More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
“All the girls feel that way, my dear. Don’t feel too special.”
This whole tradition is built entirely around human fertility. As if, as a woman, my only worth lies in my ability to give them offspring.
What good is becoming darkness where there is only light?
“I hope whoever I marry isn’t a stranger when the time comes.”
No matter how much I want to, I don’t get to think of marriage and bonding ceremonies with the same romantic notions my mother did when she was my age.”
Bonded fae spouses are conscious of each other’s needs always. They feel each other’s pain and happiness like it’s their own. It’s quite beautiful, really.”
The human partner doesn’t have the awareness of the other side of the bond the way a faerie would.”
The human still has free will, but faeries who don’t respect the bond have certainly used it to compel their humans.”
It’s a gift that makes you the best partner possible by heightening your awareness of their . . . needs.”
“That’s the special magic we use to transform humans into fae. They become immortal. Surely you’ve heard of it.”
Suddenly she’s not Eurelody but Pretha. This faerie has many faces, it seems.
“After you ran from the tavern, I followed you to the forest. Finn forbade me to follow you too closely. He just wanted to make sure you made it safely to wherever you were going.”
“I’m impatient. Considering that my uncle has your sister, I’m surprised you aren’t as well. But maybe you’re content to enjoy the luxuries of palace life, busy preparing for your life as that boy’s princess.”
Finn snaps his fingers, and the wolves sit, sniffing the air in my direction and whining quietly. They’ve healed since I saw them in the forest, but there is no doubt in my mind that these are the same animals that attacked the Barghest.
“Thank you,” I say, kneeling in front of them and offering the back of my hands to smell. “You protected me.” The wolves lick my hands, then nuzzle my palms like big cats.
“Mordeus,” Finn says with none of Kane’s annoyance, “cannot get any more powerful unless he wears the crown.”
“What if I told you,” Finn says softly, “that your power is never useless. That you’re strong enough to manifest darkness so complete that it would gobble up every bit of her light?”
You will find, Princess, that the real magic in our world is tied up in free will. Not even the strongest fae—or the greatest thief—can take that which can only be given freely.”
“I’m Riaan. You must be the captivating and heart-stealing Abriella I’ve heard so much about.”
This one’s too busy for me. Preparing to be king. Choosing a bride.” He shoots me a meaningful look, then adds, “Though if you ask me, he should just grovel until you agree to take the position.”
“It’s absurd, isn’t it?” he asks softly. “So much excess here when so many suffer in Elora. I didn’t realize . . . not until I moved in with Mage Trifen.”
“Human magic is different, and I’m not arrogant enough to believe that I don’t need it.” He turns to the view beyond, and his gaze goes distant. “I know I’m going to need every advantage I can get if I want to be the best ruler for my people.”
“I was born one of the Wild Fae, but I pledged my allegiance to Finn long ago.”
“We work for the greater good for all of Faerie,” Pretha says, pulling her long hair over one shoulder and beginning to braid it. “And since Finn is leading that charge, yes, we work for him. We work with him.”
Females so rarely have any meaningful power in Elora, and I can’t help but respect Pretha a little more.
“Who are Misha and Amira?” I ask. “King and queen of the Wild Fae. They’ve been essential in our mission over the last two decades.”
“Don’t take his moodiness personally. This one’s been brooding for twenty years.”
For a moment I think he feels it too—the pulsing energy between us, this awareness that makes me feel more awake and alive than I ever have.
Your power is as vast as the ocean, and you’re limiting yourself to what you can hold in your hand.”
He steps forward and takes my hand, and that undeniable connection between us snaps into place as the evening sky darkens and fills with stars. I gasp. The darkness soothes my ragged edges and cools my anxiety even as I realize it’s not the whole night sky, but only a bubble around us.
Is that what I feel when he touches me? Potential? Because it feels like . . . lust.
In truth, I don’t want to see all the other girls fawning all over Sebastian. I don’t want to see him flirting with them. I don’t want to see him smiling at them the way he used to smile at me, and I don’t want to think about him having a future with one of them.
“If you’d like, I could glamour us so no one can see.”
Even if part of me wants Sebastian again—still?—that’s not the life I want.
The night has always been my favorite time, but nighttime in Faerie makes my power tingle beneath my skin, makes me feel like I could fly. And here next to Sebastian, it feels like I could be happy.
“I believe change is coming. And that the right leader could unite both courts.”
“You’re not wicked,” I say. Then I back out of the room quickly because I do care. I care too much.
“Kane and I were smuggling a group out of the queen’s northern camp.
I know what it’s like to be without your parents and forced to serve those who feed and shelter you.
“We find the children and get them to safety in the Wild Fae territory. Kane is transporting two dozen as we speak.”
“Because their existence under Mordeus’s rule is so grim that the risk is worth it,” Pretha says. “He’s greedy and selfish, and he doesn’t care about taking care of his whole kingdom. His laws favor the rich and powerful and punish the less fortunate.”
And I don’t want her to die in the fire. She did that already.”
“Next time she dies, it has to be during a bonding ceremony. Otherwise, she’ll never be queen.”
“And I’m not going to be the Seelie queen.” She giggles. “You could never be the Seelie queen.”
Everything I do I do to protect my people and give them a safe home.” His eyes lock on mine, so intense you’d think I alone had the power to give him his father’s throne. “That is a king’s true responsibility.”
“She’s not doing anything she doesn’t want to do, Abriella.”
I’m so sick of being kept in the dark. I’m so sick of the people I’m forced to trust not trusting me with anything.
I don’t open them again until I’ve slowly slipped through the wall, through the wards they have around the house, through Pretha’s shield, and into the library.
“You shouldn’t linger in the dark when she’s around.”
“Lark has her father’s eyes. Finn’s her uncle, and he’s free to kiss whomever he wishes.”
