“And for a marriage I have no interest or say in,” she muttered, causing me to glance at her. She’d lowered her wand, but I sensed her awareness of our situation, her tense limbs ready to fight as needed.
“Condemning Emelyn would be similar to classifying all Quandary Bloods as evil just for being born into a certain bloodline, as I believe it’s her father’s lineage that made her a match for Kols,” I said, thinking out loud.
“It is,” she admitted, her eyes holding a touch of respect as she looked at me. And a glimmer of fear.
“Then why wouldn’t I defend her?” I asked, returning my focus to the dark-haired fae who seemed to be the leader of the others. “Destinies change every day, and she’s not the one pointing a wand at me right now. You all are.”
“They’re pointing their wands at Emelyn,” Dakota drawled. “As I said, she’s the future queen.”
“And as she pointed out, it’s not by choice.” A discussion I’d love to revisit with Kols later. “What do you want? Who are you? Why are you here?” But I already suspected the answers involved the recent attacks and the trap from the village.
They were here for me, to take me to someone.
But who?
Because this female wasn’t the source of magic I’d felt at the Academy during the assault, and while the others were familiar to me, they weren’t responsible for the events of that day either.
“Where are we?” Emelyn added to my list of questions.
“In an alternate paradigm within the LethaForest,” Dakota replied, sounding amused. “We were only supposed to take Aflora, but you came with her. Would you like to be sent back? Because I can arrange that for you.”
“And what would that require?” Emelyn asked, arching a black brow.
“Leaving Aflora behind, of course.” Dakota sounded so nonchalant, as if the terms of my kidnapping meant little to nothing to her.
“Yeah, I’ll pass,” Emelyn drawled. “Aflora and I are a package deal.”
We are? I thought, shocked by her statement.
“Oh? Are you one of her three mates?” Dakota asked, cocking her head to the side. “I thought they were all male.” She glanced at the fae around her as if seeking confirmation. “What were their names again?”
My stomach twisted. How did she know about my quad?
“Shadow, Zephyrus, and Kolstov,” one of the Midnight Fae replied. He was a shorter male with long black hair—or at least, it appeared black in the night and with the light of his cerulean-glowing wand flaring before him.
“Kolstov?” Emelyn looked at me. “You mated Kolstov?”
“Oh, did you not know?” Dakota asked, not sounding the least bit guilty. “Yes, it does cause a certain perplexity, but we plan to teach Aflora how to undo the bond with him, so he’ll be free again shortly. Of course, he’s going to die in the process, but that’s neither here nor there, yes?”
“You mated Kolstov?” Emelyn repeated, her tone not necessarily angry so much as startled.
“I, uh, yes.” There was no sense in denying it or explaining how it happened or telling her it wasn’t done yet. This situation required honesty and quick responses, not dwelling on things I couldn’t change. We’d deal with the nuances later.
“Does that change your stance on the package deal?” Dakota wondered out loud, her enjoyment in our situation palpable.
Emelyn held my gaze as she replied, “No, it doesn’t change a damn thing.”
My eyebrows shot upward. She couldn’t really mean that.
Maybe she only intended for us to remain in this together until she saw a better escape, because I doubted that Dakota’s offer to let her go came without caveats. Emelyn must have sensed the same duplicitous notion as well, therefore not trusting the proposal.
“Huh.” Dakota sounded amused. “Well, I’ll be. Then I guess you’re both coming with us.”
“Not so fast, Dakota.” The new voice came from the surrounding woods, echoing all around us as if the trees spoke rather than a person. Yet the feminine tones resonated in my thoughts from a single source—a powerful one.
The Midnight Fae before us all raised their wands in a new direction, the
ir expressions grim as another group of fae entered the grove led by a female with long black hair, and a male on each side.