Ace curled onto the arm of the couch, watching him with an evil grin. "We can't talk about penises? I thought you were hooking up with some servant girl back at the castle?"

  "So what if I was?"

  "I'm saying if you were you wouldn't be so bashful about a body part you own."

  "Are you saying that I wasn't?" He balanced an arm on the back of the couch.

  "Were you?"

  "That's not any of your business." And to his credit, he held Ace's stare.

  It wasn't any of her business so Ace decided to let it go. They'd only shared a kiss and it wasn't even one that Shelby actually wanted to take part in. So she changed the subject.

  "So tell me about the witches."

  "The witches are just like my grandma. Amazing housekeepers, cooks, wise teachers, and great pillars of support for their husbands." Ace snorted at that but Shelby kept going. "We've been enslaved by the Fae for thousands of years, making them grimoires like we make the queens to make up for the magic they don't have. The women have gotten good at hiding their magic and we've never told anyone any different."

  "So what's with the witches that are imprisoned?" He'd said something about that the other night. Something about it requiring a lot of blood to free them.

  He sat so silently for a minute, still and stiff, Ace didn't think he would answer.

  "We've had small towns that we kept hidden from the Fae. They were cloaked with heavy spells. I grew up in one of those towns. It was the only place we could be free." His throat bobbed as he swallowed. "The Fae were slowly finding them though, even with the spells. Probably with the help of warlocks they tortured.

  We caught wind of rumors that the Fae were heading for our town and my mother, she was scared. The Fae took the males and often raped and killed our females. Truly horrific creatures. My father wanted to stay and fight while my mother wanted to flee.

  She took me in the dead of night wanting to come here. My grandma has always lived outside of our cities. We made it but my grandma wasn't here." He looked back at her and she didn't move. "The Fae were."

  "Oh?" Ace could feel the intensity of his story rise. She knew the ending already. At least part of it. And it wasn't good.

  "Sniffed us out real quick. They held a hot iron to my stomach trying to get information from my mom. She never told them anything."

  "Not even as she watched you hurt?" Ace hated how people could be so cruel. To Shelby, it was probably loyalty to the witches but his mother should have been loyal to him first. He was her son.

  "No."

  "Did they hurt her?" Her stomach became uneasy with the thought of him watching his own mother get attacked.

  "Actually, she was able to make a run for it. And they let her go."

  Gods, that was worse. That was so much worse!

  "She just left you??"

  "And I haven't seen her since."

  "That's terrible." Ace sat up. She laid a hand on top of his, the only way she knew how to console.

  Shelby moved his hand away. "You don't have to do that."

  "I want to," she said softly.

  He studied her. He was always studying her. Trying to figure her out like she was a puzzle and he just needed to put a few pieces into place to get a clear picture.

  "What about your parents?" he asked.

  His grandma finally began snoring behind them.

  "Don't have any. I'm an orphan," she said in one rushed breath. "Nothing to really say about that."

  "Any siblings or friends from before?"

  "Nah." Ace shook her head. She tried not to think of her old life all that often. It wasn't good to reminisce; it only made her sad.

  "Do you have any friends now?"

  "You?" She half grinned.

  Shelby's face scrunched up like he'd just bit into a lemon. "Hmm." He picked at his nails in his lap. "How'd you die? I'm assuming you didn't slit your own throat?"

  Her heart thundered in her ears. "I don't want to talk about that."

  Shelby stiffened. "Seriously?"

  "For all I care, I'd been alone. Anybody who'd been there for my death is nothing to me now." That wasn't entirely true.

  "Unbelievable." He huffed a breath, abruptly standing from the couch. He shook his head as he started laying the blankets out on the floor for him.

  "What?" Her death wasn't any of his business just like him maybe hooking up with a servant girl wasn't hers. Ace didn't understand why he was getting so huffy.

  "I just poured my heart out about my mother. About the witches you aren't even supposed to know about—"

  "Your grandma spilled the beans on that," she offered.

  His lip curled. "And you can't even open up about one thing? I look like a fool!"

  "I don't think you look like a fool." Ace let her legs fall from the couch as she righted herself.

  "I was vulnerable." Apparently, the word vulnerable tasted terrible because Shelby looked like he wanted to vomit. Was his face turning green?

  Ace squinted up at him not sure if she was hearing him correctly. "I've known you for less than a week. I don't want to talk about what I don't want to talk about."

  "But you want my whole life story?" he snapped.

  "You didn't have to tell it. You could have said no."

  She didn't think it was possible but his face scrunched up even further. He laid the last blanket down and lowered his towering figure to the floor.

  "Are you mad at me?" Ace slipped her feet from the boots and laid down on the couch, opening up the blanket he'd left for her.

  "Yes," he grunted with his eyes closed.

  "Well, you'll have to get over that." Ace pouted, rolling over so she wasn't facing him anymore.

  After this, they still had one more event to make it to. If Ace had to judge by the news they'd just received today about the Fae they'd have to be a lot more stealthy.

  At the next event Ace was finally going to kill the queen.

