That seemed to resonate with the lead Elder, although I didn’t like the sound of it.
The wind ceased immediately, and Indra straightened her hair over one shoulder and faced Liam, holding her blade across her palm. “Fine. If you return all four remaining crystals to the Tree of Life, I vow to let you and your men stay in Faerie, living on a patch of land that will be of my choosing.”
She sliced her palm, and Liam produced a dagger from his belt to do the same. “I accept your vow.”
I’d never seen anyone make a blood vow, so I didn’t know what to expect. When they clasped bloody palms, a gust of wind blasted outward, knocking us all back a little. My wings snapped out to steady me as Indra and Liam broke the handshake. The wind was gone.
Everyone looked startled at the magical display. Everyone but Liam and Indra. They both must have done something like this before.
“Get the water, get the crystals, and then come right back,” Indra said, then spun on her heel and left. Rose, Maple, and Aubin trailed after her.
Trissa stayed back, eyeing the boys warily as I approached her. My mother had told me once that sometimes, when you didn’t have all the facts, you just needed to trust your gut. My gut said that Trissa was family—she could be trusted.
Pulling her aside, I looked her deep in the eye. “Triss. I need you to do me a favor.”
She gripped the hilt of her sword. “I will retrieve the water and the crystals with you. Anything you need.”
I shook my head. “We can do that. We have Liam’s army now. What I need is for you to protect the queen.”
“Protect her?” She bristled. “From whom?”
I swallowed hard. “Indra. Maybe Aubin. Anyone who goes in that room who isn’t Kira.”
Trissa’s gaze sharpened. “What are you saying?”
I told her quickly of the snoozeberry juice and what the last healer had said to Kira, about throwing my mom in the cages and everything.
Trissa’s cheeks reddened. “Well, yes, she did throw your mother in the cages once, but that was a complicated—”
“Triss, I know they are like gods to us, but something is wrong. I’m telling you. I need you to trust me and say you will protect the queen.”
She stood straighter, bowing slightly to me. “With my last breath. It would be my honor.” Then her face faltered a little. “What do I tell the Elders I’m doing?”
The fucking Elders. It was so clear to me now how afraid we all were of them and how that fear messed with our decision-making. “Tell them that I have asked you to guard my aunt. As her next of kin, it is my right to request such a thing.”
She relaxed a little. “True. Yes. Okay.”
It was going to take some work to pull the blinders off her, but I thought if she spent more time around Indra, she would see her darkness.
I reached out and hugged her. “I love you.”
She squeezed me back. “I love you, too, kiddo.”
I made a vow to myself then: when we got back with the water and healed Liam’s mom, I would use the blood spell to reveal my mother’s journal. Something wasn’t right here, and I was going to find out just what the hell it was.
As I watched Trissa walk away, I took a cleansing breath and started to wade into the river. The water was warm, and for that, I was grateful. “We have to swim through,” I told my companions. “The river and forest are trapped under a canopy of trees. If we try to fly, we might get stuck.”
They followed me deep into the river. When we reached the protective dome, I lay my palms flat against it and used my Seeker power to thin the barrier, allowing Liam, Cam, and Elle to float through. The black water that seeped in reminded me of the dark creatures that awaited on the other side, and I shivered.
Gods, give me strength.
“Okay, fair warning—this forest is full of dark and scary monsters,” I told the boys.
They shrugged as if that didn’t bother them.
Plunging fully into the water, I floated through the opening and into the dark side of Faerie. Watching the dome close shut, I spun and kicked hard in the rapids to exit as quickly as possible. I wanted to avoid another psychotic flesh-eating fish incident if I could.
When Liam pulled me up out of the water and onto the shore, he was looking at me oddly. “You can just open the protection dome?”
I nodded. “It’s a Seeker thing. You could, too.”
“Wow, this place is creepier than I thought,” Cam said, taking in the desolate and depressing land.
Liam nodded, looking at a nearby bubbling pit of lava. The dozen or so green footprints I’d made last time were still there. “My father said it used to be magnificent.”
“Before he broke it,” Elle said matter-of-factly.
Liam bobbed his head. “Before he broke it. But after your queen allowed the murder of hundreds of innocent Halfling babies.”
They glared at each other, and I was about to step in when a branch snapped to our right.
It was that creepy half-deer, half-man creature again, standing about thirty feet away. His two racks of horns dripped blood as he watched us with all six of his horrifying eyes.
“What. The. Fuck. Is that?” Liam asked, and pulled his swords just as the creature started to run at us.
Elle drew her swords as well. “Who cares what it is? Kill it!”
Crap.
Part of me wondered if we should run into the river and swim back to Faerie. The other part wondered if we should try to make a run for the healing pool. But there was no way for us to do either at the moment because the deer guy was right on top of
