I held up a hand. “Let me finish.”
Cam glared at me, and his eyes darkened to pitch black. “You’d better redeem yourself. Quickly.”
“Calm down!” Elle snapped at him, standing to tower over him, knife in hand.
Rolling my eyes, I stood as well. “I plan to take all twelve crystals to the Tree of Life and restore Faerie. When I do, I want to offer all of you a place to live. In Faerie.”
Shock crossed his face, but he quickly masked it. “You can’t restore Faerie. It’s broken. That’s why our parents escaped it and came here.”
I shook my head. “No. Your parents broke it by stealing the crystals and coming here, and if I can return them, we can fix Faerie and all live together again. You can use the portal to come and go to Earth as you please. Open borders to visit your human family and live in the energy of Faerie to stay healthy.”
Cam crossed his arms. “My mom said only a Queen of Spring can restore Faerie and breathe life back into it, and that she’s dead.”
Liam met my gaze and nodded. If I was going to expect the Halflings to be on our side, I needed them to trust me.
“She’s not,” I said. “She’s sleeping, and she’s my aunt. I will wake her, restore Faerie, and offer you all a place to live by our sides. I swear it.” I held up my hand, palm out, making the oath.
Cam looked stunned into silence. It was a bold claim, especially since the Elders had all but told me to go fuck myself when I’d asked, but I planned to be persistent until they did as I told them. If not, I would bypass them and go right to the queen herself, as soon as she awoke.
“Fine.” Cam crossed his arms. “But betray us, and I’ll kill you.”
Fair enough.
“Likewise.” Elle stared at him, and he let his eyes wander over her body.
For two people who hated each other, they sure kept checking each other out a lot.
“I’m glad we got that over with. Now, where to?” Liam asked, starting the boat back up.
“The blue door. We need to go to New York.”
That damn Seeker stone better show me another crystal, now that I’d been to Liam’s, or I was all out of options.
“That was insane,” Cam mumbled as we weaved in and out of busy passersby in New York City. He couldn’t get over Mara and the blue doors and how we’d traveled here. “She—we—and then—”
Liam chuckled. “I couldn’t really enjoy it the first time, since I was half dead. But I know what you mean. It’s a trip.”
Cam looked at me when Liam spoke, so I wondered if he’d told him that I had saved his life. Remembering him lying in that house with his stomach torn open and the blue light dancing between us made my throat tighten.
I guided them through Central Park, having opted to leave Bashur back home. He wasn’t a fan of the boys. When we reached the entrance of the Shakespeare Garden, the sun was just setting. How had this day gone by so quickly? My legs dragged with exhaustion as I realized I hadn’t gotten any real sleep in a while. It was naps or being knocked unconscious. Not exactly restful.
“All right, it’s over here,” I told Liam as Cam and Elle hung back.
He stared at the headstone announcing the name of the garden and the quote underneath it. “This thing?”
There was an old lady sitting on a bench nearby, reading a book I was going to guess was Shakespeare, but other than that, we were alone. Reaching out, I placed my hand on the stone. It transformed into a map before our eyes, and I looked over to see Liam squinting at it.
“Hmm. That’s my house.”
I followed his gaze back to the stone, and my heart fell. “No. Not again.”
“Maybe my father’s crystals are hidden with dark magic,” Liam mused.
Creepy but plausible.
He reached for his belt and pulled a sharp knife.
“Uh, what are yo—”
Slicing the blade across his palm quickly, he produced a few drops of blood.
“Liam, that’s—”
“Yeah, yeah. Dark magic. Dark Fae. I know.” With that, he placed his bloodied hand onto the plaque, and the image shimmered. Black, smoky swirls ran across the plaque, changing the map.
Whoa. Okay. Dark, but apparently affective.
I leaned in closer, and my arm touched Liam’s, sending heat up my spine. Adjusting my stance so that we weren’t touching, I peered at the map. Three crystals had appeared in the shape of a triangle over a piece of land in Idaho.
“It worked,” I breathed.
“I know where that is,” Liam told me.
Perfect. We had a plan. Idaho, here we come.
“Working together now, are you?” a familiar voice called from above us, and I barely had time to register it before the Winter King dropped right between Liam and me.
We were ambushed. Half a dozen Sons of Darkness jumped out into the garden, and my first thought was of the old lady on the bench. But she was gone—and it was a good thing, too, because darkness had descended on Central Park.
The Winter King went right for Liam’s throat, and a cold blast of air whipped past me as I was tossed backward and slammed into the meaty body of one of his lackeys.
“Lily!” Elle shouted, throwing knives at guys left and right and trying to get to me. The man I’d slammed into turned, grasped my upper arms hard, and lifted me up into the air so that I was at eye level with him.
Holy crystals.
His breath was rancid, his teeth bared and sharp, and he glared at me with blank white eyes. He was the same breed as whatever Cam was but more sinister. Evil.
I was just getting ready to knee him in the balls when he snapped his head forward and crashed his horned forehead into mine. Pain exploded behind my eyes, and everything went
