Once all the doors were closed, I eased the limo out of the parking garage. It was only a short drive to the Marina, but traffic was appalling. I tapped the wheel with my fingers impatiently. Every second that went by felt agonizing—in my head, I imagined Connor bolting across the stage and plunging a knife into Audrina’s chest.
In a bid to ease the tension, I glanced at Eryk. “How are you finding life in the human realm?”
He thought for a moment. “It is not so different from my own home. From what I remember.”
“Oh?” I took a turn. “Have you not been home for a while?”
“Not since I was a child,” he said.
“Why is that?”
He shot me a confused look. “I cannot go home.”
I waited, but he didn’t elaborate. “Why can’t you go home?”
“I am cynvact ey bateromont.”
I remembered the phrase. “Like Cecil? Doesn’t it mean ‘spoil of war’?”
“No, Cecil is a foilynre ey bateromont. He is a spoil of war. I am a prisoner of war.” His lips flattened into a hard line. “Technically, Cecil outranks us. That’s why he is comfortable acting—as you would say—as a bratty little shit to us.”
I gasped. “You’re a prisoner?”
“Nate and I are both prisoners,” Eryk said mildly.
“Since when?”
“Since always. We were both taken by the army of the Kingdom of the Crystal Castle after minor skirmishes when we were both children.” He shrugged lightly. “Our people should have known better than to try to wage war against the Queen.”
My mouth dropped open. “That’s horrible!”
But Eryk shook his head. “Oh, no, it is entirely fair, Chosen. In fact, I am exceptionally lucky. I may have been a child at the time, but I was throwing flaming balls of lead at the Queen’s army just like the rest of my people. And, while most of my people who fought that day were executed, I was spared and taken in chains to the dungeons of the Crystal Castle.”
“That’s… I wouldn’t call that lucky, Eryk.”
“Well. The dungeons were not pleasant.” A shadow passed over his eyes for a moment. “But after a couple of years, Prince Donovan found me down there. Unlike the rest of his family, the presence of a child in the dungeons made him uncomfortable. He was not able to change my status as a prisoner of war, but with Martina’s guidance, he found a loophole in the Kingdom’s laws. He made me his blood bondsman, so he was able to free me from the dungeons. So, I am his bondsman first, and a prisoner of the Kingdom second.”
“You’re still a prisoner.” I shook my head sadly. “He can’t just let you go?”
“He has,” Eryk said simply. “As much as he is able to without provoking the attention of the Queen. Prince Donovan is not forcing me to be here, Chosen. I am here because I want to be. I will accompany His Highness to the lowest realm at the very bottom of all the Worlds. I owe him my life, my sanity, the very breath in my lungs. He freed me from the dungeons when he could have just walked back up the stairs and forgotten he’d ever seen me.”
“Well.” I shuddered. “I suppose we have that in common. I am also deeply uncomfortable with the idea of children in dungeons.”
“It happens in this realm, too,” Eryk said gently. “There are children in prisons all over the world. You build special centers to house them.”
I opened my mouth and shut it again. “You know what, every time I get high and mighty about how barbaric your world sounds, I’m reminded that humans are just as bad.”
He chuckled. “This realm is fantastic at hiding unpleasant things under a layer of civility and excuses. In Faerie, we do not bother.”
I turned into the short private street that led to the Clarendon Club. “Okay, it’s showtime.” I rolled the limo to a stop in front of the gate, and quickly and ungracefully clambered over Eryk into the passenger seat.
Eryk wound down the window and announced Prince Donovan and guests. The blank-faced security guard quickly poked his head in, assessed us all carefully, and nodded. “Welcome to the Clarendon, Your Highness.” He waved us forward.
Eryk switched seats with me as soon as the guard moved away, and I maneuvered the limo up the grand driveway lined with cherry blossoms and twinkling lights, and around the huge marble fountain in front of the main ivy-covered brick building.
I hit the button to slide the partition down. “Are we ready to go?”
Cecil cleared his throat awkwardly. “We might need a minute, Chosen.”
“Why?” I glanced back and saw Cecil’s furry little paws blurring around Cress, repairing a rip in her rumpled beige shirt. On the other side of the limo, Nate had glowing hands cupped around Donovan’s nose. A thin trickle of blood evaporated while I watched. “Oh, no. Have you two been fighting again?” Donovan opened his mouth to reply, but I waved my hand brusquely. “No, you know what, I don’t want to hear about it. We’re here to save Audrina. That’s the most important thing, and I, for one, will not be distracted.”
I opened the passenger door, got out, stomped around the limo, and came face to face with Seraphina.
Chapter
Twenty-Four
The air evaporated from my lungs instantly. Seraphina looked as stunning as ever, all long legs, long arms, long red hair and big, blinky doe eyes. She stared down at me from the top of the steps, looking almost shocked.
“Susan!” She composed herself quickly, leaning back against the railing, looking as cool and graceful as a calla lily in her bright-white silky dress. “What are you doing here?”
My eyes took in the soft bump in her belly. A thrum of intense pain shook me to my core. Seraphina was possibly the worst person I knew, but in this moment, I would trade places with her in a heartbeat. It took every ounce of strength I had to wrench my eyes back up to her face.
I licked my lips. She was still waiting for a response. Suddenly, my mouth was so dry. “I’m here for dinner, Seraphina,” I managed.
“Oh? I didn’t think they let just anyone in here. Do you… do you have an escort?”
“Yes. I do.”
