A faery leaned over Seraiah and whisked her empty plate away. Beside her, another faery took Kai’s plate. Across from them, the Summer King leaned his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his knit fingers. The golden crown he always wore was once again askew, appearing about to tumble from his copper curls. Seraiah was tempted to ask him if it was faery magic that held it in place or something else.

  “Now then, I suppose it’s time to hand over the reason you are here,” he said.

  A different faery from the one who had taken her plate, placed a vial in front of her. Once news had spread around the court that she was awake, Seraiah had received an invitation to a private dinner with the Summer King. Kai had insisted on going with her, even though he hadn’t been invited. Over several courses, the Summer King had questioned her about what she had seen. If he had any opinions about what she had learned, he hadn’t shared them with her.

  Seraiah stared at the vial in front of her. The fae king hadn’t asked if she intended to try again, and she had never said she would, but he apparently expected it of her. She wondered what he would do if she refused.

  Not that she could. She needed to get in contact with Sterling.

  “Yes, thank you,” Seraiah said after a long silence. She picked up the vial and slipped it into her pocket.

  “Sweet dreams,” the Summer King said, rising and sweeping from the room.

  The other faeries ushered them out of the dilapidated house where the dinner had taken place. The outside looked like it was falling apart, but the inside had been finely appointed. Another oddity of the fae court like the crown that never moved.

  At her side, Kai was silent. He hadn’t said more than a few words the entire dinner, and it seemed he didn’t intend to start now.

  Seraiah curled her fingers around the vial of potion in her pocket. She’d only been awake for a full day, and already, here she was about to disappear into the dream world again and lose another three days of her life. Was this what it was to be like from now on, or at least until she lost her sanity or made contact with Sterling, whichever came first? She didn’t know how Ashe had endured this. Or maybe her mother didn’t notice as years of her life passed, plunging from one vision into the next at the whim of the Winter Queen.

  Seraiah had once told Kestrel she would never want to give up her abilities, even if it meant eventually going mad. Now, as she contemplated what this sort of life meant, she wasn’t so sure.

  Kai held the door open for her, and Seraiah stepped into the hallway leading to their rooms. She spotted a shadowed figure leaning against the wall outside of her door. His dark clothes helped him blend into the shadows between the floating orb lights.

  “How long have you been waiting?” she asked when she and Kai reached him.

  Ren straightened and stepped into the light. “Not long.” He gave Kai a nod in greeting, which Kai stiffly returned. “I was hoping to speak with you,” Ren said to her.

  “About tomorrow?”

  “No,” he said without elaborating. His eyes slid to Kai and then back to her again. Whatever it was Ren wanted to say to her, he clearly didn’t want to do it in front of Kai.

  “If I’m not needed, I was going to see about speaking with Virelai,” Kai said. He directed this to her, but Ren was the one who answered.

  “She should be in her room,” he said.

  Kai didn’t move, only looked at her.

  “I’ll be fine. You’ll come by after you’re done?” she asked.

  He nodded and then bent, stealing a kiss before taking his leave.

  Seraiah’s cheeks flushed. She could feel Ren watching her as she opened her door.

  “Has to mark his claim, I see,” Ren muttered, only loud enough for her to hear.

  “It isn’t like that. Now, did you want to talk with me or not?” She left the door open for him to follow and removed the vial of potion from her pocket, depositing it on the nightstand. When she turned, Ren was staring at it.

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  “Are you taking it again tonight?” he asked.

  “Not tonight. I’ll be there to see you off tomorrow,” she said.

  When she and Kai had met with the others for breakfast this morning, they’d told her of their plan to seek the dragons. Virelai had heard something from Maescia that suggested they might be the ones who would know how to deal with the shadows. Kai had been cautious about their plan, but Seraiah had sided with them, especially after Ren had explained their theory about the portals and why the Winter Queen might be interested in Sterling.

  “I wish I was going with you,” she added.

  “You could,” Ren said.

  She shook her head. “I can’t. It’s not possible. I need to try again.”

  “And you have the potion. What’s stopping you from leaving with it?”

  Failure.

  She was afraid of failing again, and if she left now without fulfilling her deal with the Summer King, it was unlikely he would supply her with another chance.

  “What did you want to speak with me about?” she asked. “I know it wasn’t the potion.”

  Ren tugged on the fingers of his gloves, not like he was trying to remove them, but more like a nervous habit. This did not bode well.

  “I wanted to ask if you’ve noticed a change in the shadows,” he finally said.

