Chapter 2

Two

EMORY

The sun beats down so damn bright that even the thick trees of the forest can’t block it all.

“Damn, it’s hot,” I whine, dragging my feet as I follow Zephyr blindly. He could lead us off a cliff, and I wouldn’t even notice. I’m too distracted by the fact that I’m melting.

“How are you a half-blood if you can’t handle the sun? Isn’t half of you made for this shit?” Zephyr chuckles from ahead of me.

“Ha ha, you got jokes. If I was half naked, it probably wouldn’t be so bad for me either,” I grumble, glaring at his back.

Bad idea.

Now I’m hot for an entirely different reason as I track the sweat dripping down his back. Sweat has no right to be so appealing, especially not when I’m covered in it, but somehow Zephyr makes it look good.

He makes everything look good.

“Nobody’s stopping you from stripping down,” he says, turning to shoot me a wink and catching me shamelessly admiring his body. I quickly avert my eyes, but I know he saw. He always does, it’s kind of his job.

“I’m not going to drop into the mortal realm half-naked, Z. The point is to blend in, not draw attention,” I say, trying to bring the subject back to a safer topic.

Zephyr barks a laugh, and it rings out around the otherwise quiet woods, startling some birds that take off overhead. We stop in our tracks, pushing our backs to the closest trees to hide from view and wait until they're gone.

Everything in the courts is loyal to one queen or the other, whether it be for honor's sake or just for greed. The last thing we need is for it to get back to anyone that we're out here.

There’s only one reason anyone would go this far, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure it out.

With our eyes on the sky, we slowly reemerge.

“Are you trying to get us caught?” I hiss, smacking his chest. The fucker chuckles, and I want to hit him again, but he’s already walking off, focused on the task at hand.

There was once a time when travel between our realm and the mortal realm was normal. We didn’t need special permission, and we didn’t have to sneak off to the edges of the Seelie court for an old abandoned door in hopes that it really was a way to travel there. Thankfully, most of the court has been around since then, even if it was nearly a thousand years ago. Growing up in the kingdom might not have always been fun for me, but it was helpful. I overheard a lot. Everyone seems to miss the time when travel was permitted and encouraged, and they’re always happy to tell of their adventures in great detail.

When I was younger, I listened because I loved the pictures they painted. The adventures sounded exciting, much better than being stuck in a kingdom with my stepmother. It wasn’t until recently that I realized just how much they had really given me. Without those stories, I would have no idea how to even begin to look for my mates.

“And you're sure this entrance is still here?” I ask as my worry eats away at me. “It’s been a long time since anyone used it. Who’s to say they didn’t tear it down?”

“Nah, it’s still there, Em,” Zephyr calls back, stopping to wait for me as he hits what appears to be the edge of what I’d begun to believe was endless woods. “A few hundred years ago, they used to have a guard stationed at it. My father brought me with him a few times when I was younger, years before I started training. But after a few people were put to death for trying to use it, everyone started to take the law a little more seriously, and it became unnecessary to waste manpower.”

Stepping up beside him, I keep my eyes forward, looking at the Summer realm before us. I don’t need to look at him. The implications are clear in his words.

He’s worried about me, and for good reason. Being royal, heir or not, won’t stop me from punishment if I’m found out. It might be enough to save my life, but we’ve both witnessed the torture that comes with disobeying the queen. Hell, I’ve been on the receiving end more than a few times.

I have to grit my teeth to stop myself from reaching for the scar on my arm as pain shoots through me, just thinking about how I got it. Now isn’t the time for that. If I think about it too much, I might turn around, and that would be worse. Ivy won’t spare me the same way my stepmother would because she wants me out of the picture and is well within her rights to challenge me to the throne. As much as my stepmother might want me dead as well, she can’t kill me. My father would never forgive her, not to mention I’m supposed to be her heir. If she killed me, it would make her look as if she bred a weak daughter.

Worse still, Ivy and her awful mates won’t go easy on Z, either. As strong as he might be, I don’t want to see three-on-one. He’s the best in our court, but her mates are also guards.

No, I have to do this, for me, for him, for the whole damn miserable realm.

Thankfully, it’s not hard to let the Summer realm steal my attention and clear my mind.

If I thought the sun was beating down before, it’s almost blinding now, without the trees for shelter. I blink away the tears that gather from the harsh light as I stare out at the open field full of flowers and delicious-looking fruit-bearing trees. A soft breeze swirls through the air, making the grass sway and ruffling my hair almost playfully. It’s nothing like the bitter chill that cuts through our winter court.

