Through the Ether (Force of Nature Book 5) - Amber Lynn Natusch Page 0,29

need to know if you can help me in the process.”

“You wish for me to prove myself to you?” The condescension in his tone was hardly lost on those present, and the huddled fey looked as though the world might come to an end at my affront. But fire and brimstone didn’t rain down upon us, so I answered.

“I want to know if you can help us get to the fey king and queen unnoticed. If you can help us figure out where they are so that we can attack with the element of surprise.”

More silence.

“Perhaps…”

“How?”

“Why does the bastard princess wish to know? To try to find a way to trick me?” he asked, an edge of madness rimming his tone. “To betray me?”

The walls shook with his growing rage, and I wondered if we’d soon be crushed to death, Star Wars style, if we didn’t get out of there.

“I have no reason to betray you!” I shouted over the trembling stone.

“You have every reason to betray me, just as they did,” he snapped back, his anger now plain. “You have claim to the throne.”

“But I don’t want it!” I shouted. “I hate Faerie! The last thing I want is to rule it.” The quaking walls quieted, and I swore I could feel Etherian’s presence move closer to me, assessing the veracity of my claim. So I did what most stressed-out women did when they wanted to defuse a situation: I kept rambling. “I want my mother dead to satisfy my own vengeance, not to replace her. Same with the fey king. I already told you this, but if you need me to swear it or some other medieval shit like that, then fine. I swear I have no interest in ruling Faerie.”

“Careful, Piper,” Knox said in my ear.

“No fey royal would pass up a chance at the throne,” he said, suspicion in his voice, “and all of them lie.”

“Except she isn’t,” Knox said boldly, “and I would know, because of the power Larken instilled in me herself.”

“She blessed you with the Firinn?” he asked. By the way he spoke that word, it was something coveted. Something sacred. “Why would she give this to you? What could you possibly have done to warrant this gift?”

Knox’s sad eyes turned to me, and I wrapped my hand around his. “I took the child to dispose of her,” he said softly, “but I couldn’t, so I hid her instead. Larken never knew.”

“You dared betray the fey queen?”

“I did…for the infant. To spare her life.”

“And surely forfeit yours in the process,” Etherian countered. “I wonder how it is that you’re standing here now.”

“Because he is loyal to the princess of Faerie,” Merc said on Knox’s behalf, “as are we all. Her mission is our mission.”

“And her words are true,” Knox added.

“So,” I said, hoping to get out of this mess alive, “about that ambush of the fey royals—”

“There is a way to give you what you seek,” Etherian replied. His smug tone was back, which didn’t bode well. “But it will come at a price.”

“Oh no,” Kat said, spinning me around, “not this again. You do remember how this ended last time, don’t you?”

“Deals with the devil are bad, Piper,” Dean added.

“Because I am not wholly without manners,” Etherian continued, “if you’d prefer not to accept my terms, I will gladly offer you refuge here—for eternity.”

Eternity?

Panic surged through me, and I looked at those alien-looking rock walls as I focused my magic and tried to rip a portal into one—to create a means of escape. But nothing happened.

Except Etherian’s laughter.

“Not strong enough, Princess?” he asked mockingly. “Perhaps you aren’t the ally I need after all.”

“What is the price?” Merc asked. Somehow, even trapped in a talking cave we couldn’t escape, he managed to sound like he was in charge.

I swore the walls of the cave turned up like a smile.

“I will gladly deposit you beside the fey royals if you meet these conditions.”

“Name them.”

“First, you prove yourselves capable of assassinating them.”

“Here we go…” Kat muttered under her breath.

“Second,” Etherian continued without acknowledging Kat, “you have to renounce your claim to Faerie—forever.”

“Why do you care if she rules Faerie?” Dean blurted out.

“Because, you insipid fool, I do not wish to vie for control of the realm. I have spent enough time in the shadows. It is my turn to reign.”

“And what if the realm doesn’t recognize your claim?” Knox countered.

The wall-shaking started up again. “It will, because Phineas has no heirs. I am the closest