Chapter 29

I woketo Rain climbing into the bed. Plenty rested, but it was nice to be in a bed again. Staying in it for as long as possible sounded nice. I only wrapped an arm around her waist and whispered in her ear, "Where'd you go?"

"Just sat outside with Laila for a while." She kissed my hand. "It's still dark. Let's try and get some more sleep. I have the feeling tomorrow's gonna be a long day."

Who was I to argue?

So I drifted back to sleep.

A few hours later, we awoke to a maid knocking on the door. She told us the queen wanted us ready for breakfast in an hour. That put me at about eighteen hours of sleep, which I was not complaining about.

Rain and I got dressed, then met with Warren and Ezra. We talked for a while about what came next, heard Rain's story of her venture through the maze, then vaguely discussed Jake. Warren said he saw a maid lead him into a room last night, or yesterday morning rather, but no one had spoken to him since. There were still a few minutes before breakfast, so Rain and I knocked on his door.

He pulled it open. "What?"

I didn't overlook that snap, but it was also him and Rain who had gotten into the fight yesterday. Was it my place to interject? To correct his attitude?

"The queen wants us to meet her for breakfast," Rain said. "We were hoping we could talk a little bit before?—"

"I talked to her already." He crossed his arms against his chest. "She said I can stay here until you guys are finished with this mission. I like it here. Probably not a bad idea. And I think we've all established I'm not the kind of person you need in those rooms. Just above my head. So I'm gonna stay here, get some rest, and then we can talk when you get back from wherever you go next."

Would he be safe? Yes. I didn't adore Caeda, but I didn't view her as a threat either. Did I want to exclude him? Absolutely not.

"That's silly," I said. "At least come down for breakfast. We can talk more about everything?—"

"That's just it. I think we've talked plenty." He looked at Rain, and then again at me. "Finish this trip. Kill the cannibals. Then we'll talk more."

"Jake—" Rain began.

He slammed the door in our faces.

We turned to each other, exhaled deeply, and started down the hall.

Breakfast was heldin the same place dinner had been. The same massive table, surrounded by the same wall murals, sitting with all the same people. Minus Jake, and plus Ailas. He was Caeda's husband. The paintings on the wall did him justice, but it was odd to see him in the flesh.

He wasn't a bad-looking guy, somewhere between his late twenties and mid-thirties. Of course, he was at least a century older than that. His golden blond hair dangled to the middle of his chest, half swooped up to the back of his head, exposing his pointed ears. Icy blue eyes pierced everything they fell upon, his prominent brows drawn in suspicion. While paintings could capture his likeness, they couldn't convey the unsettling aura surrounding him. Handsome as he may have been, there was something bone chilling about his expression.

Maybe that's where the rumors began. That cold, dark look in his eyes.

"You all did very well on your quest yesterday," Caeda said, standing before her seat. Her husband took the one at the end, the head of the table. I didn't like that, but I minded my business. "Thank you for participating as you did. I know it may have seemed a bit odd, but you can learn a lot about people from an exercise like that. The way they handle themselves in situations they never thought they would be in."

"We established all this yesterday," Iliantha said. "No one requires praise. Let's discuss what we came here for."

"Never were one for pleasantries, were you, do gràs?" Caeda asked.

"Pleasantries were fine a day and a half ago. To be blunt, I'm not incredibly pleased with the way you handled things yesterday, and I would like to carry on." Iliantha stood as well, blue eyes glowing. "So please. Can we discuss what we came here for?"

I appreciated that. It was rare to see Iliantha stand firm. Perhaps Caeda brought something out of her that was rare to see.

"Very well." She turned to Laila, and then to Rain. "I was most pleased with the two of you. And I believe you,"—she pointed at Laila—"are the one who offered me knowledge. So stand, share something, and I will follow."

"Respectfully, after what you put us through yesterday," Laila said, standing, "it's only fair that you extend the first peace offering."

"Mmm." She shook her head. "Only if you answer a question first."

"Depends on the question," Laila said.

"I wasn't referring to you." Caeda looked at Rain. "How did you heal so fast?"

Rain glanced at Laila. She nodded. Rain answered, "I'm eternal."

Caeda laughed. "I don't believe that."

"Believe what you want. But I am."

"How old are you?" Caeda asked.

"Thirty in the fall," Rain said.

"I didn't ask when you were made immortal." Each word was like a thorn covered vine. "I asked how old you are."

"Twenty-nine," Rain said. "I was made eternal just under two months ago."

Laughing, Caeda crossed her arms. Her glowing eyes narrowed at Rain. "Is this some kind of game to you, lass?"

