Sometime later, something pulled Lex from sleep.
Garrin stirred, possibly sensing her alertness.
And then the sound of a bomb going off rocked the cave, with dirt and debris raining down.
Garrin jumped to his feet.
“What is it? What’s going on?” Lex reached for her clothes and looked up to make sure the ceiling wasn’t collapsing.
He pulled on his pants and jerked his head through the hole of his shirt, his eyes blazing with intensity. “Stay here. Do not come out.”
“What if you need me?” she said, and rapidly put on her pants.
“My father is here. We’re moving forward with the contingency plan. Camille will come back and portal you away.”
“Only me? How do you know it’s your father?” Lex wrestled with the rest her clothes as Garrin melted the ice wall and solidified it behind him.
Oh, hell no. He was not leaving her behind. “Garrin!”
He wanted to protect her, but she was powerful in her own right. True, practicing with Elena and Reese had shown her how little she knew of her ability. But she was tired of being afraid. Tired of being coddled or left on the sideline.
Lex pulled on her boots and stared at the wall that appeared to be sturdier than before. Had he thickened it?
Darn Ice Prince!
Last night, she’d managed to read Elena and Reese’s powers, but Elena’s transformative ability was complicated, and Lex couldn’t replicate anything the Halven did. Reese’s magic was like Lex’s in some ways. She’d managed to block Elena from using her powers by calming her to near sleep. For all of two seconds. It wasn’t enough, but there was potential. Which was all she could say about any of her attempts at magic.
A massive wave of discordant powers hit Lex’s chest, followed by the sound of swords clashing.
She had to get out. Had to help.
Lex kicked the ice barrier separating her from the others, and though she was stronger in Tirnan, it didn’t budge.
Overprotective boyfriend!
She threw rocks at it and barely scratched the surface.
A scream rent the air beyond the ice wall, and Lex’s heart nearly stopped. Em? Mom?
She closed her eyes and focused on the tendrils of Garrin’s power. And then she pushed it at the ice wall with all her force.
The wall didn’t melt. It didn’t mist away. It burst in an explosion as loud as the one minutes before, shards flying in all directions.
She hunched and covered her head, ice cutting through thick fabric on her back and arms.
Lex looked up and saw Garrin skid to a stop on the other side of the alcove, his chest heaving. “Are you hurt?” he said, before turning and throwing his arm out, the tendons in his neck strained.
A male voice down the hall yelped in pain.
“I’m fine,” she said.
A liveried soldier made it to the front of the alcove, and Garrin snarled, slashing his sword and sending the Fae stumbling backward.
Lex ran past Garrin and the soldier to the main cavern.
The sun hadn’t fully risen, and a faint glow filled the room where the ice wall had stood, its fragments splayed across the dirt floor.
Everywhere she looked, castle soldiers fought her friends. Too many soldiers.
Jas fended off a guard and swung his leg back to kick another in the chest. Then there were two Jases—one a wavery illusion and the other the real version.
Lex could see how his power, weak though it may be, was useful, because the soldiers were distracted long enough for Jas to get the upper hand and push them back with his fists and sword.
But no matter how much Garrin and Jas and the others pushed the soldiers out of the cave, more poured in.
Lex vaguely heard Garrin shout for her to stay back. As soon as she looked up, she understood why.
Dressed in an amethyst robe with gold embroidery down the sleeves stood the Dark King, men flanking him.
His square jaw and refined nose no longer seemed jovial, like the last time she’d seen him. Casone Branimir was all business, and he was terrifying to behold.
Lex sensed no power wafting off him. He wouldn’t need it because his men backed Lex’s friends deeper into the cavern three to one, with a fresh influx of soldiers behind them.
But her friends weren’t giving up.
Elena threw small, lethal lightning bolts at soldiers as they poured in, while Keen fought off four soldiers at once. Reese stood off to the side, her expression focused as she jumped and kicked a soldier square in the chest. He stumbled, turned, and stabbed his comrade in the leg.
Reese’s magic had sent anger in the wrong direction and confused the soldier into stabbing his companion—until an alchemist snuck up behind Reese and extended his hand.
Lex called out, but her voice didn’t rise above the cacophony inside the cavern.
Reese convulsed and dropped to her knees.
“No!” Lex shouted.
Zirel ran forward and stabbed the alchemist attacking Reese. He reached over and touched her temple.
Reese shook her head and stumbled toward Elena.
