Ever Wrath (8 page)

DROPPING HER BAG
on the ground, Shade let her sister Anna crash into her, sending her a few steps back as she fought to not fall on her butt. Shade gripped her tightly, feeling, for once, at home again. She’d never been more happy to see the Scren Palace and even more so to see Anna, James and Benton.

“
Hey, Sis! How’s the royal life ‘road trip style’ been treating you?”

She loosened her sister
’s iron grip around her chest, sucking in a breath as she looked her up and down. Anna seemed taller—even older—than she had when they’d left to get Kilara. “You look like a beautiful young queen, Anna!”

“Oh my goodness, I’m so glad
you’re back, Shade. You can have the throne. Not for me
at all
. Not much going on here, but man… I know what you mean now by having to repel a throng of suitors! Holy heck! Those Teleen men have journeyed here from the Caverns to court me.
Me
! I’m just sixteen for goodness sake! Soap has been able to keep them outside the actual palace walls, but they are relentless, asking for my hand in marriage, sending birds with messages to my window. Just the other day one of them….”

“
Wait… what?” Shade pulled away and stared at Anna, who rolled her eyes and sighed.

“You know! Remember how the Teleen guys
courted you when they found out you weren’t allergic to them? Well, since you’re ‘taken,’ they’ve moved on to me. The secret’s out. My fire affinity makes me prime marriage material to them. Can you believe that? As if! Thanks a lot!”

Shade
frowned. Of course the Teleen would turn their eyes to Anna, even though she was just sixteen. She’d be married in the Teleen kingdom by now, a thought that made Shade cringe remembering her time there. “Just ignore them, they’ll go away.”

“I have! They won’t go away
! They said they’ll never leave me alone until I’ve chosen someone as my one and only. Can you believe that? ‘Hell no’ is what I said. I wasn’t planning to get married until I had a nice career in fashion design. They can just hold their breaths!” Anna crossed her arms, pouting in a juvenile fashion, bringing out her age with such gestures. Shade couldn’t help but pull her back into a tight hug and be thankful that all the goings-on had not yet affected Anna’s youth and innocence.

Life was hard, especia
lly when magic got in the way. Regular folks just didn’t have these sorts of problems. Shade chuckled to herself, shaking her head at the ridiculousness of it all.

“Well, at least we have some
awesome guards to swat them away like flies.” They both laughed and continued into the main throne room, chatting and giggling like old friends. Everything looked the same, untouched and serene. It was a relief to find a place of familiarity, though she’d hardly spent any time here. This was their new home, and her kingdom, at least for now.

“How did finding Kilara go?” Anna glanced at her sister, her
curiosity hard to contain. Her shiny brown eyes mirrored Shade’s, but her innocence was much more intact than hers was.

“It went fine.
A few surprises, but why would anyone be surprised at that anymore in Faerie? I’d be shocked if I wasn’t surprised anymore.” It was true. Faerie was full of shocks and twists, it would be a miracle to not have one.

“So where is she?”

Shade stared at her, confused for a moment. “Oh, you mean Kilara? She’s waiting in the forests around the Unseelie Castle with Corb, I think. Not sure, really. They just up and disappeared after ordering me to turn myself in to the Unseelie to be a prisoner again. I guess they have their own secret places. She sent me back here to get Benton and formulate a plan to get into the Withering Palace so I can find Rowan. Arthas and Aveta have her, unfortunately.” Her face darkened. “We didn’t get to her resting place on time.”

Anna’s eyes widened, fear overtaking her pretty brown orbs. “What? You’re going in as a prisoner again? No…
.”

“I have to, Anna. It’s the only way to get Rowan back.”

“But…what about…Darren?” She whispered the name, glancing at Dylan, who was busy having servants get them some food and draw them baths. At least he was occupied. Any mention of Darren turned his mood sour.

“I know. I have to, no matter what.”
She stroked her sister’s hair, throwing her a bright smile. “It’ll be okay. At least this time, we go in prepared to fight.”

Anna nodded, her face losing the maturity
she’d gained in Shade’s absence and morphing into that of a child’s once again. “Be careful, Sis. I can’t lose you, too.”

Shade reached out and pulled her sister
’s thin frame into her arms, squeezing her just as tightly as before. “I will. I promise you. This will be over soon, I know it. And I’ll be back before you even know I’ve been gone.”

“Okay.”

“How’s James? Driving you bonkers?”

Anna’s eyes lit up at the mention of their little brother. “Yeah, well. He’s driving Benton
madder than me. He follows him like a lost puppy. Sometimes we teach him a few new fire tricks. He’s so clumsy, though. I have to keep buckets of water in every room, just in case! Two days ago he set the ballroom on fire. Well, one curtain, but it really wasn’t his fault….”

“
Hey, Sis!” James jumped onto them both, causing them to fall to the ground.

“Ow! My butt!” Anna rubbed her rump,
sticking her tongue out at James. “Watch it, budd-o.”

“
Hey, kiddo.” Shade ruffled his hair, bringing a frown to his face as he quickly pulled away and swatted his hair back down. He was so cute with his hair all wild and unruly, but he liked being neat and proper now.
Some things do change
, she thought.

“You
’re staying for a while, right, Sissy?” James’s little brown eyes searched her face, and she wished she could just lie to him, at least for now.