"Do you want me to lie?" Grabbing the table in front of her, Rain leaned in. "I can, if that's what you want. But if you want the truth, that's it. Which I believe ties into the knowledge that Laila plans to give you." She pointed down the table. "If you want to read my mind, I will let you. But not until you give us more than you have. Our group here, we're trying to take down someone who is killing your people as fast as they're killing the Fae. You're the one who's playing games, Caeda. Not us."

Caeda's eyes still glowed, and her jaw was still tight, but she forced it to soften. "We've only been able to wipe out small factions of the air an tagadh. Do not twist the facts, child. We want them dead as badly as you do."

"Then help us," Laila said. "What we need is more information. All we know right now is that they travel worldwide, and they communicate by carving into trees. We recently discovered that they're using some type of dark magic created by the maalaichte cnihme. We have no idea how they travel, or where they're traveling to, or how many of them there are."

"Millions." Still glowing, Caeda's eyes turned on Laila. "Defeating them will not happen overnight. They are ants, and they are everywhere, connected in ways that even I don't understand. The moment I find a base, they clear it. My army has not been able to reach them."

"Do you know where a base is now?" Iliantha asked.

"Yes. And I have been working for months to find a way to attack them without being seen," Caeda said. "And before you ask, roughly five thousand. That's how many live on the island I've discovered."

"And yes," Ailas said, standing at the head of the table as well. The moment he stood, Jeremy stood, too. I saw the power move, and I respected it. "We understand it shouldn't be difficult to wipe out five thousand people. But these are not people. They're not Fae anymore, they're not Elves, they're something different altogether. Many of them are as old as that bat." He gestured to Iliantha. "And?—"

"I'm sorry." If Rain could do it, and if Jeremy could do it, I could do it too. I stood. "Apologies. Regardless of how you feel about my queen, she is, in fact, a queen. She ranks over you. She rules the entirety of the Deep North. You're lucky that she's treated you with the kindness she has because of your wife. And that is why you have the power you do, do grás, in case you've forgotten. Please address her with the respect she deserves. The insults are not necessary, especially coming from someone of lower authority."

Down the table, although she didn't smile, Iliantha's eyes twinkled.

"They are older than even her." With gritted teeth, he held my gaze as he spoke. "And more powerful than we understand. For a while, we believed that they were using the same magic we do to retain their youth."

"But it can't be," Caeda said. "They don't possess the souls inside them that we do."

"They don't. They use an elixir created by Lux," Jeremy said. "I know how you feel about our history, but it is, in fact, history. Lux is real, and he created this. The elixir is not the same as the spells you use, and yes, we understand how differently it affects the people who use it."

"What elixir?" Caeda asked. "I've never heard of such a thing."

"This is the knowledge I told you about," Iliantha said. She gestured between Laila and Jeremy. "These two understand our history better than anyone."

"The elixir is the same thing that started the war with the Angels," Laila said. "It never would have started, otherwise."

"With the help of Lux, two of his sons manipulated the blood of wolves with the blood of Angels to create an elixir to elongate their already long lives." Pushing in his chair, Jeremy stood tall behind it. "Michael and Gabriel were the first to drink it. I don't know if you know what happened to Morduaine and Matriaza, but they were destroyed. They thought they would rule Matriaza one day, but when they realized they wouldn't, they killed the par animarum. Nix was able to lock them in a prison, guarded by Iliantha, for eons. They didn't consume the elixir during that time, but when they escaped last year, they were still as young and youthful as they had been hundreds of thousands of years ago. The story is more complicated than that, but that's the loose version."

Caeda laughed. "I don't recall reading that in the books."

"Because the books were written by the par animarum," Laila said pointedly. "When they were dead, who was around to write it?"

"And how do you know this, lass?" Ailas asked, narrowing his eyes at Laila. "How do you?—"

"I'm going to say this once, and I won't repeat it." Laila's glowing eyes darted to meet his. "I am not a child. Do not call me little girl, or lass, or anything of the sort. You address me by my name, or you don't address me at all."

"I would like to know who you think you are to speak this way to a king," he began. "I understand this world, this war, more than?—"

"More than the people who created it?" At the end of the table, Luci stood. There wasn't as much passion in his voice, as much anger. Like a calm parent instructing a room of children to silence. "Because that's who you're speaking to. Whether you respect us or not, that's who we are. Whether you like us or not, we are on the same side. If you would like the information we have, if you would like to learn about the world in a way that you never have before, shut up and listen. If you want to help us defeat the air an tagadh, tell us what you know. Give us input. Perhaps work alongside us. But there is virtually no need to patronize and speak down to us. As the lad already pointed out, you have made a habit of speaking down to women, and maybe your wife allows that, but suffice it to say that your title of king means nothing to any of us."