  Queen Sienna

  Today was supposed to be the day. Somehow within three events, she was supposed to know who she should marry. Her court had appeared at the breakfast table this morning littering her and the three men who'd stayed with questions. That had ended with her using her magic to sew each of their mouths shut.

  While they didn't get to finish their meals, Sienna got to eat her breakfast in sweet silence. Well, she hadn't sewn Jack, Leo, or Hollis's mouths shut but they were smart enough to remain quiet.

  Now her court was stitch free, glaring at her from the back of the room. Maybe she'd taken it too far. But hey, she hadn't killed them so that had been something.

  But she had killed someone.

  A warlock.

  A traitorous piece of shit who had conspired against her.

  Somehow he'd remained loyal to the two who kept sneaking into her damn events. This time under the ruse of a couple they'd stuffed into the trunk of their carriage. Sienna would have found it funny if it wasn't for the fact that they were here to undermine her.

  She hadn't even bothered to ask for the warlock’s name. All she wanted was the names of the two sneaky little attackers. A thousand questions later and she was heating up his cell like it was an oven. The queen had watched as the warlock cooked alive. His clothes were soaked in sweat, his skin blistering until his muscles began to fall off of his bones. Only when he'd become a twitching puddle on the ground and his heart no longer beat did she walk away.

  The cloud within her staff was dark now. There wasn't any rain to gather on the glass nor was there a thunderstorm. Still, it was murky. Which was exactly how she felt in this moment as she stared at Jack, Leo, and Hollis.

  How was she supposed to choose? She'd spent little alone time with each of them, all of which was mostly awkward conversation. She didn't really know them. Now she was supposed to tie herself to them forever. It felt a lot more serious now than when she'd first agreed to this whole marriage thing her sisters had proposed.

  There was always the option to kill said husband if she later regretted her choice but she'd have to be sneaky. Probably with poison or something that didn’t make it apparent she'd done it.

  She'd basically already ruled out Leo. She'd kept him only to make Hollis jealous. Though that was a good reason for marrying him too.

  Jack was favored by the court. An obvious choice too, seeing as Queen Sienna was certain he would take the role in exactly the way she needed him to.

  And lastly…Hollis.

  He knelt in front of her with the others and for once he was doing what he was told. It was odd but satisfying. It gave her hope that she might be able to force him into submission. Just like she had the other day.

  She’d even awoken to a small gift box from him. The long dangling earrings she’d received sparkled from her earlobes now.

  Today there were no citizens to witness the crowning. Her throne room was painfully quiet. With the Fae threat on the rise, she'd made the last event no longer open to the public. It wasn't for their safety, though that's how it was being advertised to her court. They'd stressed that she needed witnesses which was why they were here.

  The real reason she'd forbidden the public was to make sure no one could ruin this for her. She couldn't handle one more embarrassment.

  A stool sat by her throne. On top of it was an overstuffed black velvet pillow with the crown that had been made for the king. Queen Sienna's crown had been made with bits of the Fae king's crown. So had her sisters’. The crown she was about to offer the men was meaningless, basically for show.

  Queen Sienna cupped the globe of her staff in her palm as she looked down her nose at the remaining suitors. She wished it could give her answers. Who would please her people? Who would make her court happy? Who would make her happy? There were too many things to think about.

  She took her time standing from the throne. The black silk dress she wore glided down her legs, exposing her thighs with two high slits. She took a step toward the crown. Her staff tapped against the floor. She took another step, her heels and the beating of her heart the only sound in the small rectangular room.

  The metal was cold against her hand as she lifted the crown from its pillow. Diamonds shone next to large sapphires, all of the stones making the crown heavy as she balanced it with the staff.

  Her dark eyes slid from the crown to the three men. They'd come in their finest suits, even their hair had been perfectly placed. Sienna tried to picture the crown on each of their heads. They were certainly attractive enough to stand next to her.

  Stepping from her dais, the entire room inhaled and held their breath. No one knew who she'd crown, least of all her.

  "Please rise," she announced.

  Jack, Leo, and Hollis stood. Sienna could feel how their gazes moved from her face to the power she held in her hand.

  Her heart skipped a beat and when it started again it thudded all around them.

  The ground under them shook. Another boom sounded and the chandelier above them chimed as the hanging stones collided. This time she was certain it wasn't her heart.

  There was thunder, a rumbling, that built from the ground up, making everyone stumble forward. The crown slipped from the queen's fingers, her hands gripping her staff to steady her. Dust fell from the ceiling and sprinkled down over the queen, marring her gown.

  There were shouts out in the hallway, one ear splitting scream, and a wild war cry. A couple of guards spilled into the throne room, all sporting large bloody wounds. They clung to the doors to keep themselves upright.

  "Get the queen out of here!" One of the guards managed to bellow. Red drops oozed over his lips.

  Queen Sienna turned to the room. All guards had been posted outside leaving her court and her suitors alone. The court was shrinking away like the spineless cowards they were, the group already sprinting for the opposite exit.

  A current of air lifted the hair off her shoulders as she pointed her staff at them. It became a bittersweet taste on her tongue and then it was gone.

  No one in her court moved. Magic seized their muscles and held them firm.

