Solstice (Midsummer #3)

7. Ivy

7

Ivy

N ow that Carter and Miri were here, I could ignore this newfound lust for my fiancé. What was I supposed to say? That I loved him? That despite four years of fighting this engagement, I’d come to encourage it?

I didn’t know what transpired in those forty-eight hours we were alone or what it meant that I liked it so much, but once our spouses arrived, things went back to normal. I was grateful to wake up next to Miri each morning, her bright smile and brown eyes a peaceful balm to my soul. She brought out a tender side of Lex that he didn’t let very many people see. Being around Carter livened both of us in a way we sorely needed. We four were made to be together; I never believed that more than those precious days we spent at the cabin.

“Solstice is the longest night of the year,” Miri said, poking the fire with a metal rod. I sat on the couch in front of it, huddled under a thick, fuzzy blanket. Carter and Lex had gone hunting for more firewood about half an hour ago and hadn’t returned yet, leaving me and my wife alone. “Back home, we’d sit around the fireplace all night and wait out the sun’s return.”

She turned toward me and bounded closer, tucking under the covers, wrapping her arms around my stomach, her head on my chest.

“I missed you,” I told her, kissing the top of her hair.

“I missed you, too.” She looked up with her wide smile. “When we get the funding we need, we’ll have saved the whole world, and they won’t even know it.”

I chuckled. “Again.”

“Oh, did I tell you about the prince’s gardens?” Miri launched into a story about the prince of Monaco’s roses and how she’d made them healthier with barely a brush of her shoulder. My attention wasn’t on her tale, but on how her eyes twinkled when she talked. Did she enjoy Monaco? I thought she’d only gone once or twice. This sounded like she’d been there more often than that.

I cleared my throat. “You’ve spent a lot of time with him.”

She sighed and shook her head. “Yes, I’ll probably have to marry him soon.”

I winced, trying to hide the hot, achy rage that went through my gut. Objectively, I knew this day would come. We’d had conversations about the Prince of Monaco before, but I never thought it might be a real possibility.

“You’re serious?”

She nodded. “Yes. My grandmother will need great-grandbabies before she dies.”

“You have two men who would gladly impregnate you.”

Her expression softened, and she dropped her eyes to the space between us. “No, Ivy. You have two men that would gladly impregnate you. I have no one.”

I opened my mouth, but how could I argue with that? I took a sip of wine and swallowed down my bitterness. Lex would claim any child that came out of my body, even if Carter was the father. But Miri wasn’t married. She wasn’t in any long-term relationship. If she showed up pregnant, her grandmother would either make her get rid of it or make her marry the prince to cover it up. Her child would need a public father, and Lex couldn’t be that for her.

“Marry Carter,” I said, though it physically hurt my heart to mutter the words.

She cleared her throat and raised an eyebrow at me. “I wouldn’t do that to you, darling.”

“Why not?” I shrugged, pretending like it meant nothing even though it twisted my chest into knots. “I’m marrying Lex.”

“Against your will.”

I wasn’t so sure about that anymore, but I took another drink again to hide that, too.

“If you could be with Carter, would you? Legally?” She grabbed my hand, giving it a good squeeze, but I didn’t answer her.

Of course, I would. Hell, I probably would have already done it if it weren’t for my family and the politics at play. That didn’t help either of us, so instead, I said, “If I could be with you, I would.”

She sighed and leaned in to kiss me, giving me a sad little laugh. “Now, there’s an even more preposterous idea.”

“Why is that so preposterous?” I mimicked her snotty British tone.

“I can see the headlines now.” Miri laughed and leaned her head back against the sofa. “What would George Washington think? Daughter of American Revolution marries descendant of England’s worst king.”

I rolled my eyes. “We’d be lucky if that was all they printed.”

“We’d be the sluts that corrupted Lex and Carter.”

I laughed at that absurdity, remembering how Lex had tied me down and made me suck Carter’s cock while he played with my clit. “We’d be the lesbian witches that besmirched their good reputations.”

Which was even more hilarious because Lex and Carter had blurred the lines in their friendship before either of them had done it to us. She cackled harder, as if the thought of it was too upsetting to face with any real seriousness even if we knew the truth. If this were to get out, Miri and I would face the brunt of it. The guys would skate by, their respective brands too great to be blemished by an affair. Hell, the public might even praise them for their sexual exploits. Miri and I would be the whores of Babylon, the Jezebels, the Salomes dancing half naked with severed heads on silver platters.

