Solstice (Midsummer #3)

14. Ivy

14

Ivy

“W hat are you thinking?” Carter asked, taking a sip of scotch. It was three in the morning in Romania, and weariness hung under his eyes, matching the crease between his brows. He looked exhausted, even on FaceTime. After Victor left, we’d gone back to the bed-and-breakfast to have dinner and deliberate about what to do next. This was the only time Carter could talk, so we’d taken advantage of that.

“I don’t know.” Lex pulled on his cigarette. “We need to think about this. Be strategic.”

“I’ll have Kit keep looking for Siobhan.” I didn’t like having my siblings involved, but there was no one as good as my sister. “If she shows up, we’ll know.”

“Meanwhile, we can keep researching.” Lex continued. “There’s got to be something out there. Some story. Some myth. Someone has to know something.”

My focus went to Miri, who had remained suspiciously quiet since her question about time traveling. That made me nervous.

“When can you come home?” Lex asked.

“Soon,” Carter answered. “March.”

“We miss you,” I said.

“Miss you, too. Love you.”

We hung up, but I moved to sit on the couch next to our princess, lifting her outstretched legs so I could put them in my lap. I wanted to touch her for my next conversation, which might not be pleasant.

“Miri.” I squeezed her ankle so she’d look up at me. “Why did you ask about time travel and memory manipulation?”

She shrugged. “Poppy said her gifts were from space and time. I wanted to make sure.”

“You asked about the king being able to go back in time.” I didn’t buy the innocence game she tried to sell us, and it was time she fessed up to whatever she’d been keeping to herself.

Miri looked away again, but Lex moved closer and put his hand under her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “Do I have to do it?”

She squared her jaw and jerked her head away, glancing back at me with tears brewing in the corners of her eyes. With an exhale that sounded like it weighed a ton, she murmured, “Go on, then.”

I pushed one hand under her leggings, skin to skin, and grabbed Lex’s wrist with the other. Together, we watched Miri’s memory of the car accident. Her fear sizzled through me like it was my own, the bite of raw terror permeating through my soul, the loud screech of metal on metal echoing between my ears. It wasn’t just the visions flashing through us like a movie; it was her pain and her confusion as well. Miri’s tears skated down my cheeks, and my heart broke as hers crumbled. I ached for this version of my beloved, the child who had watched her parents die right in front of her.

Then an enormous hand reached into the vehicle and pulled her out, cradling her as he carried her to the side of the road and placed her in the grass. His features seemed so kind, so at odds with the cruel snarl I associated with him.

“Yes, Little Thistle. You’ll come to owe me quite a bit before we’re through.”

I tried to sift farther and go deeper. I sensed something else too, something that had happened to her but been put in a dark, spiraling container. Something like the car accident, but more recent. It had been encased in an impenetrable haze that even I couldn’t break through. All I got was a glimpse of the prince of Monaco before the connection broke like a punch to the gut.

Miri launched off the couch, gasping as she put her hands over her face, deep, wretched sobs pouring out.

“He was there?” Lex’s eyebrows shot up his forehead.

Lex hadn’t felt what I had; he hadn’t sensed the second part of her secret.

Miri swallowed and turned to us, crossing her arms over her waist like she was sick to her stomach. Hell, it hadn’t even happened to me, and I felt like I might throw up.

“I don’t know.” She inhaled on a broken sigh, wiping tears off her cheeks, hiding her face from both of us.

“You don’t know?” Lex’s tone echoed off the walls, his eyes piercing as they glared at her. “How could you keep this from me? From us?”

“You’ve known since Samhain?” I stood, holding my hands up in solidarity. I didn’t want to be angry with her. We all kept secrets for different reasons. Once upon a time, Lex and I had kept a hell of one from her. But the time had come for the truth. She couldn’t hide this from us any longer. We needed to know all of it, if only so we could protect ourselves from whatever the fairies threw at us next.

