Well, that was unexpected. I opened my mouth, then closed it, scared to mess this up with my accidental assholeness. I settled with a nod.
“Farewell, mage. I go now to kill Ludovico Sforza, my father.”
A thousand thoughts blurred through my mind. Corliss was the daughter of Arleigh, a fae, and the Mage Duke, a match not unlike mine and Lucus’s. Corliss was related to me! Holy shit. I had no time to process the implications because Corliss was slinking up to the Mage Duke. He faced Lucus, their words too fast and too angry to be heard clearly.
Moving more swiftly than I ever could, Corliss whipped out a blade, reached around to the Mage Duke’s neck, and slit his throat.
And everything happened in what felt like one heartbeat.
Keeping the Yew Bow in my hand, I visualized everyone in my posse and then the castle. Magic coursed through me from the earth, from my own heart, and from the Bow. Mage and fae power tingled and sparked over me like live fuses running under my skin and circling my bones. Lightning crackled over my pulsing palms and my shuddering body.
Please let this work. Please, please, please.
Arleigh rose to her feet and screamed as the Mage Duke collapsed, gripping the side of his neck. Corliss’s strike must have been a little off, but still, blood poured down Ludovico’s black shirt, so he was most likely about to die.
Lucus ran toward me, eyes sharp as the blade in his hand.
I shut my eyes as the portal spell worked through me. The last thing I saw was Lucus swathed in jagged light.
Chapter 30
Twinkling stars and the gibbous moon greeted my opening eyes. I sat up fast, head spinning and the Yew Bow still in my hand. Had I done it?
A wall of stone enclosed us, cobblestones damp beneath me. We were back in the cursed castle.
Lucus got to his feet and hurried over to give me a hand up. I took his head in my hands and kissed him hard, loving the secure feel of his powerful body against mine. Then I whirled to check on everyone.
Hekla was sitting up, rubbing her temples. Kaippa lay beside her, his eyes open and blinking. Good, he wasn’t dead. Holding Oliver in his lap, the Binder sang a quiet lullaby, tears streaming down his thin face. The little boy held to his father’s neck, face buried. Nora stood over them, openly weeping. My throat tightened, and I was incredibly grateful for my magic in that moment. Baccio and Aurelio stood slowly, gazes wary.
“Coren.” Lucus touched my elbow, urging me to turn around.
Corliss stood behind us, her eyes glowing their unseelie red. “You…you chose me.”
I supposed I had. I hadn’t consciously portalled her here, but her act of desperation and pain had pinged something deep inside me. “You seemed like you maybe belonged with us. Hope that’s cool.” I set the Yew Bow against one of the pillars that surrounded the courtyard. I had no idea what I was supposed to do with it.
Corliss bent and touched the ground, possibly strengthening the language magic Lucus had built for those who visited this place to carry with them. Straightening, she spoke quietly. “I will never fit in this world.”
The Binder and Nora eyed her like she was a snake, and I was reminded of the wyvern on the Mage Duke’s necklace.
“It’s better than back there though, right?” I asked. “I can try to put you back if you wish.”
Kaippa snorted and wiped blood from his lip. One of his broken fangs showed, white as the moon. “This is adorable. We’ve adopted a repentant unseelie. I don’t see any ways in which this can go wrong.”
“Hush it, vamp,” I snapped. “You’ve turned yourself around, haven’t you? Why not give Corliss a chance?”
Kaippa sauntered closer, his movements almost feline in their grace. His wings shuffled behind him before disappearing under a glamour. “I am the same vampire I was when we first met, Mage Coren,” he said sharply. “You only think I’ve changed because we happen to be working on the same side of late. You haven’t seen what it’s like to be on my bad side.”
“Quiet, Kaippa.” Lucus’s fingers twitched, and two vines slid toward the vampire.
Kaippa held up his hands. “Fine. Fine. Don’t throttle me, my lord. I’ve had enough for one night. I’m feeling hungry.” He jumped, his wings burst into view, and then he flew at an impossible speed away until I couldn’t see him anymore.
“That’s not good,” Hekla muttered. “Watch out, Williamson County.”
I shut my eyes, wanting to deny what I knew would happen. Kaippa would enthrall some unsuspecting mortal and feed on them. “He won’t kill anyone, will he?” I asked Lucus.
“There is no way to know.”
“I would suggest going after the psycho, but I’m guessing tracking a vampire is not a simple chore.”
“You can’t follow a vampire who doesn’t want to be found,” Aurelio said, his voice quiet. Anger seethed just under the surface of his calm demeanor. I just hoped he was furious with Baccio and not me for taking him away from his unseelie fae happy place.
I turned to Corliss. “So do you want me to try to return you?” I couldn’t imagine choosing to live with someone like Arleigh. Plus, there was no guarantee the whole kingdom wasn’t dead. We hadn’t actually seen the Mage Duke die. He might have rallied and ended them all.
Corliss held up her black-tipped fingers. “No. Thank you. I will do my best here. Will you help me?”
Hekla coughed and stood. Her hair was one big tangle, and she still had dried blood on her from all the crap we’d dealt with. “First we should see if you all can leave the castle like Kaippa did. Who knows what Coren did to the curse?”
Agreeing and showing signs of a temporary truce, the group went one by one out the castle door, first with a hand
