Page 47 of Broken

Ireland had gone white. “So you, a Dark Fae, are trying to tell me the Bright Fae really aren’t what they say they are? That they’re just a bunch of hypocrites?”

Thanatos said, “I would have thought you would have recognized that for yourself, Ms. Ireland. But if you need a second opinion, then yes. That is exactly what I am telling you.”

Ireland sat back, looking stunned. Cole could feel through the bracelet how confused she was. All her life, everyone around her had told her that the Bright Fae were the good guys, beyond reproach, presumably fighting the evil embodied in the Dark Fae.

It seemed obvious to him—and to Thanatos—that what they did didn’t match what they said. But when you’d had the same ideas drummed into your head since before you were old enough to ask questions, it was hard to wrap your head around the concept that it was all lies.

He reached over hesitantly and put his hand over hers. She turned and looked at him. “You okay?” he murmured.

She gave him a little headshake, but she didn’t take her hand away, so he left his where it was.

Before Thanatos could start questioning her, Cole asked her, “Can you tell us what Riker’s mission was—what he wanted you to do for him? Did he want you to help him find this woman?”

Ireland nodded. “He said my Bright Fae magic could be used to get us to where she was being held—and that, with the bracelet, he’d be able to use the spells that Maximilan had left, to free her. This was his big score—he said she was a powerful sorceress, and had priceless magical books and artifacts. Or she could tell us where they were. Wealth and power beyond our wildest dreams.”

Figured. That’s what Riker had always been after—a way to get back at the people who’d once taken his power away. They’d taken Cole’s away, too, but he’d decided to use his anger to help others victimized by those kinds of people. Although, if the evil power-mongers ended up dead or in ruins, he hadn’t cried any tears over that.

He said to Ireland, “And in return, he promised to help you find someone to take the bracelets off you?”

“He said the sorceress could probably do it herself. That she’d once been Bright Fae, but turned against them.”

Thanatos leaned slightly forward. For him, that was a sign of great excitement. “And did he tell you the exact location of her prison?”

Ireland bit her lip, shaking her head. “I’m sorry. He didn’t.”

He sat back again, a disappointed hiss emanating from the hood. “Indeed.” His fingers tapped on the arm of his chair for a few moments. Then he spoke, almost to himself. “And yet, Maximilian knew. So the knowledge is there to be found.”

There was another silence, and then he went on, “I wish to make the same bargain with you. If you agree to undertake the mission to free the sorceress from her imprisonment, in return I will do everything in my power to help you remove the bracelet once the mission is done. To show my serious intentions, I brought with me the most powerful dragon sorcerer in a thousand years, with access to centuries of Draken research into all branches of magic. I am sure that between us, we can find a way to counter the bracelets’ magic.”

Cole felt Ireland’s intake of breath, the surge of hope that lanced through her. It almost hurt, how eager she was. Not that he didn’t understand it, but he suddenly realized that he wasn’t necessarily as eager to get the bracelet off.

To sever their bond, and go their separate ways.

He also didn’t want Ireland going on a suicide mission, just to get the help that any decent person should offer her.

He said, “What if she turns down the mission? We don’t even know what’s involved yet. Do you mean you won’t help her get the bracelet off, if she won’t do it?”

Thanatos went silent. Cole could feel him wanting to coerce Ireland into doing what he wanted.

Mikey finally broke the silence with a sputter of laughter. “Geez,” she said. “He really wants to mean that, but he can’t make himself say it.” She turned to Thanatos. “That’s what happens when your Grinchy heart grows three sizes. It stays that way.” Her voice turned smug. “We’re a good influence on him. Especially us girls.”

This time Cole definitely felt the ground rumbling under their feet.

“Enough,” DB said equably, from his place in the chair. “Stop picking on him. A woman’s had her soul stolen and her body imprisoned, for fuck’s sake. No shame in wanting to put that right. But since I’m the one who’s most likely going to be doing the bracelet removal, I get the final say. Ireland’s in prison too, practically speaking. I’ll figure out how to help her regardless.”

He turned to Thanatos. “You really can’t expect her to agree to anything until we find out what’s involved.”

Then he added, to Ireland, “That said, there is a caveat. From what we know so far, your magic will be needed to get into the place where the sorceress is being held. And from the research Thanatos and I did while you slackers were all sleeping, it seems that the bracelet—and your bond through it with Cole—can be used to augment your magic. Shifters form unique magical bonds with people they’re close to. Since you’re also a shifter, you and Cole may be able to use the bracelets to make you more powerful than you would be alone—or even with a Fae Protector, who would be using your magic against your will. If that turns out to be the case, then you would have to leave the bracelets on until the mission was over.”

Gunn had gone very silent during this exchange. Now he said, “If Cole and Ireland agree to this mission, I’m willing to put it to the men and see if some of them would volunteer to go as well. But I’d need a lot more intel before doing that.”

Thanatos nodded. “I will apprise you of any progress we make.”

He turned to Ireland. “Is there anything else you want to tell me?”

Cole deliberately refrained from looking at the bag that held the books. So did Ireland. She shook her head ‘no.’

The feelings Cole was reading through the bracelet were a mass of confusion. “The two of us will discuss whether or not to do the mission,” he said. “That’s all I can say.”