The sky is bright, with only a few clouds that look so fluffy that I wouldn’t be shocked if they were fake.

One realm, yet the two courts are so different.

The Seelie Court houses both the Summer and Spring Kingdoms, while the Unseelie houses the Winter and Autumn Kingdoms. While I might be a mix of both, I’ve only ever resided in the Unseelie…

Well, mostly, I was actually born in the Seelie court, and Ivy was born in the Unseelie court, but even before the night of our birth was over, we were switched. We might both be half-breeds, but our appearances were enough that it would have raised questions, something neither kingdom wanted.

Regardless, I remember nothing besides the cold, snowy, dark nights, and the color of the leaves as they die. It’s all I’ve ever known, and while I enjoy my home, I can’t deny that something about this one calls to me the same way, even if I only admit it to myself in the quiet of my mind.

“The sun really makes your skin shine.”

I blink open my eyes, looking up at Zephyr, who stares down at me with so much emotion that I have to look away. I hadn’t realized I’d closed my eyes as I stood soaking up the sun like a weirdo.

I’m not as pale as most Unseelie-born. I have some color, but when I blush, that shit lights up my face like a beacon. It’s something Zephyr loves to tease me about.

“Well, it makes you look like a ghost,” I sass, sticking out my tongue to try and hide my embarrassment.

“Come on, let's get you to the damn door before I change my mind about sharing you and fuck you in this field to see all the ways you light up in the sun,” he says with a smirk before turning and once again walking away, leaving me standing there with my mouth open and my panties wet.

Damn him.

I shake myself from the shock of his words and the images my brain conjured up at them. It’s difficult; as much as he might be teasing me, I can’t deny I wouldn’t like that. Hell, it’s just made it onto my list of places to be fucked now. But it’s also strange to hear him talk like that out in the open. We’re best friends and mates, but mostly, we keep that part of our relationship to ourselves, behind closed doors or hidden away in deserted halls and closets. The Unseelie court is full of people who would love nothing more than to tear us apart and use us against one another, including my stepmother. I need to keep him safe from her, from all of them.

“Do you remember how to get back?” he asks, and I frown at him as he makes his way through the tall grass as if it’s nothing. Not two minutes ago, he was talking about fucking me, and now he’s back to business. I swear he could give me whiplash going from one extreme to the other like that. I can’t complain much, though; this topic is much safer.

Even still, I can’t help but roll my eyes at the question as I slowly pick my way through the grass after him. I wouldn’t mind being a bit taller right now, if only to see where I’m going better.

“Yes,” I huff as some grass I’d pushed aside comes back to smack me in the face. I’ve never been so ready to fight nature as I am right now. Why must everything be so damn complicated? Go to the academy, find your mates, survive, and rule the kingdom. The list is never-ending, and with every new thing added, another seems to pop up and find a way to try to stop me. If I put more stock in the universe, I’d say someone wanted me to fail. Good thing I don’t give a shit about destiny, not really. If it weren’t for me needing my mates to survive, I wouldn’t be going after them to begin with. I would have happily stayed with Zephyr regardless of what the nameless power said, and he would have stayed with me.

We promised as children that we would always be together, regardless of our future. It’s part of the reason I was so upset about our bond. It’s not that I didn’t want him forever; I did, and I still do. But we didn’t need fate for that. We already made our choice; damn the consequences.

“Come on,” Zephyr chuckles, coming out of nowhere and dropping to his knees with his back to me. I purse my lips, debating what to do. Everything inside me tells me to take the help if only to be close to him, but I’m pretty sure that's because he’s my mate more than my logical brain. No, I'm almost positive the logical part of my brain is the part that’s screaming at me to shove him down and take off, leaving him to search for me. I don’t need his help with this. It’s only grass; if I can’t handle this, we might as well roll over and die now because there’s no way we’ll survive inside the walls of Ironcrest.

“Stop being so damn stubborn and let me help you. The faster we get there, the faster you can find them and come back to me. With any luck, you might be able to do it before your wonderful ‘mother’ realizes what exactly you're up to.”

Damn him and his solid logic. With a groan of annoyance, I step forward, all but collapsing onto his back, pinching him for his comment about my stepmother.

The asshole doesn’t even flinch.

