Solstice (Midsummer #3)

16. Ivy

16

Ivy

S iobhan had asked all of us to come, but Miri couldn’t get away from her royal duties so soon after visiting us last month.

“I wish I could, darling,” she said. “But it’s better if I stay here for the time being.”

I clenched my eyes shut at the strange tone in her voice, telling myself it was just my own exhaustion creeping up on me.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I remembered finding something else in her mind when she’d let me see her memory of the king, something buried so deep that I wondered if she even knew about it.

“I’m okay. Truly.” It sounded like another lie, and I secretly wished Lex had been the one to call her instead. “I love you. Please be safe. Call me when you get home.”

“All right. I love you—” She hung up before I could get the rest of it out. Something else was going on with her, something more than her memory of the king, and if she didn’t come clean soon, I’d hop on a plane to London myself. I’d once promised her I wouldn’t let her get away from me again, and I meant it.

Theo picked Carter up from the airport and brought him to our townhouse. Tomorrow night, we’d go see Siobhan at the address Victor had sent to Lex and hoped three out of four would suffice. For now, we took the opportunity to reacquaint ourselves with our husband. We hadn’t seen him in weeks, and for someone magically bound to us, that felt like years.

Having his smile against my cheek, his hands in my hair, his words on my lips, it soothed some of the ache of his absence. It wasn’t completely right, and it wouldn’t be until we could be a four again, but it sated us enough…for now.

Lex took us both the way he’d been doing for years: rough kisses and deep scratches and slow, passionate fucking. He forced us into the shower and watched while Carter fucked me within an inch of my life. Then he pinned my arms down on the mattress with his knees and fucked my mouth while Carter ate his ass until he came in a low, desperate roar. He loved us and unloaded on us and then passed out on his side of the bed with me in between him and Carter. His soft snores hinted at how deeply he’d fallen into unconsciousness, which pleased me because neither of us had been sleeping well recently. He deserved the rest.

The next evening, we left to meet Siobhan at a park and ride on the outskirts of Northern Virginia. There was nothing out this way except for vineyards and cornfields. Theo sat in the driver’s seat, Lex and me in the second row with Carter in the third.

“She’s late.” Lex checked his phone for the fifth time, his knee bouncing, his fingers twiddling over his thigh.

“She’ll be here.” She had to be. We were long overdue for a conversation. Even I had to admit, fifty minutes didn’t bode well. Anxiety coiled in my stomach, and I ignored my vibrating work phone. Again.

Giana had balked at my taking the time away so close to my bill going through the Senate and now needed to contact me immediately, but I couldn’t focus on that. With Siobhan and Alberich and all this fucking mess, the Senate would have to wait. There might not even be a world to save after this was done.

Movement by the trees caught my attention, and I glanced up, trepidation shooting through my nerves as Siobhan ran closer, a giant male following behind her. I hopped in the third row with Carter when she opened the back door and climbed in next to Lex. A bigger male fairy with short pale hair climbed into the passenger seat, his face grim and scarred.

I opened my mouth to ask who he was, but Siobhan snapped, “Drive,” at Theo, looking from Lex to me and Carter in the back seat. “Where’s Miri? I told you to bring everyone.”

“Well, seventy-five percent is still a passing grade, right?” Lex pulled his lips into his devil’s grin. “Who the fuck is this?” He nodded at her companion.

“Finn, my commander.” Siobhan grimaced at Lex’s arrogance but shifted her attention to me, turning toward the center of the SUV, one arm across the back of the seat. “It’s good to see you again, Ivy.”

“Yeah, likewise.” I raised an eyebrow. “Where the hell have you been?”

She laughed. “There’s that fiery spirit. Tell me, how’s the engagement going?”

“Oh, great.” Lex shook his head. “Do you know what it’s like to live in a family of politicians and be able to sense when someone is lying?”

Siobhan sighed, her smile faltering. “It wasn’t supposed to be like that.”

“Then what?” I crossed my arms. “What the fuck is going on with us?”

“Look, I know you have a lot of questions. I don’t have many answers to give you.” Siobhan rubbed her forehead, her brown eyes mesmerizing and timeless. She hadn’t aged a day in four years, but that was the thing about fairies. A hundred years to us was a blink to them.

“Okay, let’s start with the obvious.” Lex lit a cigarette and cracked the window so he could blow the smoke out. “Take this fucking gift back.”

Siobhan matched his demanding tone with one of her own. “No.”

“Why not?” Carter asked.

“Because I’m not supposed to.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I hissed.