“You don’t get to disappear on me,” I said, remembering a promise she made me years ago after the lust had taken us, after we’d been reunited and sworn never to be torn apart again. “I made an oath to never let you leave me again.”

“I remember.” Miri smiled up at me.

“Even if you end up with some decrepit old geezer, I’ll still come for you.”

“You better, darling.” She grinned and leaned in to kiss me, but this time, when she pulled away, she had a forlorn look behind her eyes that concerned me. It reminded me of the morning she’d shown me her gift, like she had a deep, dark secret she needed to get off her chest before it drowned her.

She opened her mouth and I reached for her, determined to see what she couldn’t voice. Just before I touched her, a zap cracked out through the cabin, echoing off the walls.

Miri sat back on her feet and I pushed upright, glancing over my shoulder because that sound could only mean one thing.

Poppy.

“Come here, my darling,” Miri called.

“Where are you?” I stood, glancing into the kitchen.

Big brown eyes peered around the corner, her blond hair messy with sleep.

“There you are.” My heart melted at the sight, and I squatted to get on her level, holding out my arms so she could rush into them. She did, giving me a tight hug. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing, just a nightmare.” She shook her head and wiped her wet face on my shirt. “I couldn’t go back to sleep there. I needed to see you.”

“It’s okay.” I kissed her on the forehead, and we walked back to the couch where she sat between Miri and me, tucking the blanket around her body. It had been two years since we’d brought her here from Faerie, and in that time, she’d grown about a foot and a half. She didn’t know how old she was, but we’d guessed about ten. Now in the body of a twelve-year-old, she struggled to fit in. Sometimes I looked into those eyes and saw a soul as old as time. Sometimes, I’d swear Poppy knew more than she admitted.

“It’s Solstice,” she said.

“I know.” Miri brushed hair behind Poppy’s ear and cuddled closer to her. “You’re safe here. No one will find you.”

Poppy rubbed her hands over her face. “That’s not what I’m afraid of.”

I narrowed my eyes, about to ask what she meant, but the front door swung open and Carter came through holding a bundle of logs. He stomped his snowy feet on the rug and hung his mouth open when he saw the girl between us. Poppy launched off the sofa and ran toward him, causing him to drop the wood to the side so he could pick her up when she jumped into his arms.

Of the four of us, Poppy had attached herself to Carter the most. Little wonder why, after the way he’d protected her in Faerie, the way he’d fought to bring her with us.

“There she is.” Carter gave her a big hug and a kiss. “It’s good to see you, kiddo.”

“You too, Carter,” she said. “I missed you lots.”

Watching them together always set my maternal instincts on high alert. He loved her so damned much, and his tenderness with her made me want to yank him into the closest dark corner so we could get to work on another one just like her. That, of course, was a pipe dream because Miri had been right. Any child of mine would be Lex’s, even if it had been biologically sired by Carter, and that broke my heart.

I cleared my throat and gulped down the rest of my wine to hide it, blinking back the tears in the corners of my eyes. It would tear my heart apart to see Miri and Carter together publicly, just as it had while they were in California years ago. But if it meant saving my princess from a dark and terrible prince, I’d sacrifice my true love and much more.

* * *

We waited out the long night the way we would have hundreds of years ago, huddled together on the couch around the fire. Poppy sat in between Carter and me, Lex on my other side, Miri on the other side of Carter. We played cards and read stories, and once Poppy fell asleep, the four of us drank whiskey and dreamed about an imaginary future that would never exist—one where Poppy could stay with us full-time, where we’d have our own children and no one would judge us for not knowing or caring whose was whose.

“Maybe we should have stayed in Faerie,” Miri said, dancing her fingers through Poppy’s wild curls. “Maybe once the king is gone, we can go back.”

“The king will never be gone. He’s immortal,” I added. “The king and the queen can’t be killed.”

“How do you know that?” Carter asked.

“It’s what the lore says.”

“Yeah, the lore also says fairies eat human flesh and demand sacrifices and sprout wings when they get pissed off.” Lex rolled his eyes. “I didn’t see any wings. Everything can be killed.”

“So that’s what you’d do?” I tilted my head at him. “You’d try to end him once and for all?”

“I told you two years ago what I’d do.” Lex licked his lips and raised his eyebrows at us. “I’d lure him out onto our playing field to trap him and send him right back where he came from.”

“How do you propose we do that?” I didn’t bother to hide the indignation in my tone. Lex would pick it up anyway.

He looked at Poppy for a moment, only a split second, but I saw it and it pissed me off. “No.”

“What?” Carter looked between us; he hadn’t caught what I had.