“For a tiny bit. I have another mission to do.”

“You’re always on a mission. Mom wouldn’t like you to be gone so much. She said you’d take care of me, no matter what.” He jutted out his lower lip and crossed his arms, his little eyebrows furrowing tight as he glared at her. “But you’re not here, Shade.”

The mention of her mother
, Jade, brought a sharp sting to her eyes. Tears prickled along her lids, but she turned her eyes to the floor to prevent him from seeing her cry. “I know. I promise that when it’s all over, I’m taking a really long vacation with all you guys. Okay?”

James hugged her again and nodded. “Okay.” The guilt ran through her like a
serrated knife. She hadn’t been around since the death of their mother. She was the oldest and should’ve been there for her younger siblings. The ache in her chest threatened to arrest her beating heart, so she stood up, sucked in a breath and surveyed the surroundings for Benton. The sooner she could prep him on the plan to infiltrate the Unseelie Palace, the better. She prayed he’d be safe once he entered the prison guards’ service. If he was discovered, they would surely put him to death without a moment’s hesitation.

But if anyone could
sashay their way into someone else’s lair, Benton was the perfect con artist for that. The little weasel had gotten in trouble at school before for stealing tests and setting the teacher’s lounge garbage can on fire. Well, he didn’t exactly get caught, but Shade knew it’d been him playing tricks. Jade had laid into him about it, and he hadn’t quite forgiven Shade for turning him in to their mother.

“Looking for me
, aren’t ya?” Benton popped into her field of vision, a knowing smirk pasted on his face.

“
How’d you know?” She pulled her younger brother to her, squeezing him in a bear hug.

“Whoa…
I can’t breathe.” He struggled as his voice became raspy.

She let him go and shrugged. “Sorry. Can’t say I
didn’t miss you at all.”

He laughed, his pearly white teeth gleaming in the sunlight pouring through the
window leading out to the balcony. “Dylan gave me the heads up that you needed to speak to me. What’s going on?”

“We have to head out again. This time, you’re coming.”

“All right!” The look of excitement passed through his face until he saw that Shade wasn’t too happy about it. “Okay, what’s the catch?”

“You have to
enter the Unseelie Palace first and get them to put you as a guard over Rowan’s cell.”

His eyes widened
, a flicker of fear flashed through them as he swallowed. “I do? Why?”

“Because….
” She paused. Shade was trying to keep the exhausted frustration out of her voice but was failing. “I’ll be turning myself in to them to be near Rowan. Once I see her, I can give her this.” She held out the amulet Kilara had given her. “It’s supposed to help Kilara locate her.”

“Why can’t she do it herself?”

“I wish I knew.” Shade let out a breath, rubbing her temples as she stared out one of the large bay windows overlooking the desert landscape surrounding the palace. The Scren was near a sparse forest of straggly trees that looked somewhat on the brink of starvation. Most of them had burned down when the last wave of Unseelie had attacked them. That was when Jade had died, and Shade had been unable to save her. Coming home was bittersweet. “Arthas knows she’s awake. I think Rowan isn’t in her right mind either and won’t accept Kilara’s proximity after making her slumber for so long. It’s only a theory, though. I’m not sure she’ll trust me.”

“
Okay… so I sneak into their troops and then what? This all sounds really off if you ask me.” Benton screwed up his face, lifting a brow at her. He was right, and she knew that, but what could she do?

“I know, but
it’s the only way to get to her in secret. You’ll have to find her before I’m thrown back into a cell, or at least let me know where she’s at.”

“
Darren will be there, wont’ he? If I see the bastard, I’ll kill him myself.” Benton’s usually joking demeanor faded at the thought of the Teleen faery who’d hurt Shade so many times over.

“No
, you won’t touch him.” Shade sighed, rubbing her brow. “I will. Leave him to me. He won’t be left alive this time around. Just do what I asked and find the quickest way out of the prison cells for when we need to escape. Rowan will be your responsibility. Got it?”

He nodded reluctantly. “Is she cute?”

“Benton!” Shade groaned, frowning at his joke.

“
Okay, okay! Sorry. All joking aside… what if it doesn’t work?”

“It’ll work. It has to work.”

“I feel mighty reassured.” His voice was filled with a thick sarcasm, making Shade shake her head at him.

“Just, be careful, al
l right?”

“
You too, Sis. Especially you. I can handle myself. You, on the other hand, stick out like a strobe light.”

Shade chuckled, glad to hear his sense of humor intact
in spite of his uncertainty about the mission. “That’s for sure. What are brothers for? To clean up the mess!” She poked his shoulder playfully, making him roll his eyes at her as he rubbed the sore spot furiously.

“The b
ath is ready, Shade. Dinner will be ready soon after. Time to clean up and relax before the big day tomorrow.” Dylan glanced between the siblings, knowing he was interrupting a private moment.

“Thanks. I could use a long
, hot, relaxing evening for once. See you later, Benny.”

“Ugh, don’t call me that!” He waved her off and he
aded down the hall to his room.

Shade let out a breath, turning to a smiling Dylan. He slipped his sturdy hands around her waist, nuzzling her neck as he breathed in her faint scent of honeysuckle and sweat. Nothing felt more blissful than falling into his arms after the trials they had faced.