“I’m a banshee.” She looked between us. “I know when things are supposed to happen. Sometimes, it’s death. Sometimes, it’s giving a gift to a ginger-haired human girl with boyfriend drama.” Siobhan’s stare focused on me. “It comes to me randomly, but the first time I saw you, Ivy, it was the clearest instinct I’ve ever had. This?” She gestured between all of us. “I didn’t expect this. I didn’t do this.”

“What do you mean?”

“Something happened when you made that vow in the ruins. What I gave you was supposed to wear off after the ceremony. You’d wake up with a few fun memories, no big deal. But you vowed forever on our sacred lands.” Siobhan shrugged. “You made it permanent.”

My heart sank into my gut. “What?”

“I can’t remove it, Ivy, even if I wanted to.” She shook her head, her surprised expression squeezing my chest. “This is ancient and powerful magic. It’s bigger than me.”

“Bigger than you?” Carter pursed his lips and considered. “What, like destiny? Fate?”

She nodded. “You were made for each other, and whatever happens next, you four are at the heart of it.”

“So you don’t know how to fix it?” My hopes for clarity were quickly diminishing, and the sinking feeling at the base of my chest throbbed harder.

“There’s nothing to be fixed.”

I didn’t like that answer, and suddenly, every ten-year plan I had went up in smoke. I’d have to live with this forever, and I didn’t know what to do with that information.

“Do you know what Alberich is going to do?” Carter asked.

Siobhan sighed. “I have an idea, but he’s mercurial. He changes his mind faster than I can keep up.”

“What happened after we got out?” Lex flicked ash out the window, taking another long drag. “Did he kill the queen and all the other fairies?”

“No,” Finn cut in. “He’d never be able to kill the queen. They’re equals in every way. He couldn’t exist without her.”

Something about that sounded alarm bells in my brain, but I couldn’t put all the pieces together at the time. I tucked the information away for later when I’d be able to dissect it with a clear head. “Where is the queen? Why isn’t she handling this?”

“He took her captive at first, but she escaped,” Siobhan explained. “I don’t know where she is now. We’ve been sent on a mission to find her.”

“Is that why you’re on this side of the realm?” The urge to put my hand on hers and sift through her memories nearly overwhelmed me. I clamped my fingers into fists to keep from doing it. I didn’t even know if my gift would work on her or just piss her off. “Is Alberich here, too?”

“I think so,” she said. “The thistles slowed him down, but once they disappeared, he found a way to break his curse. I got out before he did.” Siobhan rubbed her fingers over her forehead. “Listen to me. You don’t have much time until he comes for you. If he’s out, he’s only waiting until he has all the pieces in motion. You have to be ready for him.”

“Does he want Poppy?”

Siobhan nodded. “She’s the key. Is she safe?”

“She is,” I said. “For now.”

“Where is she?”

“No fucking way,” Lex said. “You’re the right hand to the Dark Lord or some shit. I’m not telling you that.”

“Watch your mouth,” Finn snarled, focusing his glowing green eyes on Lex.

Siobhan held up a hand, and her commander grunted before staring back out the front window.

“I’m not loyal to the king,” Siobhan explained, “and I hold no great love for his purpose.”

“Why is Poppy so important?” I cut in before Lex ended up strangled. “What can she do? Can she go back in time?”

Lex softened his features and looked away, taking another long drag on his cigarette. That subtle move may have seemed innocent to everyone else, but I recognized it. That was his tell. The X on my neck had always given me away, but Lex’s lies were in his eyes and always had been. I kept that in the back of my mind as well.

“Maybe.” Siobhan sighed. “She’s strong, maybe the most powerful human I’ve ever known.” She looked between the three of us. “The king wants to destroy her. He mustn’t be allowed to do that. He mustn’t be allowed to win.”

“Then why are you helping him?” Lex’s curt tone sliced through the ominous tension in the air, like he still didn’t trust her.

“Because it’s the only way I can help my lady and Poppy. I was friends with her mother. I love her, and I’ll do whatever I can to protect her.”

That didn’t make any sense to me at the time, but before I could question it, Carter cut in.

“How can we help?” He looked between Siobhan and Finn, praying one of them would answer his question. “How do we end this?”

The SUV stopped at a red light, and I looked outside, recognizing the dim streets of downtown Arlington. The normally overpopulated sidewalks were surprisingly vacant this time of night, and I wondered if that too was some kind of fairy trick. Siobhan could see the future and create rings of power. What could Finn do?