Camille dodged the fighting and raced to Lex’s side. “We must leave.”
Lex’s palms sweated, and her heart thundered in her chest. “I can’t.” These were her family, her friends…her lover.
A handful of Fae not an arm’s length away were suddenly frozen in their steps by a sheer film of ice. Two more screeched in pain as the hilts of their swords burned bright blue.
Lex looked back. Garrin was fighting off several soldiers and throwing out magic at the same time.
Not far away, her mother’s refined, delicate hands worked quickly as she jabbed a Fae with a small knife. Though he was twice as big as her, the guy was losing the fight. Because fist-sized stones were pummeling him in the head.
Come to think of it, Lex had never asked her mother what her power was, but she saw it now. Isle could move objects, including people. Just as she’d stopped Lex and Garrin from falling to the bottom of a ravine.
Her powers must have limits, or she’d be throwing the soldiers out of the cave.
She was good, Lex’s mom. But they were outnumbered. Massively. There was no way they could fend off the king’s soldiers for long, with scores more pouring in every second.
And then Lex sensed it.
The Dark King’s power coiled in the air above them like a snake ready to strike.
Garrin cut down one soldier after another, giving the king barely a glance. And that was when Lex realized something so obvious: she was the only one who could see everyone’s power.
Others could sense power levels, but not even Camille and Amund could see power move to its next target. And that was useful. Really useful, considering the size and intensity of magic coming off the king. Something was about to happen.
“Garrin!”
Somehow he heard her above the noise and looked up, while blocking blow after blow.
“Leave! Now!”
The Dark King’s eyes narrowed on Lex, and his mouth twisted into a dark smile. He motioned behind him, and Mertha’s husband was shoved forward.
The older Fae’s back was bowed, and suddenly the fighting stopped. Because Mertha’s husband had sent a surge of calming power that felt like a warm shower, subduing everyone, including Garrin.
“He’s like Reese!” she said to Garrin, which didn’t have the effect Lex intended.
The king leered at Lex happily as though she’d done something to please him.
Had she given away her ability?
The king glanced at Mertha’s husband. “Thank you, Felix. You’ve done well.”
Felix looked pained as he turned to Garrin. “They threatened to keep me alive past my time. I wish to be with Mertha. I told them I didn’t know anything.”
“Oh, but you knew things, did you not?” the king said. “You knew a great deal, once we convinced you to remember.”
Felix dropped his head, looking anguished.
Garrin stepped forward. “Father, why are your warriors fighting us?”
The king looked straight at Lex, making her skin crawl. “Were you attempting to hide your bride, Garrin?” He looked her up and down, his gaze simmering with something Lex didn’t want to analyze.
Garrin’s jaw tightened. “She is not hidden. She is with me.”
“Did you know,” the king continued, “that Mertha often shared information with Felix? It turns out she knew of your intended, Lexandra Meinrad. She also knew of her mother. And who Lexandra’s father is.”
Garrin stiffened. “Lex is innocent.”
The king crossed his arms and looked up as though considering. “Innocent? I think not. She has avoided her duty as a noble Dark Fae in my court.” He stared straight at Isle. “As has her mother.”
“How did you know we were here?” Garrin said, deflecting, from what Lex could tell.
Lex swallowed. They were outnumbered, trapped, and the king knew far more than they hoped. Not to mention, he’d somehow managed to enter the cavern without anyone the wiser, including Camille or Amund, who should have sensed him.
The Dark King grinned. “Don’t you know by now, son? My alchemists are very talented. There is nowhere you can hide in my land.”
Garrin’s eyes darkened. “I never thought I needed to.”
“Oh, you don’t, son, you don’t.” Casone stepped several paces forward and gripped Garrin’s shoulder awkwardly.
Garrin didn’t flinch, but there was something going on. A silent exchange.
Camille grabbed Lex’s hand. “We must go,” she said under her breath.
“Go?” The Dark King looked straight at Camille. “I heard you’d returned.” He clicked his tongue. “You should have taken the gift of escaping Dark Kingdom for what it was. Something never to be repeated. I don’t know how you accomplished leaving our land and surviving, but I will find out. And you will never know such freedom again.”
Lex’s mind raced. The king wanted them trapped in Dark Kingdom.
Camille’s eyes glowed with fury. “I returned for my son.”
“You have no son,” the king said, his voice hard.
