EVERYTHING ABOUT FAIRSCAPE SEEMS GRAY after weeks in Faerie. From the sky to the houses, the grass to the trees—everything is less vibrant, as if a film of dreariness has been thrown atop the human realm.
Nik’s building looks just as I remember it, and Sebastian squeezes my hand as we approach her unit. Does he know how much these conditions sicken me?
Nik meets us at the door. She grabs my hand and pulls me inside, immediately shutting the door behind us. “They’re still looking for you, Brie.”
“Who—” Gorst. It seems like another lifetime that I broke into his vault to steal money to pay Madame Vivias.
“I’ve been so worried about you. I would’ve thought Gorst’s men got you if they weren’t still looking.” She pulls me into a tight embrace. She smells like soap and rose petals, just like I remember. I’m not sure I realized how much I missed her until this moment.
When she pulls back, she keeps holding my shoulders and looks me up
and down. “You look amazing. I told you there were good things in Faerie.” Her gaze lands on Sebastian, and she frowns before looking back to me.
The question is on her face—what does he know?
I almost laugh. Sebastian glamoured himself to look human for our visit to the mortal realm, and Nik doesn’t know that he’s fae, let alone that he’s the Seelie prince.
“I know everything,” he says softly, and I nod in confirmation. “How is she?” I ask.
“She’s okay. She was pretty dehydrated and confused, but she’s doing better. Mage Trifen helped while she was at his place.”
“Thank you so much.”
She turns toward the bedroom. “She’s sleeping, but I’m sure she’ll want to wake up to see you.” Before I can object, she opens the door and lets the light from the living room pour into the tiny bedroom. “Jas? Your sister’s here.”
My throat is tight as I walk forward. How many times in the last weeks have I asked the mirror to show me my sister just so I would feel less
alone? How many times did I want to give up but kept going for her? I rush forward as she leaps from the bed, and we meet in the middle of the bedroom.
Jas shakes as she curls into my chest, sobbing quietly. “I knew you’d come. I knew you’d find me.”
“I’m sorry it took me so long.” I pull back and study her. She looks different—still a girl but one who’s seen too much. There are dark circles under her eyes, but unlike the last time I saw her in the mirror, there’s color in her cheeks. “I have so much to tell you.”
Jas looks over my shoulder. “Sebastian,” she says with a smile. “You helped too?”
“Your sister did it on her own.” His voice is thick with emotion. “She would have done anything to save you. Would have given anything.” There’s sorrow in those words and a bit of heartbreak.
Sebastian stays by my side as I explain everything to Jas. I tell her who he is and how I found out. I tell her about my deal with Mordeus and my misguided friendship with the exiled prince and his band of misfit faeries. I tell her about our mother, and Sebastian squeezes my hand a little tighter
when I explain the curse.
If it’s all too much for her when she’s still recovering from weeks as Mordeus’s prisoner, she doesn’t let on. When I’m done with my story,
Sebastian kisses my forehead and releases my hand. “I’ll leave you two to talk.”
He leaves the room and shuts the door behind him. I press my palm to the tug in my chest as I watch him go.
“Have you told him yet?” Jas asks.
I turn back to my sister. “Told him what?”
She smiles weakly, but I see an echo of my hopeful little sister in the upward tilt of her lips. “That you’re in love with him?”
I swallow. “He knows.”
She tilts her head to the side. “Then why do you look so sad?”
Because I never believed I’d trust a fae prince, let alone two. Because I finally made some friends and found out they were using me. Because I hurt Sebastian and it’s going to be hard to forgive myself for that.
“Brie,” she says, squeezing my hand. “What is it?” “I don’t think I’m staying in Elora.”
“What? Why? Surely if we leave Fairscape, Gorst won’t—” “I’ll never be safe here, not so long as I wear this crown.”
“You’re returning to Faerie?”
Weeks ago, I was the one who said the name of the magical realm with disdain and Jas was the one who wanted to go there. Today our roles have reversed.
“I’ll be with Sebastian,” I say, trying to make it sound like I’m not just hiding. “I want to do what I can to . . . help with things there.” I bow my head before risking a look back at her. “Would you go with us?”
Her eyes go wide. Her fear is so palpable I can almost smell it. I can’t blame her. All she knows of Faerie is her experience being a prisoner of the Unseelie Court. “Brie . . .”
“To the Court of the Sun. We would keep you safe.”
Her hands shake harder and harder until her whole body is vibrating with fear. “The things I saw in the dungeons . . . the horrible things I heard—”
“You don’t have to,” I blurt. I hate being the cause of the pain on her face. “I love you so much,” I whisper. “If you need me here, I will stay.”
“I love you too.” She wraps her arms around my waist. “You deserve to be happy, Brie. You’ve worked so hard for so long. You’ve done everything to protect me, and I can’t handle seeing you sacrifice yourself one more time for me.”
“But I don’t want to leave you.”
“Just give me time. I need to stay here awhile, and when I’m better, I’ll join you.” She tries to smile, but the shaky curve of her lips doesn’t hide the lie from either of us.
“I’ll visit you as often as I can,” I say, but I already know it won’t be as often as either of us would like. The hot tears on my cheeks are barely a hint of the grief I feel at telling her goodbye.
There’s a knock at the door, then Nik opens it a crack and sticks her head in. “Brie, it’s time. I’m sorry, honey, but I can’t risk Gorst finding you here.”
I nod but don’t take my eyes off Jas. “Go,” she says. “I’ll be fine.”
“I’ll miss you every day.”
“Visit me in my dreams like you did when we were kids.” She grins and waves goodbye, but as Sebastian hurries me toward the portal, I remember the old joke. After we moved in with Uncle Devlin, Jas would wake up
some mornings and thank me for the adventure I took her on in her dreams. Were they just dreams, or did I have access to that part of my power even as a child in the human realm?
