Oops. I hoped it wasn’t going to be a problem.
After lugging all his stuff to the door, I opened it. “Mara, we’re here!”
Mara turned the corner, a smile on her face—but when her eyes landed on Jasper, she hissed. “You bastard! Get out of my house.”
He pulled his hood back, showcasing the snake tattoo around his head. “Mara, darling, I wasn’t sure you were still alive.”
She fumed, nostrils flaring as she stepped closer to him. “I trusted you. I got you out, and when I needed help, you never came!”
Purple magic built between her palms, and I looked at Liam, who was wide-eyed.
“Well.” Jasper shrugged. “I’m selfish. It’s the one thing you can count on.”
She lurched forward, but I stepped between them, catching her before she attacked and probably killed him. “We need him! He’s on our side.”
Her chest heaved. “He sold me out to the Elders for his own freedom. Told them where I was hiding.”
Shit. Really? I looked back at Jasper. “Dick move.”
He rolled his eyes. “They tortured me! Threatened to take me back to Faerie and throw me into the Black Mountain.”
“So you sang like a canary!” Mara spat.
Liam cleared his throat. “Can we move past this? The Winter King has my five-year-old brother. He’s probably terrified.”
Mara’s face softened, and she stepped back, smoothing her dress. She looked at me. “I hope you didn’t make a deal with him.”
Jasper grinned. “Official Spring Court warlock and ten acres of the finest land in New Faerie.”
Mara growled. “Oh, Lily. He’s a conman and an evil prick!”
I looked her in the eyes. “I need him.”
Jasper placed an arm around my shoulders. “That’s right. Princess and I are in this together.”
Mara’s eyes widened. “You told him?”
I shrugged as the gravity of this whole situation bore down on me. “I need him,” I repeated.
“Let’s go. We can squabble like old lovers later.” Liam’s black wings were rigid, and I could see we were getting on his last nerve. Little Cain was doing gods-knew-what at his dad’s, and we needed to get him out of there. Now.
Without another word, Mara spun on her heel and gave us all her back.
In hindsight, I probably should have told her about Jasper first, but it had never crossed my mind that they would know each other.
Leaving Jasper’s things in the guestroom, we met Mara in her office. “Bring us to the Coeur d’Alene safe house and then go back for the boys?” Liam asked her.
She nodded, giving Jasper the death glare of a lifetime.
It was time to really end this.
“I will bring down the dome,” Jasper told our large group as we stood on the lawn of the new blue door house deep in the mountains of Idaho. There was a For Sale sign on the lawn, and I wondered how Mara could just commandeer a house like that.
“Yes.” Liam nodded. “Then my boys will clear the first line of defense.”
“And we will go in and get the remaining crystals,” I finished.
We’d hand-picked his top five elite fighters, including Cam, and Elle was always by my side. We were hoping that with Jasper bringing down the dome, it would conserve Liam’s and my energy to seek his brother and get the crystals. Liam’s mother and four other brothers were staying in my mom’s New York apartment while we did this.
“And then I’ll get Cain out,” one of the black-winged Halflings told Liam. “I can carry him and fly him right back here.”
Liam nodded, clapping the guy on the back. “Thank you, Ky.”
Mara was standing in the open doorway of the home, Bashur at her feet. “I’ll wait right here,” she said.
Poor thing. I knew she wanted to help more, but what could she do? Moving us world to world and place to place was already a help.
Liam pointed to two of his largest men. “You guard the blue door.”
They nodded, pulling giant harpoon guns from behind their backs and holding them loosely at their sides.
Okay, we had this. This time, we were getting them all, and it was going to be great. I had one jar of healing water in my messenger bag, and we had a solid plan.
Taking a deep breath, I nodded. “Let’s bring Cain home.”
With that, we dispersed, jogging on foot away from the safehouse and down the road toward the king’s land.
We encountered two scouts on our way and quickly disposed of them.
“I feel him.” Liam’s voice tightened, and he let his wings carry him a few feet off the ground. “Cain.”
We blanketed our small army across the forestland and crept up to the protective dome. It was back and looked even thicker than before, a translucent forcefield encompassing the multi-acre property.
I was tired, my body hurt, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready, but the time had come. “Jasper.” I looked at the warlock. “You’re on.”
With a grin, he reached into his pocket and produced a glass vial of black liquid. Tossing it at the shield, he smiled more widely as it fractured, oozing fluid onto the barrier. Suddenly, with a resounding crack, the dome shattered and disappeared.
Wait, what?
I spun on the warlock, open-mouthed. “That’s it? You could have just given us the potion?”
He grinned. “Yep. But now I have ten acres and a prominent position in Faerie.”
Oh, you fucker! Mara was right—he was a slimy con. But he was also powerful, and it had worked. With the barrier broken, voices started to call out from deeper in the woods. The Winter King’s army would know what had happened.
“Let’s go.” Liam kicked off the ground, and I flew right after him, staying low and conserving energy.
I let the sunlight power build in my palms so that I would be ready for anything. We raced across the lawn, our little rescue team running after us.
“This way,” Liam hissed, and cut right, heading for the house.
But