For a few heartbeats, Ailas only stared at Luci with focused, unblinking eyes. The luminance in Caeda's burned out. All but frozen in time, she looked at Luci in disbelief.

No one spoke a word, or even dared to look at Luci and the monarchs.

Until Ailas cackled.

Not a snort, not a chuckle, but a deep, obnoxious cackle. "That's funny."

"Now I get it," Laila murmured under her breath. "Now, I understand why the Fae fucking hate you."

Now, after meeting him, so did I. Caeda was odd, eccentric as Iliantha put it, but close enough to our kind and our culture.

Ailas, quite literally, laughed in the face of it.

"You can't expect us to believe that," Ailas said. "You can't?—"

"Who is who?" Caeda asked, voice quiet, serious. Slowly, her eyes glazed over the room. "You. You have met her." Pointing at Rain, Caeda wagged a finger. "You have met the personified tree of life."

"So have you, do grás," Rain said, eyes turning to Laila.

Another long moment of silence passed. Caeda stared at her, looking from her head to her toes. Then she looked at Jeremy beside her, scanning every inch of him. "This can't be."

"It is," Iliantha said. "I remember them, Caeda. I knew them then, just as I know them now. They are the reason we have food again. They are the reason the compound at the highest point of the country is no longer home to the Angels. They are trying to fix our broken world."

Jeremy avoided looking her in the eye. Not surprising. He never liked attention on him. Even when he was Nix.

Laila held her gaze, but her irises weren't glowing anymore. Her expression was soft. Not emotionless, but blank. Waiting. Waiting for Caeda to say more before she did.

Slowly stepping back from the table, Caeda grabbed her skirt and pulled it out at her sides. With furrowed brows, she curtsied. "Why thank you, my gods. Perhaps I should drop to my knees. Maybe I should collect some offerings to set before you."

"Please don't," Laila said.

"And don't curtsy either," Jeremy said under his breath.

"That's what gods expect, do they not?" Crossing her arms, Caeda's eyes glowed once more. "You want our praise for all the things you do. Even if it's only cleaning up the mess you yourselves made."

"If we wanted praise, don't you think we would stand at a podium during a solstice festival and demand it?" Laila asked. "Don't you think we would have already announced our presence to the world?"

"I think you're lying," she snapped. "I think this is all a great big joke?—"

"You have always been the fan of play, Caeda." Hands folded before her hips, Iliantha shook her head. "I wouldn't have brought them here if I didn't know with absolute certainty that they are who they say they are."

"Prove it then," Caeda said, looking between them. "If you are who you say you are, prove it."

"How do you expect us to do that? Like this?" Whisps of violet, speckled with gold floated from Laila's skin, like on the day she and Jeremy created our soulmate bond. Simultaneously, blue speckled with gray and black emitted out of Jeremy. "You'll just say it's a trick of the eyes. A spell, or some kind of magic. Do you want us to put our barriers down? The ones that disguise how powerful we are? We can, but it won't prove anything either. Only that we're more powerful than you. More powerful than anything you've ever seen before. But that's not proof. We could've collected that power the same way you've been collecting yours, right? I can show you my memories, but you won't believe them. And I don't blame you. Before I knew what I was, I was an atheist."

"Do it then." Caeda crossed her arms against her chest. "Let your guard down. Let me see just how strong you are."

"Rain?" Laila said.

"All of us?" Rain asked.

"All of us," Luci confirmed.

Shutting her eyes, Rain lifted her arms at her sides. The room grew quiet while she chanted, the song's hypnotic rhythm reverberating in the silence, lulling us to something.

Until Caeda's gasp. She pressed a hand over her heart, breathing slow, staring at Laila and Jeremy in shock.

Ailas didn't move a muscle, aside from a few in his face. His jaw hardened. His eyes darkened. But he didn't move. His mouth didn't drop in disbelief. He didn't clasp a hand over his heart. Just the smallest twitch of his jaw as he worked to stay so rigidly composed.

"But this isn't about who we are," Jeremy said. "It never has been, not even when we created this place."

"That was more of a fun project for me than anything else," Luci said.

Doubted that was what any of these world leaders wanted to hear.

"This is about, as you said, cleaning up our mess," Laila continued. "We want to end the war with the Angels. We want to dismantle and destroy the air an tagadh. We want to bring peace back to the world we created."

