Page 102 of Solstice

Everyone knew it.

I knew it. Ivy knew it.

Four years of faking it, and here we were, staring down a day that would most definitely live in infamy, but for all the wrong reasons. The public wanted the glitz and the glam. They wanted the star-studded event with the free booze and the photo ops. That wasn’t us anymore. That hadn’t been us for a long time. Not since Ireland. Not since Samhain and Poppy and the clusterfuck in the woods.

We’d be lucky to make it out alive. We’d be lucky if this event didn’t end in bloodshed.

The sun had faded behind dark, smoky tendrils, the once brilliant Saturday morning now turned to shades of gray.

We were so fucked.

“Lex.” Ivy’s eyes implored me to listen. “We can’t wait any longer. Siobhan isn’t coming. We need to get everyone out of here.”

I took a deep breath, reminding myself of the great plan. This had to happen. He had to come here, and we had to face him.

Except, that was when I thought we had Poppy on our side. I’d been texting her for hours with no response. I’d tried calling her after she didn’t make her scheduled check-in, and when it told me the number had been disconnected, I suspected we might be screwed.

The sky grew darker, and the guests below stood, grabbing onto their dresses and sweaters as they rushed inside. The winds blew harder, and my heart beat faster as I racked my fucking imagination for a game plan. The black tendrils swirled outside the window, and we backed away, Ivy gripping my hand tighter as it seeped in through the cracks like smoke.

“Fuck!” Kit startled and jumped away. “Guys, make up your mind.”

I had planned for this. I had suspected Siobhan and her lovers wouldn’t make it back in time, and now that we were dealing with that reality, I had to fall back on plan C—the one where we ran and he chased.

“We’re getting out of here.” I grabbed Ivy’s hand to lead her back over to the door.

“We’re leaving?” Ivy’s eyes bulged. “What about all these people?”

“If we leave, he’ll come after us.” I ushered everyone over to the door.

“To where?” Jon ran a hand over the back of his head. “Where are we supposed to hide?”

“The closest place that’s warded is our house. That was the plan when Siobhan and Finn were here.”

“That’s where the queen is,” Ivy said. “We’ll lead him right to her.”

“Then we go to Kit’s or Jon’s,” I said. “Anywhere. We just need to go.”

Ivy took a deep breath. “Yeah. Okay.”

“What?” Jon’s eyes narrowed. “He’ll catch us in a second and crush us in two.”

“We don’t have another choice.” Ivy gave her brother a reassuring nod.

I decided not to read too much into her quick agreement.

“C’mon,” she said, tugging me over to the door. “I can sense him getting closer.”

“Where’s Henry and Abigail?” Kit asked.

“I don’t know!” Ivy shook her head. We walked out into the hallway just as they appeared at the top of the stairs.

“There you are!” Abigail said.

“The minister thinks the weather is about to take a turn.” Henry looked between us. “We should get started soon.”

“Yeah, it’s not the weather.” Ivy gave Abigail a knowing look, and she grabbed Henry, hauling him along with us as we headed toward the back stairs.

“What’s happening?” Henry narrowed his ice-blue eyes on our panicked state.

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