the throne room was empty when we arrived, and the hearth was dead. There was nothing but embers within.
I strode up and inspected it, frowning when I realized there was no wood.
“I’ve got it.” Tarron’s magic swelled on the air, and flames burst to life within the hearth.
There was a small golden box sitting upon the ornate mantel.
I reached for it. “That has to be the powder that makes this thing work.” I picked it up and opened it, sniffing the powder just a bit. I frowned. “I don’t recognize the smell. It’s strange.”
“They might use something different here.”
I shrugged. “Maybe. Let’s try.”
I took a pinch and tossed it into the flame. “Show me Aeri.”
The flames danced, shadows flickering within. Slowly, an image formed.
Aeri, crouching in a thick wooded area. The trees were gnarled and ancient, and great boulders peppered the landscape here and there. She hid in the shadow of one, panting. In the distance, I spotted Declan, her fallen angel boyfriend. He hid behind a similar boulder. He must have gone along on her hunt.
“Aeri!” I whispered, relief surging through me.
Her eyes widened and her head popped up. “Mari?”
“Yeah. It’s me. Any news?”
“We’ve found it. Are you alive?”
“Not yet, but I’m getting there. Where are you?”
Aeri nodded, her eyes dark. “We’ve found an entrance to her world, and it’s not good news, Mari.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s strong. Stronger than she was when she attacked the Seelie kingdom. I can feel her magic through the portal.”
“Have you seen her? Do you know what it is?”
“No idea. And I haven’t seen her. Haven’t even gotten through the portal yet—I still need to figure out how. But I know it goes to her realm. You wouldn’t mistake this signature for anything.”
Shit. She’d already been too strong for me to defeat last time. If she’d gotten even more powerful, I didn’t stand a chance.
Cold fear threatened to overwhelm me, but I shoved it back. I’d defeated this fear when I’d worked to get my magic again. I wouldn’t let it take me a second time.
“We’re in the Willow Wood in Puck’s Glen, on the west coast of Scotland,” she whispered. “I’m going to try to find out how to get into the Unseelie realm from here.”
“No, don’t. It’s too dangerous. We’ll be out of here soon, Aeri. We’ll come and help—”
A figure flashed behind the huge rock that hid her.
My heart rate spiked. “Aeri! Behind you!”
Her eyes widened and she spun, but she was too late.
The figure—an Unseelie male with dark hair and black eyes—was upon her. He raised a hand and hit her with a blast of black energy that threw her backward. She crashed to the ground, unconscious.
The man swept her up and gave me an evil grin. “The queen will be pleased with this one.”
Shit! I lunged for the fire, temporarily losing my mind.
Tarron grabbed me, pulling me back.
The man disappeared, Aeri in his arms.
Declan!
I glanced over toward the boulder where her boyfriend had been hiding. He lay unconscious amongst the rocks, clearly hit by an unexpected spell.
He couldn’t save her.
An Unseelie approached him, ready to drag him off like they’d done with Aeri.
My skin grew cold and my chest hollowed out. I looked at Tarron. “They’ve got her. We distracted her, and her guard was down. And now they’ve got her. And Declan.”
This was why I’d been afraid—that nagging feeling that had weighed on me. My premonition gift hadn’t worked fully, but it’d been trying to warn me of this.
“We’ll get them back.”
Terror like I’d never known suffused me, threatening to drown me.
No. No, this couldn’t be real.
I wanted to wail, to scream, to kill.
And I was fucking trapped here!
Shaking, I reached for the powder tin again, chucking some more into the fire. “Show me Claire.”
The flams flickered and danced, slower this time.
“Come on!” I hissed, throwing more powder in.
Claire’s face appeared a moment later. Her dark hair was messy, and blood streaked her face, a slash across her cheek that was totally badass. “Mordaca? What’s going on? We haven’t heard from you since the battle. Where are you?”
Through my terror for Aeri, I briefly registered that as weird since she should think I was dead, then plowed onward. “Aeri has been abducted by the False Unseelie Queen.”
Claire frowned. “False?”
Of course she didn’t know the truth yet.
A commotion sounded down the hall, and Tarron grabbed my arm. “Someone is coming.”
“Abducted. Willow Wood in Puck’s Glen. Portal to Unseelie Realm. Help her.” The words rolled off my tongue so