Both of them.
Here was his chance to do something important. To help this beautiful fairy who made his heart feel like it was being ransacked. But his rescue mission had been nothing but a ridiculous scenario he’d created in his own mind. She wanted to be taken to Hadrian.
This vampire could give her sight.
Honestly, if he didn’t laugh about that, he might cry.
Other men always had their trump cards over Tucker. Good looks, job in finance, humanity. But this. Curing her blindness? He hadn’t seen that coming. No pun intended.
They weren’t even out of Coney Island yet and he was already pulling the Impala over.
“He’s going to give you your sight.” He stared at his white-knuckled hands on the steering wheel. “How is he going to do that?”
“Hadrian is a vampire now, but before that, he was a sorcerer. He’s been practicing in the dark arts for a century.” She twisted a button on her shirt. “My family has something of a history with sorcerers. I was born with my sight, but an enemy of my grandfather cursed me before I was born. I lost the ability to see on my first birthday.”
“God, Mary. I’m sorry,” Tucker managed.
“I don’t remember what it was like,” she said quickly. “Normally a powerful fae would be able to restore my sight, but that was part of the curse, you see. That no fae would be able to heal me. Only a formidable sorcerer—and if more of them live, they don’t exactly advertise their existence. My mother, with all of her power and contacts, couldn’t find anyone who could offer me what Hadrian can. She’s been trying my whole life.”
“How do you know he’ll actually do it? How do you know it’s not a false offer?”
“I won’t marry him otherwise.”
“He could force you,” Tucker pointed out.
“He could try.” She tilted her head in his direction, her eyes focused over his shoulder. “But we’ve seen what I can do when my back is against the wall. I was only getting warmed up.”
“Speaking of. Can I get the number for your vocal coach?”
Mary covered her mouth to smother a laugh, her eyes sparkling over the top of her hands. After a moment, she dropped them away. “You’re probably wondering about the scream. The first time it happened was after the curse took effect.” She paused. “I don’t remember that, either. To me, the scream is just something I’ve always had. But sight? That’s what I really want. I want to see the world. Colors, faces, board games, food, the ocean. I want to…” She trailed off, ducking her head. As if there were even more reasons she wanted her blindness cured, but she wasn’t willing to share them. “I might not agree with a war, but if my sacrifice of marriage is noble enough, if it brings back the Assembly to claim us in a long-overdue Exodus…”
“How is the Assembly summoned by a sacrifice exactly? There is no way to get in touch without marrying this guy? No cell reception in the Faerie Realm?”
“The fae have no awareness of this place unless they travel here. Purposefully. Time passes quicker in their realm, too, so the human realm is more of an afterthought. Kind of a…slow-motion purgatory.”
“Flattering.”
“Isn’t it?” She laughed under her breath. “If an act is noble enough, a sacrifice deemed worthy by our warrior queen, the Assembly will simply be brought through the barrier. They won’t be in control of it. They are simply sent to serve.” Her cheeks stained with red. “They only bring the strongest among them back to the Faerie Realm in the Exodus. My lack of sight is the reason my mother wasn’t taken last time, since she had to stay and care for me, Tucker. I can’t be the reason twice.”
Tucker felt like he’d been scooped up by a tornado and dropped somewhere entirely new. Into a place that was so much larger than him. With potholes and hazards everywhere he looked.
A matter of minutes ago, he’d finally had his purpose.
And he did still have it.
Mary was his purpose.
But his job wasn’t rescuing her from the dark uprising. He was just driving her to the place she could rescue herself. It was no different than what he’d been doing for his friends. For Jonas and Ginny. Elias and Roksana. Only this time…this time it would hurt to watch someone else get their happy ending. Because he’d been stupid enough to hope it might include him.
Not just tonight when she’d walked into Enders and shaken his soul.
Just a couple of days ago in Moscow, he’d played in a poker game to help Roksana win the marriage decree. Before the game started, the host gave each participant a concoction. A drink that when consumed, heightened their desire for what they wanted the most in life. Made the need for it practically unbearable.