But that only left Luca, and since I planned on killing him, that would leave them with no one.
“We can figure this out after we stop him.” Kade’s words lessened some of my worry. “I’m sure the court will be okay until then.”
Dante nodded, and I was relieved. “Okay, so we just need a portal home,” I said, staring around, like one would magically appear through words alone.
Zandu, who’d been quite quiet and observant until now, made a small noise in his throat. It sounded as if he was choking on a laugh.
I raised one eyebrow at him and he bestowed a rare grin on me. “You’re telling me that you can funnel dark magic, restore entire lands back to harmony, kill powerful queens, be a queen of multiple kingdoms … but you can’t create a portal?”
I didn’t think that was funny or helpful right now, and I was about to say so, when Kade turned to me. “He’s right. You have proven time and again that you are capable of great things, of things beyond most shifter or fae. Your magic is tied to both sides, to all sides of the mecca … the magic born fae can create portals. You most definitely can create portals, too.”
I shook my head by instinct. Creating portals was way above my pay grade. “I’ve never done that. I mean, other than in the mecca stone room at the castle. That’s the only place it works for me.”
Zandu stepped forward, his humor from before fading away into a serious and contemplative expression. “You do not need the mecca stones. From what I have observed, you are a mecca stone. I bid you farewell. My people want a report of what happened. It was an honor to fight beside you. The elven people are in your debt.”
Dante whistled low at that, as if those words were more powerful than their simple implication. I was guessing elves didn’t owe debts often. A thought struck me then, the way Zandu was looking at the newly-restored land with misty eyes … the way his people guarded the entrance…
“This was your land, wasn’t it?” I asked softly. “The Dark Fae Lord drove you out, and you’ve been trying to keep him from taking any more land from your people.”
A shadow crossed Zandu’s face, giving it a drawn and haunted look. “Yes. We were never part of the four courts. We were our own people. The Dark Fae Lord came and slaughtered us, stole much of our power, and relegated us to the edges of our land. We’ve been waiting centuries to reclaim it. We’ve tried before but never succeeded. Only ever losing more of our dwindling numbers.”
That made sense. Horrible and awful sense. They guarded the opening not to keep others from going in, but to keep the Dark Fae Lord’s beasts from getting out.
“Well, it’s yours. I mean, if you want it back … it’s yours,” I told him. I wasn’t sure if he needed permission, but in case he did, I was giving it.
It was like a weight lifted off Zandu then. He stood taller, his eyes covered by a misty sheen, which told me everything about the emotions no doubt churning inside of him. He simply nodded. “Be well, Arianna, the great winter.” Then with a blink of an eye he was gone, into thin air.
Chapter Fourteen
Queen of the mecca.
After Zandu left, we all stood there silently. I took a moment to let the reality of what had transpired here seep into me. The reality and horror. Especially for the elves.
The Dark Fae Lord had almost annihilated an entire race, driven them from their lands, and together with Kade and our allies we had helped reverse some of that damage. Healing would take a long time, but the Otherworld had a chance now.
A chance is all any of us needed.
Despite my bone-deep tiredness, I straightened my shoulders, searching deep for some resolve. “Okay, I have no plan. I’m tired. I’m hungry, and we might die. But I’m going to try to open a portal into the mecca crystal room of the castle.” I turned to Dante. “Are you okay to get back to the Summer Court and bring our friends and whatever army the king wants to send across?”
He nodded, gripping his sword tight. “I will move as swiftly as the summer winds. I will not let you down.”
This time I was the one who lowered my head to him. “You have never let me down. I am very grateful to have met you in the prison.”
A million emotions shimmered in his eyes. He opened and closed his mouth multiple times, and it was very odd to see the composed fae looking so flabbergasted. Finally he said, “We are well met. I will see you soon.” He took off then, truly running as swiftly as the winds he’d mentioned before.
I turned to find Kian looking wrecked, Shelley at his side, her face wrinkled with anxiety. Kade was also eyeing his brother with a look of great concern, and I could feel his worry beating through our bond.
I sighed. “Kian, you cannot go to the castle. Shelley either. You’ve been through enough today already.” This could turn into a war, and neither of them were up to fighting. I would not leave their son an orphan.
Relief poured through Shelley, and she finally met my eyes. “My gift could help you…” she said softly, clearly struggling with what to do.
I waved my hand. “I forbid it. That’s an order.”
She nodded. “I was thinking that … maybe Kian and I could head to the Winter Court? We can help keep order there until you come back? As long as you promise to keep our son safe, and send him across whenever you can.”
I didn’t even hesitate. “We will do our best to protect him, don’t you worry. It will be a huge relief to me to know that someone — my family — is keeping an eye on the Winter Court while it’s without a leader.”
The leaders were the lifeblood of the people here too, and the Winter Court would slowly die without someone funneling mecca to them. But we had a little time. So, as Kade said, I would worry about that after defeating Luca.
Kade drew me strongly into his body; a breath of air released from him as we pressed together. I wished we could stay like this forever, but we were not quite done yet. We pulled away, but kept our hands linked together.
“Let’s do it.” Kade took one last look at the lake. His face held a haunted expression, but he shook it off quickly enough.
Giving his hand one last squeeze, I released it, taking a deep, cleansing breath. Closing my eyes, my energy sprang forth the second I called it. It was strong and controlled. I felt no fear despite the fact I could feel the vast crisscrossing lines of mecca over this world and Earth. I no longer needed to touch a mecca stone. Now I could draw on this power at will.
I focused on the stone in the mecca room back at the castle, a power that was most familiar to me. I pulled its mecca energy forward, breathing it into me.
When Zandu told me I was a mecca stone, my brain couldn’t quite comprehend what that meant. But right now, in this moment, I understood completely. Because I was born of two royal lines, from two sides of the mecca—from a union that would not normally produce a child—I was unique, able to control mecca in a way that no other had before. I was literally able to do things that would usually require the touch of a mecca stone.