Dark Promise by Annika West

35

Twenty-five minutes later, I entered the dining room and descended upon the overflowing plates, piling food directly into my mouth and moaning.

Willow pressed her fingers to her temples and glared at me, probably asking the gods whether she’d be punished for sucking my blood dry and leaving my husk for the cockroaches to deal with.

Oz, Adair, Hux, Elias, and Belial were also gathered around the table, and I got a sudden twinge of sadness.

I avoided eye contact with Elias. Otherwise, a console table would likely slingshot toward my mortal body and end me for good.

August should be here. Also, we should be at Vulcan Corp. Not this stupid Faery dining room. Even though the food is literally to die for.

But I didn’t get homesick. Nope. That wasn’t me. I was made of stronger stuff than that. I just missed being able to escape to my room in under twenty seconds once these meetings were over.

In this manor, it took about five minutes to make my way through the stupidly huge halls and back to my room.

It’s not that I missed Vulcan Corp.

No way!

That was the jail cell that I learned to like because I didn’t have a choice and where my emotions got tangled because I happened to be mates with my jailer.

… right?

When I plopped down on the seat, Adair began to speak.

“We’re going to Giza next. It should be an easy drop, however, now we have Summer and Autumn on our trail. They’ll be waiting for us, I imagine.”

Hux interjected, “When must this be done, and is it imperative that Aster be present?”

It was still weird that Hux had dropped the ‘Miss King’ nickname. I mean, I stopped calling him ‘Cayne’ because we were technically having sex on a regular basis, so that seemed alright to me.

Even though I’d started looking at him differently, it was strange that he did too. Maybe we’d both been trying to create distance by using those names for one another.

But now? When we were distant again?

It still wasn’t the same as before. Things would never go back to how they were.

Adair answered, “All of Faery is watching her. It’s beneficial that the other courts will be attempting to intervene, since they will share their own version of the story. Aster will become a sort of villain and hero, depending on who you are and what you hear. This is essential. This is perfect.”

I muttered, “This is creepy.”

Oz laughed and covered it with a really shitty cough that no one believed.

Hux’s eyes flared as he looked at his brother.

Adair paused and considered at us like we were children and he was a kindergarten teacher trying to retire. “As I was saying, yes, she will need to be involved. This is shifter territory in Giza, however. It will be less warded. I imagine she’ll have an easier time getting through since she can use the full extent of her powers to travel.”

Elias was shaking his head.

“Do you have something to add, Lord Elias?”

The Winter Court Lord confirmed, “Yes, yes I do. You imagine that I’ll agree to this… halfling taking the fate of our world into her hands? I just watched her get into a water fight with Ozais. She is a child, Adair. A child.”

Adair’s light and breezy expression became hard underneath his smile. “She is my child.”

“That doesn’t change anything.”

“It should. You know what I’ve seen. You know what is at stake. I have been trying to convince Faery toward this path of action for a long, long time, and now I have the foresight to support my suspicion. Faery will fall unless we do this. Our enslavement of the halflings is also killing the land. We are causing suffering, and if we cannot empathize with the actual beings that we are torturing, then we can at least look at the balance of magic.”

Elias stood. “I cannot support this. I thought you had a stronger plan, a stronger team, than this.”

I rose and threw an apple at the Lord of the Winter Court.

It struck him square in the forehead.

I froze. Did I really just do that? Why did I do that?

I was pretty sure that my pent-up anger, the obvious disdain Elias had for me, and the pressure I was feeling made my body sort of move on its own.

“See?” I said breathlessly to Oz. “That’s how I need you to take my attacks.”

Elias wiped the small bit of apple juice from his face. He was baring his teeth at me, looking absolutely livid.

Shit. I have to salvage this.

Adair, dumbfounded, asked, “Aster, why in the world —”

“Do you know what I’ve done?” I demanded, using all the bluster I could manage. I stomped around the table so I could look at everyone, including Elias, squarely.

Aster, what the fuck are you doing? What the fuck are you doing?

I wasn’t channeling Hux or a Hollywood actress. I think I was channeling pure, chaotic Aster energy.

It was scary, concentrated stuff.

I continued, “Lord Elias! You say that I’m young, and you’re right. I’m terrible at quick decision making. My first mission was supposed to be smooth and nonlethal, and I ended up stabbing a vampire in the neck and totally almost getting killed.”

Elias replied, “Are you trying to reduce my trust even further?” He was genuinely confused.

I held up a finger and exclaimed, “Maybe! To be honest, I’m not sure what I’m doing, and I think that’s the point.”

“If you wish to appear comforting, you are failing.”

“None of this is comforting! In all honesty, I should be fucking dead right now. I shouldn’t have been able to survive anything that I have survived. I’ve fought immortals with my mortal ass, I’ve stabbed things with random objects, I’ve survived hordes of zombies and a crazy scientist who definitely wanted to harvest me for parts. I also survived public high school as a Cut.”

Elias’s narrowed eyes never strayed or blinked. Gods, he was scary and so pretty. That wasn’t fair.

“Is this speech going to conclude at any point in time?”

I rattled on. “I am reckless, usually without a solid plan, and pretty much constantly land myself in hot water. But, that’s a good thing.”

“And why is that?”

I slammed my hand on the table, making everyone except for Hux startle. “Because even though I’m scared as fuck, I get the job done. I’m always taking action. I’m constantly moving forward. I really don’t care what all of Faery thinks of me. I care that everyone lives. You might think it’s weird, but just because I didn’t grow up in the fae courts doesn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt me to know that an entire species got eaten up by wraiths.”

Did he just flinch? Did I see that correctly?

“I’m not reliable in my methods, and I’ll always do something weird and impulsive and awkward. But I never, ever back down. Not when it counts. I fight for what I believe in, and I believe the pathways between our worlds need to be open. People just like me are kidnapped and stuck in Faery, suffering. People like you are losing your power and passing less and less on to your kids. Kids aren’t even surviving childbirth. That fucking sucks, and if I have a role to play in keeping these worlds safe, then I’ll do it. If you think someone can do it better, let them go for it. I don’t really care. But I step up when I have to step up. Also, I have a very precise throwing arm.”

The smashed apple leaked onto the carpet. My golden proof.

Elias’s burning anger faded. The vein that had been pulsing in his temple had calmed down.

And thank goodness for it. I really had to make up for nailing him in the face with a fruit. What had I been thinking? I was like a damn cat who couldn’t control herself when a fly zipped through a room.

The whole room seemed to swell with hope and anticipation as Elias relaxed and turned to Adair.

The Lord of the Spring Court was regal and casual all at once as he waited for the answer.

Elias actually smiled. “I should apologize, Adair. For ever believing that you could be trusted in handling such an immense task. I should take my leave and return to the Winter Court now. Thank you for your hospitality. We’ll be in contact.”

The surprise on Adair’s face was instant.

Oh fuck.