“You know that I do. He was taken from me during the night not long after his birth.”
“And yet you left Dark Kingdom without this precious child?”
Camille vibrated next to Lex, her anger sizzling. “I sensed the soldiers coming and fled. But not before I saw my infant son in your wife’s arms.”
The king’s eyes narrowed. “My heir, you mean.”
Camille looked at Garrin. “Not if I bore him. Garrin is my child—conceived after you forced yourself on me.”
Garrin’s dark head swung to Camille, his lips parted in shock.
It couldn’t be… Garrin turned to his father. “What is she talking about?”
Camille was older than Garrin, by more than a hundred years, if he had to guess. Enough for her to have given birth to him. And she had Garrin’s exact coloring, with bright blue eyes and black hair. Coloring neither of his parents possessed.
The king shrugged one shoulder. “I hardly know her.”
That wasn’t an answer.
This was madness, yet it was possible. Anything was possible after what Garrin had learned about his father. After what he’d learned of Lex’s lineage.
They were outnumbered by his father’s legion. “Let us leave here and talk somewhere else, Father.”
He had to get the king away from Lex, and he had to get Lex away from Dark Kingdom. And now his backup plan was his real mother?
Casone looked around and raised his arms, palms up. “But this is the place you chose. We will talk here. Besides, this woman is confused about her role in my kingdom.” He glared at Camille.
Garrin had seen that look on his father’s face before. Camille was in grave danger.
His father made a sharp motion with his hand, and Garrin cried out, “No!”
But it was too late.
Camille was gone. Though not captured by the king. Camille had disappeared, which meant she’d escaped through one of her portals.
Only she’d left without Lex.
“Find her!” Casone shouted.
Several soldiers peeled off, and a man and a woman were shoved forward.
“Mom!” Em shouted, and moved toward her parents.
Amund grabbed Em, blocking her from rushing into danger.
Casone looked at the couple. They’d been beaten, their lips gashed, their clothing torn. “My cousin was kind enough to tell me where you were.” He looked around. “Not my preference for a love nest, but to each his own. Some women like dangerous men, and you’ve certainly shown Lexandra danger by taking her to the graves.”
Fae healed quickly. The injuries Em’s parents bore weren’t healing. Which meant their powers were being controlled and they’d been beaten until their healing slowed.
“Child,” Em’s father said. “Do not be afraid.”
Em whimpered.
And then Casone made the motion he’d made earlier. Only this time, his power hit its mark.
Em’s mother and father were sealed in an ice block in suspended animation.
Garrin winced. He’d seen his father mete out the punishment before, but never outside of battle. Fae survived in his father’s blocks of ice, but they were unable to move, frozen for eternity.
Em wept and turned her head into Amund’s chest. The warrior held her, his eyes on the king and promising vengeance.
Casone caught Amund’s look and laughed.
Lex inched closer to Garrin, and he moved to shield her with his body.
“This isn’t necessary,” Garrin said. “Your cousin helped me protect Lex. There are some who would harm her.” His father, for one, but the Dark King was nothing if not desperate for approval and adoration. If Garrin made it look like Casone was the savior, there was a chance he would release them.
His father studied Garrin. “They are no innocents.” He glanced at Felix, who finally looked at Garrin.
“My prince, I am sorry. Please—”
Casone froze Felix mid-sentence. He motioned for one of his soldiers, and the Fae threw the ice tombs of Felix and Em’s parents out of the cave and over the steep cliff using telekinetic magic.
Em’s scream filled the air, and Amund held her close.
Garrin’s chest tightened. His father had sentenced Mertha’s husband to an icy grave, never to pass into the afterlife and be with this wife. The king wasn’t playing by any rules that mattered, except his own.
Casone observed the back of his hand as though there was something interesting there. “Tell me, son, why would you stay in the ice tombs and not the castle? You were hiding, were you not?”
Garrin didn’t answer, and his father shot him a knowing look. He peered past Garrin.
“Amund.” Casone tsked. “After all this time, you’ve come to help me fight another battle. Make yourself useful and create a portal for me and my son. His betrothed will also be joining us.”
“No.” Garrin shot a warning look to Amund.
His father’s eyes flared. “You dare disobey me, Garrin?” He glared at Amund. “Amund Ridel, soldier of the Dark Kingdom army. Do your duty and create the portal.”
Amund’s eyes flashed with hatred. “I refuse.”
