Dedication
I’m running out of people to dedicate to.
To Jessica.
There must be plenty of Jessica’s out there.
Chapter 1
My chest felt like it might explode. It was so tight I could barely breathe.
Liam killed my mom.
My soulmate killed my mother!
Pain sliced through my heart as I remembered her lying there, bleeding out in the bathtub.
It was because of Liam, not his father…
Light burst from my palms, and the walls of the hut shook. The Winter King had just taken all of Faeries’ crystals, but I’d managed to save one. And now, Liam and his men were gone, and my people needed me. But I couldn’t control my grief and anger well enough to leave this hut and see them. I couldn’t be what they needed right now.
“Lily!” Elle’s voice rang throughout the village as sobs wracked my chest.
Light shot from my palms, collapsing part of the roof as I struggled to contain my power.
“Lily!” Elle burst into the space, covering her eyes against the glowing sunlight that engulfed me.
“He killed her!” I wailed.
I slept with him… I had sex with the man who murdered my mother. I was going to be sick.
“What?” Elle looked confused. She held her hands out as if approaching a rabid dog.
“Just breathe, Lil,” she cooed.
I shook my head as light continued pulsing from my palms in short bursts. “Liam. He admitted to killing my mother,” I growled as the anger became too much. Saying it out loud, to my best friend, it broke me.
Her face fell, and she sagged against the wall. “No… he wouldn’t.”
“He did!” I pounded my fist on the ground, and chunks of dirt went flying along with more light. I’d never been so angry in all my life.
“Maybe there’s an explanation,” she hedged, pulling herself up off the wall.
My gaze snapped to hers, and I must have looked murderous because she recoiled.
“Elle.” My lower lip quivered as the rage dialed down and the grief ramped up. “I fell in love with him.” A whimper left my throat… “And he killed her.”
Sobs wracked my body as Elle crossed the space and fell to her knees before me, pulling me into a tight embrace.
“I’m… so sorry. How could he?” There was grief in her voice too, and it sent me over the edge.
I couldn’t hold on to my power any longer. The light, the heat, it was suffocating me. With a cry, I aimed it at the far wall of the hut and let everything go.
I just wanted to be free of this feeling. I just wanted to breathe.
The light ignited the entire tent, and Elle held me as we both closed our eyes while I prayed I wouldn’t burn us up. I just couldn’t hold it together anymore. I didn’t care anymore… about anything.
When the light finally stopped and the pressure on my chest was gone, I opened my eyes to see the entire hut had collapsed around us. Where there was once a muddy bog, there was now lush green grass covering the ground and hundreds of flowers. Even in my grief, my light magic hadn’t intended to do harm; it restored.
When I raised my eyes, what I saw stole my breath. Half the village had gathered around and now fell to their knees, bowing their heads.
Elle released me and helped me to stand before bowing her own head.
Oh shit.
My power display had just outed my royal lineage.
No more hiding.
The time to take up my royal birthright and be honest with Faerie was now.
“Lily?” May, head hung low in respect, looked up at me with confusion.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “We’ve all been lied to… myself included.”
As soon as I said it, the elders turned the corner, minus Maple. The elder had died protecting the crystals. Indra looked at everyone on their knees as shock marred her face. The same expression was worn by Rose and Aubin.
“The Spring Queen lives!” I yelled and watched as Indra’s shock turned to anger. “She remains in a magical sleep until I can retrieve all twelve crystals.”
There were gasps, and some fae even fell over as they processed what I said. “I… am… her biological daughter, the Princess of Spring.”
I let that sink in. No one said a word; they just stared at me in shock, whispering among themselves. I went on, “Until the Queen wakes, it will be up to me to save us, and I will. I promise you that.”
Rose and Aubin looked surprised at that, but Indra just glared at me, and I dared her with my gaze to say something to the contrary.
Elle pulled her dagger and pointed it at the three elders. “Show respect to the Princess of Spring,” she declared.
I stiffened at my bestie’s boldness.
As elders, they wouldn’t need to kneel, but a head bow was customary from what little information I knew about royal lineage.
Rose and Aubin immediately dipped their heads low while Indra’s nostrils flared as she gave the slightest of nods.
“We must have missed the show.” Indra smiled. “Did you prove your lineage with a power display of sunlight magic?”
Oh, she was going to test me? In this mood?
Without thinking, I flicked my right wrist and sent a bolt of buttery yellow light right at her feet. She stumbled backward, wide-eyed, as the other fae gasped.
I looked at my people on their knees in the dirt and shook my head. “Get up. Please. You don’t ever need to kneel to me again.”
They looked unsure, but when May stood, they seemed to catch on. Indra was like a frozen statue of shock, hand clutched to her chest and face marred in surprise. As if she didn’t know. I just didn’t trust her anymore, not after reading my mother’s journal.
Elle leaned into me. “What do we do about the crystals? We have no army.”
I swallowed hard. “We build our own army. Fuck Liam.”
I stepped forward and pointed to three tall and lean looking farmers. “You three, grab a bow and arrows and man the river. If anything crosses it, kill it.”
They blanched but nodded before leaving. Our protection dome was down, and the dark creatures of the forest would use that to their full advantage, I had no doubt.
“You five!” I pointed at another group of fae who looked like they might be decent warriors. “You need to train with Trissa or Elle and learn to shoot a gun, understand?”
One of them gasped. “A gun? That’s an Earth weapon.”
I nodded. “And they will use them against us. We must fight in kind.”
With some reluctance, they agreed and walked over to Elle who started to pull the gun off her hip and explain how it worked to them. The elders just watched me silently as I barked orders and put the entire village to work. I kept sneaking glances at Indra, daring her to disagree with me or try to take charge, but she kept silent.
Trissa popped up beside me. “What do you need of me?” She bowed her head slightly.
“Fetch Jasper.” I hadn’t seen the warlock since we got back from the Winter Court lands. “We’re going to war.”
My heart hammered in my chest as I fought to process everything. We had one crystal.
Fucking one.
Liam murdered my mom and took his army with him when he left, and it was up to me to get the eleven crystals back before Faerie fell for good or the dark creatures from the woods picked us off, one by one.