“I obviously wouldn’t let anything happen to her.” Lex shrugged as if the idea weren’t as diabolical as it really was.

“Then you won’t use her as bait,” I whispered-hissed, not wanting to wake Poppy.

“We’re all bait, X.” Lex pinched the bridge of his nose. “He’ll come after Miri because of what she can do. He’ll come after the rest of us for what we took from him, and I don’t just mean Poppy.”

I scowled and looked down at her, praying she didn’t hear this. She already had complicated feelings about Lex because of his wanting to leave her behind.

Maybe Carter recognized this because he said, “Let me,” and gathered Poppy in his arms to take her upstairs to her room. The more often she’d been coming to visit us, the better she’d gotten about teleporting herself back home before Vera woke. I’d always admired that about her, how she could control her gift even in her sleep. I supposed she’d need to be able to do that. If she didn’t, she could end up in different places all the time. When Carter returned, he sat next to me and gestured Lex to continue.

“We didn’t just take Poppy on Samhain. We’re the filthy humans that showed him up.” Lex blew out a breath before shaking his head. “We took the child, we built a wall of thistles, and we’re keeping him out. We’re making him look like a fool in front of his own people.”

I knew what I’d do if I were the king, and I knew what Lex would do. I’d go for the people who embarrassed me—quick, lethal, effective. Lex would bide his time, wait for the perfect moment, and make some stupid show of strength. Until then, he’d do whatever he could to ruin their lives bit by bit.

I prayed the king never got free. I prayed the thistles held up. I prayed Siobhan knew how to play whatever game she started four years ago. Ashley said Siobhan had the instinct, some knowledge of the future, and if she’d gone to the king willingly, she must have known what she was doing.

“He’ll crush us,” Carter said. “If he gets out, we’re fucked.”

“More than fucked.” I shook my head. “We’ll be lucky if he doesn’t kill us. Our magic doesn’t work on them, remember?” Lex had epically tried and failed to make the queen tell us the truth.

“Do you think his magic works on this side of the realm?” Miri seemed contemplative, like a secret plan brewed behind those mesmerizing eyes. That piqued my interest. What the hell could prompt her to ask that?

“Ours does. Poppy’s does.” Lex shrugged.

“Ashley and Siobhan could use their magic.” I remembered that day after Midsummer when I went to the pub for answers. Ashley had grabbed my hand and asked me to keep quiet about what I’d seen. Then everyone in the pub turned and looked at me, creeping me right the fuck out. She must be able to manipulate the way others viewed their reality. She’d done the same thing when she helped us get away from the king on Samhain, shielding us as we snuck out with Poppy.

“What about the fairies that are still on this side?” Carter took a sip of wine and ran a hand through the back of his hair. “The halflings like Smythe, the ones that were cast out. Do you think they’d be willing to go up against him?”

Smythe had been an art professor at Killwater College when we’d been there at Midsummer. Last Samhain, Lex had used his gift to make Smythe tell us how to get back into Faerie. We’d learned he’d been kicked out of his home and now searched for his own way to get back.

“Some might,” Ivy said. “But how would we find them?”

Lex looked at Miri, making my focus go to her, too.

“What?” She looked between us.

“You can tell who’s fairy and who’s not.” Lex pursed his lips.

She snorted. “Yeah, but what precisely do you expect me to do? It’s not like I have Cerebro available. I can’t put on a magic hat and find all the fairies all over the world.”

“I’m shocked you know that reference,” Carter said.

“What? Can’t a princess like comic books?”

He held up his hands in defeat. “I stand corrected.”

“We can start with Smythe,” I said. “I’ll track him down. He has to know where more of them are staying. We can ask them for help. If not, we can try to get information out of them.”

“When are you going to have time to do all of this, Representative Washington?” Lex raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you think writing bills and implementing environmental reform will be taxing enough?”

I sighed and rubbed my neck. He had a point, but this was too important. “I’ll have help.” That was true. I had interns, research assistants, and an entire cabinet designed to make me succeed. Plus, my little sister, Abigail, had signed on to spend at least twenty hours a week with me once I returned, and she trusted me blindly. I could put her to work.

Lex pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes, reading me like a book. “Don’t drag your siblings into this.”

I balked, unsure if I was more frustrated he knew my intentions so clearly or he presumed to think he could tell me what to do with my family. “How dare you.”

“I agree with Lex,” Carter said. “If any of my sisters got hurt, I’d never be able to live with myself.”

“They won’t,” Miri said. “We’ll keep them safe.”

I smiled, but deep down inside, I wasn’t sure we could do that.