She swallowed hard. “I confused the king and his guards so that the queen’s magic born could spell the water behind his house, to be used as a portal for future fae to enter.”
Kade growled lightly at that, but Shelley, probably used to it from Kian, didn’t even blink. “But something went wrong. The portal we had opened to come in wasn’t closing like it was supposed to, and the winter queen left me and a magic born to deal with it as she traveled back here through the water. That’s when Kian showed up. The moment I saw him I knew he was my bonded mate. Fae can tell from just one look. Everything inside of me changed that day, rearranged itself to be with him. The magic born tried to hurt him, but I killed her. Killing her caused the portal to go haywire, because she had created it. It turned into a black mass of energy and sucked Kian and I inside. Then it exploded. To this day there is still a burnt part of forest on the south edge of the winter palace.”
“I wish I would have known,” Kade said. “I searched for you all over the boroughs, even outside the city, but never would I have imagined you were alive and living in a mythical land.”
Kian’s green eyes were shiny, almost reflective as he too turned in his seat to see us better. “You could never have known, Kade, and there was nothing you could have done. Once we were in the Otherworld, there was no returning to Earth. The portals were off-limits.” His jaw worked as he fought for words. “The first few weeks here were rough. Shelley hid me in a nearby village, visiting every few days to teach me the way of the fae so I could blend in. There are some outsiders here, so it’s not completely uncommon, but luckily no one knew I was the bear king’s son. After a year, I moved into the main winter township with Shelley. She had to stay close to the queen. Over the time we tried everything to get a portal out of here, but we never could.”
“That doesn’t matter,” Shelley said. “We’re together now and we’re going home.” I was surprised to hear her speak of New York as her home. Kian truly must have talked about it every day.
The conversation drifted then into topics of less intensity, nothing too serious, just basic catching up. Kade and Kian especially wanted to know everything they had missed in each other’s lives.
“I’m so sorry about Dad.” Kian’s cheeks were tinged with red. I could see the flames in his eyes. He was angry at not being there to help his father. “I’m the oldest. It was my duty to stand by the king.”
Shelley dropped her head, and that caught Kian’s attention. He wrapped his arm around her, keeping his free hand on the reins of the horse. “I’m sorry, my love. I would not change the last years of our lives. It’s just hard to hear of the betrayal of my father. To know I wasn’t able to have his back, or Kade’s.”
My mate reached up to clasp his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “His death was avenged, and you were protecting your family.”
Kian gave him a nod, but didn’t look satisfied. Kade let out a rumbling laugh. “The worst thing you did was leave me to take the crown.”
I think he expected Kian to laugh, but the older bear didn’t. Only the slightest of smiles crossed his lips. “You still going on about that?” His eyes flicked across to me. “Don’t let Kade fool you, he was always the one better suited to rule over our people.”
Through our bond I sensed that Kade was uneasy with that praise, but before anything more could be said, an icy breeze washed across the cart and my attention was back firmly on our surroundings. We’d grown a little complacent, moving rapidly through the frigid, untouched landscape. There had not been a single person, fae, or evil queen, in sight, which might have lulled us into a false sense of security. And while it was cool everywhere in the Winter Court, this breeze felt … unnatural.
I called out to my familiar. Finn! How far are we from the meeting point? I sent him a series of images from the landscape around us, hoping he might have some idea of our location in proximity to his.
You’re close. I’m coming in from the west and will hit you in a few minutes. Just keep heading forward. I sense the queen is on your tail, but you should beat her.
“Go!” I said with as much force as I could, my focus locked on the landscape behind us. “The queen is trailing us. Finn says we should beat her to the rescue team, but we need to pick up the pace.”
Kian didn’t ask me anything more, didn’t question who Finn was. He let go of his wife, picked up both reins, and with a terse command the horse surged forward. Kade shifted his weight until he was crouched right on the edge of the cart, balanced there as his face started to take on bear-like characteristics. I shuffled forward too, energy swirling inside of me, my new fae vision helping as I scanned the wintery surroundings looking for pursuers.
The ice picked up and I sensed the magic in it now, the same type the queen had used to literally freeze people to the spot. “Definitely the queen,” I murmured to Kade. “Her icy breath is a weapon we need to avoid.”
“We’re almost at the spot,” Kian called out. Neither of us looked away, but I did give him a wave of acknowledgement.
Finn is incoming, I said to Kade through the bond.
I can sense him. Nix is keeping an eye out and will let me know what she finds. The queen has a fog cloaking her, which means he can’t see a lot from above. He then added, Looks like she has ten winter fae with her.
His voice lowered as he mentioned Nix. He wanted to see his familiar as badly as I needed to see mine. It had been far too long since we had touched them and let our bond be reinforced.
Finn’s huge white body came into sight then, and I found myself leaning forward in anticipation, my blood fizzing, body flushed with adrenaline. Every soft emotion possible slammed into me and I had to breathe deeply to halt another breakdown. Come on, training, I need you now. I was a queen, we kept our crap together, and I was at the limit of my emotional leaking for the day.
Finn sprinted in behind us, and with a graceful leap crossed the last few feet to land in the back of the cart. It gave a lurching bump, but the powerful horse soon had us flying along again. I dived over and wrapped my arms around Finn. I missed you so much, I said as I tangled myself as close as possible into his thick fur.
He nuzzled his snout into me and said, Don’t ever do anything like that again. You should never risk yourself, you’re too important.
A queen will always risk herself for her people, you know that.
He growled lightly, but didn’t argue with me again. My only consolation, he finally said, was that if you died, I would also. For I would not live in this world without you.