I stood in my room, staring at the tapestry on the wall—the one with the strange, monstrous fae, those with insect wings and patches of green covering their limbs. Fae with claws, antlers, and horns, with fangs and clothing stitched together with moss. Forbidding, jagged trees arched over them. When I looked closely enough, I saw the horrors some of them were committing—severing heads with their claws, ripping entrails from their enemies.
I still wanted to know what had happened to my birth parents, but I didn’t feel the grief viscerally. When Chloe died, the sorrow had split me open. This sorrow, I felt from a distance. I didn’t have a single memory of them.
Shalini pushed the door open, her face flushed and glowing. “Ava, I just had the best—” She went quiet. “Is everything all right?”
My limbs had gone heavy. “I’m fine. But Torin thinks my birth parents may have been killed by monsters. The same ones who killed his. They couldn’t find any precise records, but…” I trailed off. “There was some kind of massacre the same month I was found in the human world. They might have been killed then.”
“What do you mean? What kind of monsters?” she asked.
Ice plunged down my chest. “No one will talk about it. It’s like a superstition or something.” I pointed at the tapestry. “Do you know anything about these creatures?”
She shook her head. “No. Could be just artistic license?”
I turned back to the bed, where three books lay on the top of the blankets. “Want to learn about fae history with me?”
I plopped down on top of the blankets and pulled the bright red book into my lap. “A Short History of the Fae, by Oberon,” I read. “I can translate.”
“How did you learn Fae?” asked Shalini.
I smiled at her. “Magic.” I opened the book to the first page. “‘A Short History of the Fae, by Oberon Quiverstick,’” I read. “‘Within this volume, I have done my best to summarize the long and complex history of the fae. No one knows when we first came to Faerie. For a long time, the six clans’ ancestors lived an uncivilized existence, for which no written records exist. It wasn’t until the first high king of Faerie united the clans that our written history begins…’”
I started to skim, flipping the pages. “Hang on. This is super interesting, but I want to know about the massacre.” I skipped past chapters about the six clans: the Kelpie, the Banshees, the Selkie, the Dearg Due, the Redcaps, the Leannán sídhe. Coming to the last chapter, I took a deep breath. “‘King Mael led perhaps the most controversial reign of any fae king.’”
“Torin’s father,” said Shalini, leaning over the book.
I continued reading. “‘Born second in line to the throne, Mael had been trained to be a soldier, the leader of the army. His older brother, Gram, was to succeed to the throne. But at sixteen, Prince Gram was killed by the Erlking while hunting a stag. After that, Mael was named the heir apparent.
“Whoa.” Shalini’s eyes had gone wide. “It was that grotesque head we saw on the wall. Aeron said King Mael slaughtered it.”
“That’s got to be the monster, right?”
I turned back to the book. “‘King Mael spent the first years of his reign in the forest, tracking the cursed fae. After nearly five years, he found the Erlking’s lair and killed him, finally avenging his brother’s death. Almost immediately thereafter, the tournaments for his queen began, and he chose Princess Sofie. They soon had two children: a boy (Torin) and a girl (Orla). However, Mael’s reign was cut short when…’”
I turned the page, only to find an image of the Erlking taking up the next page, and then several pages that had been ripped out.
“What the hell?” Shalini said. “It was just getting good.”
I nodded, swallowing hard. “Whatever happened twenty-six years ago, they don’t want anyone to know about it.” I stared at the ripped pages. On the other side of them was text about the beginning of Torin’s reign, but it was written in a propaganda style, since he was already king by the time the book had come out.
A knock sounded on the door, and my head snapped up.
“I’ll get it.” Shalini rose and opened the door.
Aeron stood in the doorway, his blond hair falling in his eyes, looking for all the world like one of the TikTok guys who could garner a million followers just by taking off his shirt and chopping wood. He blushed as he looked down at her. “Hello.”
“Do you want to come in?” she asked.
He smiled but shook his head, and held up a large white box. “I just came to drop something off. Ava’s dress for the ball tonight. She should arrive in the Caer Ibormeith ballroom in one hour.” He glanced over her shoulder. “I will send someone to escort you.”
“Oh, okay.” I could hear the disappointment in her voice as she took the box from him.
“I won’t be at the ball myself. Perhaps…if you are not otherwise engaged…we might dine together.”
She smiled at him. “I’ll be here. And I’m looking for some adventure, Aeron, because right now, Ava is getting it all.”
He grinned at her. “I will show you my favorite grove in Faerie. You should dress warmly.” With a little bow, he turned and walked away, and Shalini closed the door behind him.
She turned to me, her smile radiant. “I have a proper date with the hottest virgin in existence. Not just the hottest virgin. Maybe the hottest man.” She crossed to the bed and dropped the box onto it.
“I’m glad you came with me to Faerie, Shalini.” I slid the top of the box off and pulled out a long, silky gown—one in deep violet, a few shades darker than my hair. “I’m not getting a romance out of this, but it seems like you are.”
She shrugged. “You don’t need romance right now. You need a rebound. And since Torin is a fae fuckboy, he seems like the right person to take your mind off…you know…the monster we shall not speak of.”
“Andrew?”
“Don’t say his name. You could summon him.”
I crossed into the bathroom and filled the tub, watching the steam curling into the air.
The problem was, something told me that Torin might be the most dangerous thing around.