He wraps his arms back around my legs, grabbing a handful of my ass before moving down to grip my thighs and pulling them around him. He pushes up as if I weigh nothing, and I’m sure to him it probably isn’t shit, not when he’s so used to walking around wearing pounds of armor most of the time.

Neither of us says anything as he makes his way through the field and into yet another forest opposite the one we came from. The leaves on the trees here are green with life instead of in the midst of decay, like the autumn forest. It’s beautiful, and I can’t help but soak it in, knowing some part of me is as connected to this land as the others. I take everything in, knowing I should probably get down and walk on my own now, but Z doesn’t say anything, so I don’t either.

It’s not until we stop and I feel his grip on me loosen that I realize how much I enjoyed being so close to him, how at ease I’d been. He might be a pain in the ass, but he’s my pain in the ass, the one person I can count on, always. Slowly, I let my legs fall from his hips, releasing my hold from his shoulders so that I slide down his back until my feet hit the forest floor.

Zephyr doesn’t move, and I step around him, coming face to face with a red door that appears carved into the tree as if it were a part of it. I’ve heard stories about this door for years, but something about being here, knowing what I’m about to do, is unnerving.

There’s no way my stepmother won’t know what I’ve done when I come back, hopefully with another mate or two in tow. Not to mention my absence. I know Zephyr will try to cover for me, but he can only do that for so long, and I have no idea how long it will take to find them. I’ve never been to the mortal realm before, but from what I’ve heard, it’s enormous.

Swallowing down my panic, I push aside my worries for the future. One thing at a time, first I have to go through the damn door.

It’s now or never.

I only make it two steps before he stops me.

His long fingers wrap around my biceps, spinning me back toward him with enough force that I probably would have fallen over had he not been right there. Instead, I slam into him, our chests colliding, knocking the wind from my lungs as I look up into his red eyes that stare at me with such intensity that I have to fight the urge to look away.

“Did you think I would let you leave without saying goodbye?” he hisses through clenched teeth. I open my mouth to respond, but nothing comes out as his eyes narrow.

“I–I,” I stammer. I know I need to say something, but it’s as if my mind's gone blank. How do I possibly explain that I can’t say goodbye to him? Originally, I’d asked him to draw me a map to the door. I’d known the general direction, and while it wasn’t ideal, I’m sure, given enough time, I would have been able to find it.

He’d refused, even though aiding me in this could get him in just as much trouble, if not more. His father isn’t the king, and can’t save him the way mine can. I can’t save him. He was upset then, too; mad that I’d been willing to go it alone, but just like then, I can’t voice the reason even as it sits heavy on the tip of my tongue.

My distress must be clear on my face because his eyes soften, and his lips twitch up in the barest hint of a grin before he closes the distance between us, sealing our lips together.

For a second, I freeze, still lost in my panic, but the feel of him quickly washes it away as he wraps me up in his arms. His hand glides up my back, tangling in my hair and deepening our kiss. My toes curl in my shoes as I wrap my arms around his shoulders and melt into him.

I might not be able to say goodbye, but I can do this.

By the time he pulls away, my lips feel swollen, but I can’t stop the smile that pulls at them all the same.

“I’ll be here when you get back,” he says, his voice husky, giving away our kiss's effect on him as well.

I nod, not trusting myself to form words yet.

“Whatever happens, I’ll be here. I’m not sure how long I can keep your absence hidden, so be quick,” he says, falling back into his serious knight role, worrying about my safety.

Leaning in, I cup his cheek with my hand, and he leans into my touch.

Fuck, I’m going to miss this asshole.

His concern finally loosens my tongue. “It doesn’t matter how fast I am, Z. We both know there will be consequences. There's no way around it, so don’t get yourself in trouble, too. It’s not worth both of us facing them.”

His eyes snap open, and I see he wants to argue.

“Besides, you don’t have a dad in high places that can keep your ass alive like I do, so let me handle it,” I tease, forcing a smile.

We both know there's only so much my father can do. It’s not like I’ve never been at my stepmother's mercy. But keeping me alive is all we need, and as fucked up as it might be, that’s not a guarantee for him.

“I need you safe when I get back. Who knows what these mates will be like? I need someone I can tolerate,” I joke, and this time, he shakes his head at me. With a chuckle, he presses a soft kiss to my forehead that makes my knees weak.

“Go on, get out of here before I change my mind and steal you away to keep you for myself,” he says, nudging me toward the door.

I hesitate, stealing just one more moment to soak him in before I turn and head for the little red door. In search of the mates I need to survive the mess that will be the next four years of my life.