Siobhan laughed at Carter’s question. “You think I have any idea? I get instincts, not visions. I was supposed to give you a gift. I did. Now it’s in fate’s hands. This is ordained, foretold. No one else could have given this to you. Use it.” Siobhan’s serious brown eyes met mine. “I’ve warded your house and your cabin in the mountains. No fairy may enter without a welcome, including the king and queen.”

“You did?” That touched my heart, if only because I had believed Siobhan forgot about us a long time ago. “When?”

Siobhan rolled her eyes. “I’ve been keeping tabs on you, Ivy Washington. I never forget someone that has been given a gift.”

The kindness in her expression made me blush, and I smiled to let her know I appreciated it.

“Why us?” Carter said. “It could have been anyone.”

“No.” She shook her head. “It couldn’t. I know some things have happened that you don’t particularly like, and when you find out the rest of it, you’ll hate me. Everything has been leading up to this, and you’re almost done.”

I opened my mouth to ask what she meant by that, but the SUV slowed in the middle of the street.

“Uh…guys...” Theo called.

“Fuck,” Finn growled, glancing at us with an angry glower. “He’s here.”

When I focused out the front window, my pulse picked up and my stomach churned. The vehicle had been completely surrounded by dark wisps of shadows. The air sizzled with power, crackling and zinging through the smog like electricity. I remembered this feeling from Faerie.

The king.

Bodies appeared out of the darkness up ahead, faeries, a lot of them. An entire army of the king’s henchmen glared at us, prepared to take us down. With only six of us in the truck and half of us armed, there was no way we could win, even if we drove through the crowd with the SUV. They’d swarm us and drag us back to Faerie, and then we’d be fucked.

I focused on my breathing, resisting the urge to panic.

This is it.

This is happening.

“Gods be damned,” Siobhan said, taking a deep breath.

“Drive,” Finn snarled, his hand on the dashboard to direct Theo. “Fucking drive, goddamn it.”

I lurched backward as Theo slammed on the gas, and Siobhan grabbed two of her daggers from the holsters at her sides, palming them in her fists. Finn ripped the sheath off his enormous sword, keeping his attention on the chaos outside.

I had only a moment to wonder how to defend myself when we crashed into a hard, invisible force, and I tumbled forward, slamming my head on the back of the seat in front of me. Pain ricocheted through my skull and down my spine as hot, sticky blood squirted over my chin.

“Shit,” I shouted, grabbing at my busted nose. I couldn’t see, the agony radiated through my entire face. I didn’t have time to wallow in it because obsidian swirls of smoke seeped in through the cracks in the windows on either side, making my chest cave inward with panic.

“Theo, drive!” Lex shouted.

“I can’t.” The wheels burned against asphalt, the taste of rubber pungent on my tongue, as something none of us could see held the vehicle still. Siobhan sliced at the tendrils with her blades, cutting them as easily as snipping the heads off flowers.

Finn growled again and muttered a loud, “Fuck,” before slamming his elbow into the side window, shattering it. I grabbed on to Carter, my eyes wide, my head pounding, and Siobhan kicked the glass out on the side closest to her. Both fairies stabbed at the smoke, slicing through bodies and flashes of bone. They moved so fast I had a hard time keeping up with what was happening.

I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t fight. I couldn’t do magic. I was just some weak, telepathic human. We’d thought we’d been prepared. We’d thought we’d done our research. How inadequate that seemed now that we were up against the real threat. I sat there stunned, and when a monstrous arm of smoke reached inside the driver’s side window and yanked Theo through it, I realized nothing I could have done would have made any difference.

I gasped as the cloud consumed him.

Everyone froze for a heartbreaking second, as if trying to make sure we’d seen what we thought we had. Finn shouted a louder, “Fuck,” and Siobhan grabbed Carter’s shirt, tugging him forward.

“Get us out of here,” she said, her brown eyes wide. I didn’t know Siobhan very well, but I’d never seen her this scared.

I didn’t want Carter to be the next Theo, so I started to protest. He gave her a timid nod, seeming to understand something I didn’t, and lumbered over the seat, cramming Lex against the window as he tried to get up front. Siobhan moved to the back next to me, smashing me against the wall as she fought off another thick arm of smoke.

An icy-cold rope wrapped around my throat, and I tried to claw it off me, but my nails dug into my overheated skin, scratching me instead. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. I struggled against the tether as Carter got the car moving again, my body jostling around. The air sucked out of my lungs and my chest caved in like I’d never be able to breathe again.

Stars danced in my vision, but not because I was dying.

No, something else was happening, something that terrified me even more.

I had only a moment to process it before I collapsed under its weight, letting the darkness consume me.