“I was scared, okay?” Her hands balled into fists as they dropped to her side. “I didn’t know what it meant. I thought he was screwing with me, putting fake memories in my head. After talking to Victor…” She cleared her throat and looked away. “I don’t know what to think anymore.”

My heart broke for her. This… This had been what she was bearing alone, and I ignored the betrayal that came with my lover feeling like she couldn’t come to us, to me, with her darkest fears. I put my arms around her and pulled her into a hug while she cried.

“Shh,” I told her. “Thank you for telling us now.”

“I’ve been so scared,” Miri said. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. I’m sorry.” She clung to the back of my shirt, hanging on to me like I could grant her the salvation that would purify her soul.

“It’s okay, Miri. My princess. My love.” I kissed the side of her head. “It’s okay.”

“If Poppy’s the only one who can go back in time, does that mean she’s helping him?” Miri said into my chest. “Why does he care so much about me?”

I looked to Lex, who ran his hands through his hair and squared his jaw, his stare turning to molten rage.

“He shouldn’t have been able to get out when I was a child.” Miri closed her eyes and shook her head, taking a long drag. “I don’t understand. He was cursed, forbidden to leave Faerie. How did it happen?”

“Miri, you should have told us.” I brushed hair out of her face and kissed her forehead, her mouth, her cheeks, anywhere I could. “I love you, and I understand why you kept it to yourself. But please be honest with me in the future.” I let my eyes say what my mouth couldn’t.

What else are you hiding? Tell us now.

She didn’t. Whatever I’d sensed earlier lingered between us until Lex sat on the couch and put his elbows on his knees. “If you remember him from your childhood, that means he gets out. That means whatever we try to do to stop it is futile. We should focus on how to defeat him when he gets here.”

She shrugged and dropped her jaw, looking up to me for help. I didn’t know what to say. I collapsed on the other side of her, taking a long, deep pull on the cigarette. “It doesn’t matter. We know he’s after Poppy, and we know he ultimately gets her. We should focus on that.”

I thought about what Lex said at Solstice, that he’d use Poppy for bait. I had balked at the time, but now maybe that made the most sense. The king wanted her, and he obviously couldn’t hurt her if he planned to use her to skip across time, but to what end? Had the king only gone back to mess with Miri’s life? Or had he screwed with all of us without our knowledge?

“We should ask Poppy if that’s something she can do,” Lex said. “Or if she knows that she can do it.”

“And if she can?” Miri’s voice shook, like she’d been holding on to this secret so long, it physically hurt to be relieved of it.

“We’ll protect you.” Lex pulled her into him so he could kiss her forehead.

“I’m not just worried about me.” Miri looked between us. “I don’t want him forcing Poppy to do terrible things.”

“We’ll protect her, too.” I grabbed Miri’s hand and kissed her knuckles. “I promise.” I’d go to my grave protecting that child if I had to. She was mine. Mine and ours, and the fucking fairy king would have to go through us to get to her.

Miri shook her head and sighed, but didn’t disagree.

“C’mon.” Lex stood and stabbed out his cigarette. “We’re all tired. Let’s take a shower and go to bed.”

We squeezed into the tiny tub and cleaned each other, taking our time to make Miri come. As much as I normally loved to dominate my princess, she seemed more fragile now than she ever had before, more vulnerable for having confessed her sins.

Lex fucked her from behind and I lapped at her clit, and when she came, she dug her fingers into my hair and moaned both of our names. God, turning her to putty like this inflated my ego. I loved being able to love her, and I loved that Lex loved her, too.

If it didn’t make me such a sap, I’d cry at how deep my emotions for both of them went. After we all found a release, we cuddled together in the king-size bed with Miri in the middle. Sometime later, I took them both again, needing the connection like I needed air. It was sweet and gentle and slow. We laughed and giggled, and when I climaxed for the fourth time, I swore I’d never let anything tear us apart again.