the scene I’d witnessed. “We need an audience with them.”
“And we’ll just request our release?” Tarron looked skeptical.
Yeah, it did sound iffy. “I think it will be more complicated than that, but we definitely have to start there.”
Aethelred gripped my hand. “You must be careful.” His eyes flashed with worry. “I see that only one of you can escape.”
“What?”
“I don’t understand the vision. But I see that only one is able to escape.”
I shook my head, not wanting to think about that, and met Aeri’s eyes. “Could you look for an entrance to the Unseelie Realm? We’ll need to go for the false queen as soon as we are out of here, and I don’t want to approach through the entrance we’ve used before.”
“No, we don’t want her to see us coming,” Aeri said.
“If we’re fast, we can strike while she is still healing,” Tarron said.
“We just need to get out of here quickly.” I looked around, wishing that there were more clues but seeing none. I looked back at Aeri. If I didn’t manage to escape the Court of Death, I might never see her again. “I’ll make it out of here. I promise.”
Her eyes glinted with unshed tears. “You’d better.”
I almost reached for her, wanting to hug her. But it wouldn’t work. I lowered my arms.
“Good luck,” Aethelred said.
“Thanks.” I gave him a small smile. “I think we’re going to need it.”
3
Tarron and I left Aethelred’s house the same way we’d come in. I’d been able to peek in a mirror in the hall on the way out and had been grateful to see that my black mask of makeup was still intact—no tear streaks, despite the crying jag when Tarron had died. I shuddered at the idea of an afterlife with tear-streaked makeup.
As soon as we stepped off the last step in front of the door, I turned around to look back up.
I couldn’t see Aethelred or Aeri on the roof, but I could almost feel them.
I looked at Tarron, wanting to hug him more than anything.
Of course I couldn’t.
His death had revealed the depths of my feelings for him, and though I wanted to stay away from the L-word, I wouldn’t be able to deny it forever. Except, I didn’t have time to think of that right now.
Instead, I called upon my seeker sense. Of course it didn’t work.
I hated being nearly powerless. Especially while seeking an audience with two royals who held life or death over my head.
I searched the sky, looking for the watery sun that I’d seen. It gleamed in the distance, a pale white shadow of the one on earth.
I pointed to it. “I saw the sun setting behind the castle in the vision. Let’s go toward it.”
“All right.”
We set off at a brisk walk away from Aethelred’s house.
We were probably about a hundred yards away when I glanced back.
The house was gone.
“We should try to remember where Aethelred’s house was, just in case.”
Tarron nodded. “Good plan.”
I kept my senses alert as we traveled. The ephemeral grim reapers could find us again at any moment.
“I really don’t want to stroll up to this castle on foot,” I said.
“No, it’s not ideal.” I could hear the frown in his voice.
From a tactical standpoint, we had a bit of a problem.
Technically, I was a queen. Queen of the Unseelie Fae.
It was a strange label. But it didn’t change who I was.
I’d always been fabulous. Queen of Darklane.
I’d been practicing that ever since I’d become Mordaca—Blood Sorceress extraordinaire. And Tarron pretty much oozed power and royalty from his pores.
We had the demeanor down, but no ride.
As it stood, we’d be walking up to the castle like commons.
That sucked. And it could take ages to get there.
A soft snuffling sounded from my right.
I turned to see an enormous white stag staring at us from a distance. It stood next to a rowan tree, its massive golden antlers reaching toward the sky. Another one joined it, just as huge and regal.
The two creatures looked at us, their dark eyes considering. They were just as white and strange as the rest of this place, with the exception of their golden antlers and burning black eyes.
“What are they?” I breathed.
“Not normal stags. But it’s like they heard us.”
On instinct, I bowed to one. Tarron did the same.
Both stags lowered their heads just briefly, then approached. I waited, breath held and muscles tensed.
If they charged, they could gut us with one good swipe of their horns.
Each of the stags stopped