aiden had to wrap his arm around my waist and lift me.
“Take it easy,” he said.
Being in Aiden’s arms once again worked its miracle on me. His touch and his words replenished my reserves, and my wobbly legs finally supported my weight. “Thanks.”
“I’ve never seen anything like that before,” he said. “You actually used fae magic to open the door. How’d you do that?”
I didn’t have an answer. In all my studies, I’d never encountered any inscription that said tapping into another type of magic was possible. Black magic belonged to warlocks, white magic stayed with witches, and fairy magic responded to the fae. How had I been able to manipulate energy I’d never harnessed before? “I really don’t know,” I answered.
“Well, it was badass,” Aiden said, clearly impressed. “Think you can do that again?”
I glanced through the open entry way and into the inner courtyard. No banshees or vampyren flew out at us. The deserted interior filled me with dread. Whatever waited for us inside was not going to be pleasant. “Let’s hope so,” I said, grabbing Aiden’s hand in mine and walking into the castle.
HAND IN
hand, we made our way to the main building in the far right corner. According to Aiden, this structure housed the throne room and living quarters for the fae. As he explained the layout of the interior, I sensed unseen eyes studying our movements. I attempted to discern their location with my supernatural senses, but a shadowy rampart shielded most of the area. The only section of the kingdom that wasn’t protected was the building we now stood in front of.
This was obviously where we were supposed to go.
“We’re walking into a trap,” Aiden whispered. “I can sense others around us. The hatred emanating off them is making me nauseous.”