One of the guards he’d left to look after his family was dead, splayed out on his back, blood pooled around his body.
“Tye!” Liam fumbled into the house, mumbling his brothers’ names in a panicked ramble. “Cain, Colton, Trevor, Brian! Mom!”
He tore through the house, and I ran after him, opening doors and screaming their names. I could hear my pulse pounding in my ears as panic seized me.
We found another guard dead in the bathroom. One of his brothers’ stuffed toys lay at the guard’s feet. The wall was smashed in, and it looked like there had been a struggle. A whimper died in Liam’s throat at the sight of the toy, and he sagged against the wall.
He wasn’t thinking clearly, but I was.
We were Seekers. We could Seek anything, including people. Since I’d met all his brothers and knew what they looked like, I called up one of their images in my mind’s eye. The fourteen-year-old, Tye.
A strong pulse flared in my gut, and I knew he was close.
“I’ve got him!” I shouted, and ran out of the house. Footsteps pounded after me as I followed the feeling pulling at my navel.
The barn.
I bolted across the lawn and around the side of the house, while the others dealt with the guard on the porch and started to walk the perimeter.
The moment I laid my hand on the barn, my Seeker power flared to life. “He’s in here,” I told Liam with absolute certainty.
What I couldn’t say was whether he was dead or alive.
Ripping the door open, Liam called out his brothers’ names once more.
“In here!” Tye called back, and my body nearly collapsed with relief.
Thank gods.
When we turned the corner, I noticed first that Liam’s mom was sitting up, clutching her boys with a bloody knife her in hand. She looked…strong. Her hair had grown out a few inches, like magic, and there was color in her cheeks. But the next thing I noticed was that there were only four boys.
The little one, Cain, was missing.
Liam fell to his knees in that moment, and my chest ached with heartbreak. “Cain,” he croaked.
His mom stood with Tye’s help and lowered her knife. “Your father took him. He took the crystal, too.”
Liam stood, his wings snapping outward. Flames ignited at the tips, causing all of us to step backward. “I’ll kill him,” he growled.
He kicked off the ground and shot up into the barn’s rafters. I pushed off as well and went after him.
“Liam, he’ll destroy you!” I shouted, shooting through the sky as he sped out of the barn’s doors and hovered over his house.
He spun on me, and what I saw in his eyes scared me. They were dark. “He has Cain. He’ll kill him!”
“Let’s think this through.” I held up my hands. “Get a good rescue plan together. Would your dad really kill one of his heirs? Isn’t he obsessed with having children and growing the race?”
Liam’s face softened a little. “I don’t know what he’s capable of anymore.”
I nodded, flapping my wings to keep myself in the air with him. “I know. It’s scary, but look at your mom. She’s healing. And your other brothers are okay. We can bring them to Faerie to keep them safe tonight and go save your little brother in the morning with a solid plan.”
He seemed to mull over what I was saying.
“While we’re there, we can get the final three crystals,” I said. “We just need some more help.”
Liam shook his head. “I’m out of allies. I used my entire army today, lost three men, and only got one crystal. You nearly fainted bringing down the shield.” I could see he was near the edge mentally, going to a dark place.
I wanted to pull him out. “I’ve got an idea. What if we got Jasper the warlock to help us bring down the shield?”
Liam shook his head. “Jasper isn’t going to give a shit about our problems. He’ll want to know what’s in it for him.”
I shrugged. “How about a free ticket back into Faerie and some land to call his own once it’s restored? Guaranteed by yours truly, Princess of Spring.”
Princess of Spring…whoa, that sounded weird out loud.
Liam’s face fell. “No. We shouldn’t trust him with your secret. Do you have any idea how powerful your blood is? One drop and…no.”
I gripped his upper arms, forcing him to look at me while we hovered in midair. “I don’t care about my secret. I care about Cain. We need your brother back. We need the last three crystals. It’s time to start taking risks.”
He sighed, then started to descend, bringing me down with him. “You’re right.” His hands shook. “We need a solid plan so we can end this. Then I can get my brothers into Faerie with the rest of the crystals, where they will be safe forever.”
“No more running,” I said with a nod. “No more searching for the next crystal. We can be together.”
He gave me a small, sad smile. “You make it sound so easy…”
“It won’t be. Blood will be spilled, war will be waged. We’ll have to bring Faerie back with our blood, sweat, and tears. But it’s going to be worth it.”
Faerie restored. The queen alive and well. The fae community thriving once again, out in the open fields, with all four seasons brought back to life. It brought tears to my eyes just thinking about it.
Liam leaned forward and kissed my forehead, bringing the warmth of his body with him. “I’m going to go check on my family and give my mom her next dose.”
I nodded, pulling the pink hair out of my pocket. “I’m going to do a spell. We leave first thing in the morning to recruit Jasper.”
He looked down at the hair. “You got it?”
“Yeah.” I sighed. “Not sure I’m ready for the truth it holds.”
Something dark crossed his face. “Sometimes, the truth can leave scars…a wound that can never be healed.”
What? Before I
