Carrick replies. “So, what would be the next best thing she could want?”
“Well, she can’t rule the Earth world,” Nimeyah ponders aloud. “She can’t even take over a city because she doesn’t have enough forces. Even if she gathered every Dark Fae in the Earth realm, it wouldn’t be enough for her to conquer anything.”
“What would be enough?” I ask, speaking for the first time since we arrived in Nimeyah’s presence.
She doesn’t dismiss me—doesn’t even glare. She’s too worried to be offended at finally having to talk to me. “She’d need every one of her Dark Fae from the Underworld. She’d need every dark daemon in the Earth realm. And she’d probably need her demon abominations, too.”
“Her what?” I ask, looking between Carrick and Nimeyah.
It’s Carrick who answers. “Dark or sinful souls are sent to the Underworld when a person dies. Kymaris throws many into The Pit to suffer torture for eternity, but she keeps the darkest and most twisted to form them into demons. They’re like her own personal army. Not free thinkers, completely feral and violent, but they do follow her will.”
“But how does she do that without powers down there?” I ask.
“No one has ever said she was powerless,” Carrick reminds me. Zaid did my original teachings so long ago, but he had said the same thing. “Some magic made its way there. The Dark Fae evolved, and some developed in interesting ways.”
“Give me an example,” I ask, knowing we are getting off subject, but I think this is important information for me to be straight on.
“The succubus and incubus you encountered,” Carrick say with a grim expression. “Those powers to seduce and drain life-force are an example of how their species evolved. Kymaris would have naturally evolved and have some type of power down there. That’s how she creates demons.”
“But not enough to escape,” I muse. “Not without the changeling ritual or a stone.”
My stomach tightens painfully, thinking about my sister living down there not only with Dark Fae, but also demons who seem to be nothing more than the Earth realm’s version of dangerous animals like grizzlies or tigers. I can’t imagine being alone with one.
“And you said Kymaris now has power?” Nimeyah asks Carrick.
“Immense,” he confirms. “I’ve seen it, and whatever she gained in that ceremony rivals your own.”
“She must love that,” Nimeyah sneers. “When she was sent to the Underworld, not only were her powers mostly stripped, but extra confinements were also placed upon her to keep her where she belonged. She’s got to be itching to use that power.”
“Which brings us back to ruling the Earth realm,” Carrick says, turning the conversation back. “How would she bring them here? With the demons, we’re talking about hundreds of thousands, right?”
Nimeyah nods grimly. “If she relied on small rips in the veil, which can be done with summoning spells, it would take her years to bring them all through. She’d want instant gratification, which means bringing down the entire veil between Earth and the Underworld.”
Carrick and I exchange uneasy glances. We had been going over our own hypotheses since meeting with Otto a few days ago, and our greatest fear was that she would disintegrate the veil and create a toll-free bridge between my world and hers.
“So she wants to open our world up and let every evil creature out of the Underworld so they can fight by her side and subjugate humans,” I say in a succinct summary of what we’re facing.
“But she doesn’t have that much power,” Carrick points out. “No one can bring the entire veil down.”
“Could she pool the magic of these Dark Fae she’s collecting?” I ask Nimeyah since her powers are the most similar to what Kymaris probably has.
Nimeyah shakes her head. “Dark Fae magic isn’t all that strong; more particular to their specific species as Carrick pointed out with the succubus and incubus. I don’t think it would be enough.”
“A stone,” I suggest.
“They’re so rare,” Nimeyah replies dismissively. “But any left wouldn’t have enough power.”
“Even yours?” Carrick asks, and I jerk, turning to him in surprise.
His gaze comes to me, then he nods to Nimeyah. “She still has the stone she used to create Faere, and it’s not depleted of all its magic.”
“True,” Nimeyah replies nastily, her eyes narrowed at Carrick for telling me that, which means it must be somewhat of a secret. “But the power left in that stone isn’t enough. It could create small rips, but nothing big enough to bring forth the entire