Oh, man. He was dirtier than I’d thought. That was just wrong.
Liam frowned. “He told me about it. Said it had the soul of a demon trapped inside.”
Okay, shit just got scary. I gulped and looked over my shoulder, just to be safe. No demons. Whew.
Jasper nodded. “One lick of the blade on his skin, and you could control his mind temporarily.”
“I’m sorry, what?” I leaned closer, assuming I’d heard that wrong. “Did you say control his mind? The blade lets you control minds? Because there is a demon’s soul trapped inside?” I looked at Liam. “Yeah, we’re not getting that.”
Liam turned to face me, gripping my shoulders. “Lily, this could change the game. We can seek the sword, and when we get back, we’ll charge my father’s land with it. I’ll control him and make him hand us the final crystal, and then this all ends.”
Fuck. It seemed easy. Too easy. And that was why I didn’t trust it. “It sounds dangerous.”
“It is,” Jasper said. “The wielder of the sword is prone to madness. It cannot be in his possession for too long.”
Okay, that officially became a hard fucking pass. “No. We’ll find another way.”
Liam shook his head, pulling me to the side. “Stop living in fairytale land, Lily. There is no other way! I can handle this. I was made for this.” His eyes flared orange, and he held his hand up to my face, showing me each scar there. “You want to know what these are? These came from back when I thought it was cool to count my kills. Back when my father had me be his little enforcer.”
I gasped. There were so many…
“Liam.” My throat tightened, and he turned away from me.
“I can handle darkness. I’ve lived there my whole life.” His voice was hollow, and I wanted to wrap him in my arms and tell him it was all going to be okay…but that wasn’t real life. It might not be okay, and I couldn’t live in fairytale land anymore.
“Okay,” I murmured. “Let’s do it.”
If Liam thought he could handle the darkness in this sword, then I needed to trust him. Controlling his father’s mind was an advantage we needed right now.
I spun and asked Jasper, “Where is it? Are you taking us there?”
“Oh gods, no. I’m not going out there until it’s healed.” He motioned to the dome and gave it a disgusted look. “Those woods are full of flesh-eating monsters.”
Selfish prick. “You’ll be among friends, then.” I winked, and he rolled his eyes.
“You’re both Seekers,” he said. “Seek the sword at Winter Castle, and tomorrow, we can retrieve the final crystal.”
Liam nodded. “We’ll leave now.”
Jasper waved us off. “Get that sword!” he called over his shoulder, and then he was gone.
I turned to Liam. “I’ll get dressed, and then let’s head out.”
His face took on a grim determination. “I’ll assemble a team.”
Those woods were scary, and trekking all the way to Winter Castle from our camp was at least a four-hour walk. We couldn’t get a horse and buggy across the river, and if Liam brought Cam or any of his other wingless men, then we would need to walk. Flying would be much faster, but we needed warriors more than speed. We were looking at a full day’s journey and would be back only by nightfall—if we made it back at all. The dark woods was not someplace I was excited about going.
Thirty minutes later, our team of eight were showered, fed, and ready to go. Trissa had insisted on going with us, since she knew the forest lands best, while Kira had promised to stay back with the queen. Filling out our little team were Elle, Trissa, Liam, Cameron, three of Liam’s strongest men, and me. We’d packed dried fruits and water and set out.
After fording the river and nearly scraping our backs bending under the thick overgrowth, we made it out into the dark forest. Trissa eyed the footprints filled with grass and flowers, which now dotted the riverbank, and frowned. “That’s new.”
I laughed nervously, and we continued. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t told Trissa of my lineage yet. It wasn’t mistrust—more like fear. What would she say? What would she think? Would she treat me differently?
As we continued along the riverbank, I walked behind Trissa so that my footprints didn’t give me away yet. I wasn’t sure how to have that conversation with her, under these circumstances, and in front of Liam’s men. Luckily, she was busy at the front of the group, scouting and teaching the others what to look out for.
After an hour’s walk, it started to become stiflingly hot. The landscape changed from a riverbank with trees and lava pits to a barren desert.
The moment I stepped off the damp forest floor and onto the cracked earth, I prepared myself for the flowers and grass that would pop up under me. But they didn’t…at least, not right away. Only after about ten minutes of walking across the new landscape of sand and oppressive heat did I look over my shoulder and see green plants rising from the ground far behind, where I had stepped. It was a delayed reaction, and I hoped no one noticed.
What did this mean? That if I walked over every square inch of Faerie, I could restore it myself? That would take a lifetime, but it was worth a shot if the queen didn’t awaken once we got all the crystals.
“Ugh, I hate Summer,” Elle huffed, tying her T-shirt up high under her boobs and exposing her stomach. Cam’s gaze ran the length of her body, but when he caught me looking, he blushed.
“Oh, this isn’t Summer, dear,” Trissa said. “It used to be Fall. Summer is even worse—still on fire, from what I hear. But we won’t be crossing through there.”
Fall. This was fall?
That
