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“Garnet!” James exclaims. Ry sets me on the couch next to him, where I’m pulled into a huge hug.
“How do you feel?” I ask, trying to check him out.
“I’d wager that I’m feeling better than you are, from the look of it,” he answers, not letting go of me. “Thank you. Luca told me what you did. You saved my life.”
Before I can respond, Orym brings in a tray with tea and cookies on it. “You both need to drink some tea and eat something. Then we need to talk about Amber and your father.”
I wondered how long it would be before one of them brought that up. “We should get started. I feel like that’s gonna be a long conversation.”
Everyone gathers around. Ry brings a chair in for Trevan, and another for Grammy. When they’re all settled in, I start. “Trevan is my father. He’s also the king of the Fae realm. He’s here to help us, well, I’m not sure now. He came back with me to help heal James. Now that I’ve done that, I’m not sure if he’ll be staying to fight against Amber or not.”
We all turn to look at my father and see what he says. “I cannot stay indefinitely, but I am able to hang around for a few more days and offer my assistance.”
“That will have to do. Thank you,” I answer. It’s not what I wanted to hear, but some help is better than none. And I understand that he has a kingdom to take care of. I just wish I was confident in my ability to take on Amber.
“I’m guessing from how freaked out you guys were when we got back, that Amber escaped.” I look at Ry for confirmation. His subtle nod is all I get. “And you were worried that she’d taken me. I understand.”
“We found out shortly after you disappeared that it wasn’t her.” Orym says.
five
Revelations
JAMES
Being healed is great, until we learn that Amber has escaped from the council’s custody. I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. Garnet isn’t. She appears to have expected it. I have no idea what we’re going to do now. According to Ryland, no one knows where Amber is hiding, and her minions have been kidnapping more supernaturals as well as humans.
“I know what she’s planning, I just don’t know what her timeline looks like,” Garnet explains.
“An army of hybrids, we know,” Ryland responds. Her eyebrows raise in surprise, but she doesn’t comment. “Luca told us that you and he figured it out just before James got hurt.”
“It won’t work,” Trevan says quietly. “Not without your power. So, is she trying to steal your powers, or is she trying to make you complete the transformation for her?”
“She wants to kill me and take my power. I’m not as worried about facing her now that I know how much Fae power I have,” Garnet replies.
“You should still be cautious. She managed to escape from the council, and it seems like she’s figured out how to bypass the power-blocking cuffs you put on her.” I stand up and pace the room.
I start to feel dizzy, but don’t want to worry anyone. Instead of mentioning it, I lean against the wall and watch as the conversation continues.
“I understand that, and agree, caution is the way to go. But I’m not scared of her anymore. I think that was the thing that held me back when she was training me. I felt intimidated by her. I’m not anymore. That’s all I was saying,” Garnet explains.
“I think we need a plan. We can’t just chase after her. There has to be a way to find out exactly what her timeline is. Hybrids are rare, but they’ve been around longer than Delilah. Why wait until now to build that army?” Orym insists. I agree with him, but I’m feeling weak again.
“Orym is right,” Ryland says.
Luca takes my place pacing the floor. “But how do we get her to admit everything? We can’t get close to her without risking Red. And it’s not like she’s just gonna send us a letter explaining it all.” His frustration is evident. I feel it too, but getting caught up in it won’t help anyone.
“We start by catching a witch. Then we send a very specific message back to Amber with that witch. As many of them as she has scouring the woods for wolves, it shouldn’t be hard,” Ryland explains.
“That’s a good point. We encountered a lot of them when we were searching for Garnet. That’s actually how we found out that Amber didn’t have you,” Orym says.
“Okay, let’s catch a witch.” Garnet winks at me and smirks. I like that she’s feeling confident now, but I’m worried that she’s a bit too cocky and will put herself in danger.
LUCA
Our meeting goes better than I expect, except for Red. Her new attitude is a little disturbing. But if it helps her to control her magic, I’ll support it. I wish she was taking the risk more seriously, though.
It doesn’t really matter what I think, because I would never call her out for having a new attitude. Probably because I’m still hesitant about the strength of our bond. I know that Red loves me, and I love her. What I’m not sure about is being worthy of her. I couldn’t even keep from being captured by Amber’s followers.