  “The shadows?” she asked, fear growing in the pit of her stomach. She’d worn her hair down and hadn’t thought to check on the inky stain curling up her neck. “What sort of change?”

  “Have they grown?”

  “I-I don’t know.” Slowly, she lifted her hair and angled to face him. “Do they look different to you?”

  Ren didn’t move closer to her, but she could tell by his expression that they had.

  She let her hair drop back into place. “It’s because of the potion, isn’t it? I used my visions, and it’s feeding off of it.”

  “That’s just it,,” Ren said. He pushed his sleeve up, baring his right arm to just above his elbow. “Mine have grown too, and I haven’t done a thing.”

  Seraiah’s gaze jerked from the tendrils of shadows curling up to touch the crook of his elbow to Ren’s face and found her own expression of horror mirrored there.

  “But how? I thought—doesn’t it need—”

  He shook his head and shoved his sleeve back down. “I don’t know, but I thought I would warn you to keep an eye on your own. I could try removing it again if you would like.”

  Seraiah’s hand went to her neck, and she took a step back. “And have yours grow even more? No. Absolutely not.”

  “I thought you might say that.”

  “You’ll go to the dragons tomorrow,” she continued as though he hadn’t spoken, “and they will tell you what to do. Then we can all be rid of this.”

  “I certainly hope it works that way.”

  “It will,” she said. “We can’t afford anything else.”

  He nodded. “Well, you know how to find me if anything changes here.”

  She knew he referred to how she had used the shadows to call him back to his cabin. “I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  “Me too,” Ren said, opening the door to leave. “Me too.”

  Two sharp knocks sounded on her door, startling Virelai out of her thoughts. She’d been thinking about the journey she’d agreed to go on tomorrow. On a horse. With only Ren for company.

  Virelai opened the door, ready to tell Wisteria to go to bed, but it was not Wisteria waiting for her.

  She took one look at Kai and tried to close the door again. Even when he’d been informed of the information she and Wisteria had learned, he still hadn’t apologized for dismissing her.

  Kai stuck his foot in the door before she could get it all the way closed. “Virelai, wait.”

  Someone like Wisteria might be above using magic on the prince, but Virelai was not.

  Her fingers tightened on the doorknob. “Why? So you can insult me again? You’ll need breath in your lungs in order to do that.” She gave a small warning tug on the air.

  “I wanted to apologize. Please.”

  She stared at him for a moment. “Fine, you have two minutes,” she said, stepping aside to let him enter.

  He waited until she’d closed the door and turned to face him to speak. “I’m sorry about what I said the other night. I shouldn’t have said what I did. I was tired and worried about Seraiah and everything else, but that’s not an excuse. You are nothing like my father.”

  Virelai folded her arms over her chest and snorted. “Of course I am. Everyone says so, don’t they?”

  “They would be wrong. Like I was wrong.”

  She tilted her in acknowledgment.

  “I’m also sorry for not being there for you when we were children. Things might have turned out differently.”

  Virelai dropped her hands and looked away. “That was not your fault.”

  “No, but I could have tried reaching out. We all knew what it was like for you, but we said nothing.”

  Once upon a time, the golden trio had been four. When they were children, Kai, Kestrel, Eryx and her had been friends. Then her mother had died, and everything had changed. Not for them—only for her.

  “Thank you,” she said, trying to keep the tears out of her voice. “I accept your apology.”

  Kai held out his hand. “Friends?”

  “Allies,” she said, accepting his hand and shaking on it. “And don’t think I have forgotten the favor you owe me. I will be claiming that one day.”

  “I wouldn’t expect anything less,” Kai said. “Also, thank you for finding information on the shadows and visiting the dragons to help Sterling.”

  “I’m not doing it for you or her,” she reminded him. “I’m doing it to save Nyrene—for my home.”

  “I know. You would make a good queen if given the chance.”

  She waved him away. “Any aspirations I had for a crown were only to protect myself from my father. I have no desire for leadership.”

  “And that’s exactly why you would be perfect for it. I’m told those who don’t want it are the ones who make the best leaders. Either that or everyone has been lying to me my entire life.”

  Virelai snorted. It was no secret that Kai hadn’t loved taking over ruling Nyrene, but he’d done well enough at it—when he was there.

  “I’ll let you get some sleep before your journey. Have a good night,” Kai said.

  “Goodnight,” she echoed.

  After he left, she leaned against the door, and let herself imagine what it might be like to be Queen. No, she didn’t think she wanted that life.