Still clasping her hand over her heart, Caeda stared at her for a moment. She breathed in.

Then her eyes lit aflame at the same time as her hand.

She thrust her open palm at Laila, singing her clothes before the goddess took control of the fire.

"Where were you?!" Caeda slammed her fists on the table, wide eyes glowing like their own suns. Tears flowed from them. "Where the fuck were you?!"

Jeremy stepped in front of Laila.

Gently, Laila edged him away. She took a step forward, so the table was the only thing that separated her and Caeda. She could've responded with the same fury, but her eyes were soft. "That's not what you really want to ask me, is it?"

"Fuck you," Caeda said, shaking her head at a rapid pace. "That's what I want to say to you. Fuck you, you selfish bitch."

"I understand," Laila said.

"You don't!" Speaking through gritted teeth, through the tears that streamed down her cheeks, she waved a finger in Laila's face. "You don't know. You don't know what this world has been. You don't know what we've gone through. You don't know what we have seen."

"I don't," she agreed.

"You don't get to come here and act like it didn't happen." Spit flew from her lips with each word. "You don't get to show up in my queendom and judge me. You don't get to come here and tell me what to do."

"I don't," she said again.

"We needed you!" Caeda slammed her fists on the table. "We needed you, and you vanished!"

"I did."

"You all did!" She looked at Jeremy, and then back at Laila. A weep left her. "You disappeared, and we didn't matter. You didn't care. You don't care now."

"Everything else you said is true," Laila said. "But we care."

"Horse shite," she snapped. "If you cared, you would've been here. You would have been here sooner. You would've been here the moment it began."

"I was dead," Laila said. "The archangels killed me."

"Do you expect my sympathy?!" She scoffed, only inches from Laila's face now. "That's your fault too. You should've killed all of them when you had the chance. You should have burned them to the ground, destroyed their world the same way they destroyed ours—like you fucking said you would. You shouldn't have listened to him." Caeda pointed savagely at Jeremy. "You should've done as you believed."

"We all would've been dead if she had," Jeremy said.

"You would've been." Her daggers turned on him. "The vermin you called a people would've been. But we would've lived."

"And who would've put up of the spells?" Jeremy asked, genuine confusion in his eyes. "How would she have gotten the maalaichte cnihme off of Morduaine? How would she have kept us from a genocide?"

This conversation was deep in our Fae history.

Véa married Lux to save the Fae world. We were under attack by the maalaichte cnihme.Lux had a way to get them off of our world, and all he wanted in exchange was Véa's hand in marriage. She accepted to save our people.

She accepted, and it destroyed her.

Caeda's argument was nonsensical. It wouldn't have worked. Yes, when Véa married into the Angel world, she said many times that she would love to burn it to the ground and rebuild it. But that would've been war. The Angels would've come, and they would've killed us all in retaliation.

It simply wouldn't have worked, and that was why she hadn't done it. Anyone who'd read the books and had a decent head on their shoulders could understand that.

Caeda was only angry. Justifiably, but there wasn't substance to it.

"What about when it was over?" She stared deeply into Jeremy's eyes. "When you could've killed him. You chose not to, and why is that? Was it not because she told you to? Because she wanted to see him suffer?"

Also true. When Nix and Véa had taken Lux's throne, Lux beat her to a pulp. Nix nearly killed him, and Véa told him not to. She said that the best punishment a man like Lux could receive was taking his pride. And she did.

"If you think his sons are any better, you know nothing," Jeremy said. "They started this war. Not him."

Caeda laughed. "And that makes it better? Does that justify all, Nix? You truly feel comfortable standing before me, defending that man?"

"Nothing can justify what's happened," Jeremy said. "And no one hates my brother more than I do. More than anyone, I wish I'd killed him. But we never were what people have made us out to be."

"And what is that?" Ailas asked, narrowed eyes on Jeremy. "What have we made you out to be?"

"Gods," Laila said. "You all created that word. We never claimed it. We don't claim it now."

"We were people," Jeremy snapped. "Fucked up, pieces of shit, trash people. Just like you are. Just like everyone is. We're not perfect, and we never claimed to be. But we try. And we're trying now. So decide. Do you want our power, our help, to end this? Or do we have to continue on our own?"

"We will," Laila said. "If you refuse to help us, we will do it on our own. But I'm sure you'd rather take the credit than give it to Iliantha."

Gritting her teeth, Caeda straightened. She crossed her arms again. "We'll fly to the queendom nearest their compound. There, we will develop a plan. Iliantha, you know the place. Queen Rania. Lead your people there."