  They blinked helplessly, any words they wanted to say already caught in their throats. Sienna never liked them anyway and the spell would wear off…if that was before or after the Fae got to them, she couldn't be sure.

  When she looked down at her suitors a hand was already stretched out for her to take. A choice she no longer needed to make. She looked at Leo and Jack each in turn as she took Hollis's hand.

  "Run." One word. A single command that sent the men in motion.

  They should all be running. Sienna should already be running.

  "Let's go!" Hollis shouted as another deafening boom made the castle quake. She followed Hollis as she had all those years ago. She let him lead her away, knowing deep down that he'd taken her heart as a child and never given it back. She knew this now with a certainty that only the clarity that near death could give her. Death was chasing them now like it had their entire lives.

  Because Queen Sienna was certain about one thing.

  The Fae were here.

  Ace

  All morning Ace had felt wrong. The gods were in her head but were remarkably quiet. The small hole Shelby had left in her shirt had grown bigger because she'd fiddled with it the entire walk to the castle.

  They hadn't spoken since last night. Shelby was all furrowed brows and a tightly clenched jaw. His silence only gave her more time to think and then think some more. Gods, Ace wished that she could just quit thinking!

  There was only one gate at the castle they had to worry about and it stopped at the forest's edge. It only blocked the road that led in from the city leaving the rest of the grounds exposed. Guards patrolled outside watching the tree-line but mostly it was a cocky showing of the queen's power to leave herself so unprotected. Because who could take her on and win?

  For the last event, they'd traveled past the castle and come right through the gates. There was no getting past those locked gates today. The pair crept up to the edge of the forest, scanning the empty courtyard. All signs that a fair had once been here had been erased except for where the grass remained flattened. Ace could still make out the shapes of the booths and tents that had been put up and the pathways people had walked.

  "I don't see…anyone," Shelby whispered, though he didn't bother to look her way.

  He was right. No patrol. Not a single guard in sight. That terrible feeling in the pit of Ace's stomach sank deeper as it twisted into her gut.

  "We'll stay on the edge of the forest and if we still don't see anyone let's take the garden entrance. From there we can split up." Ace paused expecting some sort of objection but Shelby just kept staring out into the courtyard. "That way you can be ready to help me escape with your magic."

  "Obviously." The word was short and clipped.

  "Are you really still mad at me?" She stood from her crouched position and planted her hands on her hips.

  "I'm not happy with you. No."

  "Oh, would you just get over it? Thank you for sharing part of your life story but some things are just better for you not to know. Trust me." She tossed him a dark glare channeling all her pent up frustration toward him and the piss poor attitude he was always wearing.

  Ace tried to keep her steps light as she moved over the brush, avoiding overgrown thorns. The warlock didn't offer any sort of rebuttal as he kept after her.

  He can't stay mad forever, Latsov, the god of perseverance said and she thought she heard Mina agree.

  She rolled her eyes. Let him stay mad. What did she care? He could hate her all the way up until he gave her the grimoire or even until all four of the queens were dead. Maybe even after that.

  Look at you…caring. How adorable, Greshta said.

  I don't care. I don't care. I don't care, Ace chanted inside her head. She didn't want to care.

  The fact that you have to tell yourself that means that you do. Hate to break it to you, Sylik agreed.

  This is new growth for you. It means you're healing from your tragic past, Fareesh said, her voice like a soft well worn piece of cloth.

  "Now is not the time for this." Ace tipped her head up toward the sky.

  "No backing out now," Shelby said bitterly.

  Several feet separated them but Ace could imagine herself closing that space to pluck his now narrowed eyes out of his thick skull. Ugh.

  "No. Not this. This." She tapped her head.

  "What are they saying?"

  "You don't want to know." Ace wished she didn't know.

  Sunlight exposed her as she left behind the cover of the woods. She could have snaked through the tree line longer but the closer Shelby got the more she could feel his bad attitude rubbing off on her. It was like a disease and Ace didn't want to catch it. Today would be hard enough.

  The scuff of Shelby's boots told her he was lumbering after her. That and the curse he admitted under his breath. Honestly, Ace half expected a guard to shout and leap from some shadow they hadn't seen. Yet, the castle was quiet, sending a tingle between Ace's shoulder blades.

  Slowing to a walk, Ace glanced around. Shelby caught up to her side, his hand finding her upper back as he tried to encourage her along.

  "What are you doing? You're out in the open!"

  "There is no one around!" She straightened, spinning in a circle inside the small garden. The soft petals of a rose brushed against her fingertips.

  "That could change at any minute." His fingers ran up to her shoulders, digging in as he steered her to the door.

  "This is dangerous," she grinned.

  "Why are you smiling about that??" His mouth turned down. "Do you still have the grimoire?"

  Ace patted her back pocket where the journal waited, covers and pages bent to fit in the small space. "I'll go down the main hall, you meet me at the private entrance."

  A dark spell waited in the journal, burning a hole straight through said pocket. Ace didn't need a blade to kill the queen, just the element of surprise and the spell.

  "Best to get this over with," she said more to herself than to Shelby. Gently, she took the door and eased it open, listening with a tension that filled her body and his.

 

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