breath. "It must end. And I will end it."
I ground my teeth, shivering. "Youll end it by sending the natural world into chaos?"
"I did not set the price," Aurora hissed. I caught sight of her eyes out of the corner of my vision and started tracking up to her face. I forced my gaze down again, barely in time. She continued speaking, in a low, impassioned voice. "I hate it. I hate every moment of the things Ive had to do to accomplish thisbut it should have been done long since, wizard. Delay is just as deadly. How many have died or been tormented to madness by Maeve, and those like her? You yourself have been tortured, abused, nearly enslaved by them. I do what must be done."
I swallowed and said, "Harming and endangering mortal kind in order to help them. Thats insane."
"Perhaps," Aurora said. "But it is the only way." She faced me again and asked, her voice cold, "Does the White Council know what you have discovered?"
"Bite me, faerie fruitcake."
Slate stifled a laugh, hiding it under a cough. I felt more than saw Auroras sudden surge of rage, sparked by the Winter Knight but directed at me. A flare of light erupted from her, and I felt a sudden heat against the side of my body nearest her. The hairs on my arm rose straight up. Her voice rang out, hot and violent and strong. "What did you say, ape?"
"They dont," Elaine said, her voice tense. She put herself between me and Aurora, her back to me. "He told me before we left for the Mothers. The Council doesnt realize the depth of whats happening. By the time they do, it will be too late for them to act."
"Fine," Slate said. "Hes the last loose end, then. Kill him and lets get on with it."
"Dammit, Slate," I said. "Use your head, man. What do you think youre going to get out of helping her like this?"
Slate gave me a cold smile. "That old bastard Reuels power, for one thing. Ill be twice the Knight I was beforeand then Im going to settle some accounts with that little bitch Maeve." He licked his lips. "After that, Aurora and I will decide what to do next."
I let out a harsh bray of laughter. "I hope you got that in writing, dimwit. Do you really think she would let a man, and a mortal at that, have that much power over her?" Slates eyes became wary, and I pressed him. "Think about it. Has she ever given it to you straight, a statement, not a question or a dodge, or something shes led you to assume?"
Suspicion grew in his gaze, but Aurora laid a hand on his shoulder. Slates eyes grew a little cloudy at her touch, and he closed them. "Peace, my Knight," the Summer Lady murmured. "The wizard is a trickster, and desperate. He would say anything he thought might save him. Nothing has changed between us."
I ground my teeth at the meaningless words, but Aurora had Slates number, whatever it was. Maybe all that time in Maeves company had softened him, the drugs and pleasures she fed him making him more open to suggestion. Maybe Aurora had just found a hole in his psychology. Either way, he wasnt going to listen to me.
I looked around, but Korrick and Talos ignored me. Aurora kept on whispering to Slate. That left only one person to talk to, and the thought of it felt like someone driving nails into my chest. "Elaine," I said. "This is crazy. Why are you doing this?"
She didnt look up at me. "Survival, Harry. I promised to help Aurora or to give up my own life as forfeit in payment for all the years she protected me. I didnt know when I made the promise that you were going to be involved." She fell quiet for a moment, then swallowed before she said, her voice forced a little louder, "I didnt know."
"If Aurora isnt stopped, someone is going to get hurt."
"Someone gets hurt every day," Elaine answered. "When you get right down to it, does it matter who? How? Or why?"
"People are going to die, Elaine."
That stung her, and she looked up at me, sharp anger warring with a sheen of tears in her grey eyes. "Better them than me."
I faced her, without looking away. "Better me than you, too, huh?"
She broke first, turning to regard Aurora and Slate. "Looks that way."
I folded my arms and