Page 42 of Solstice

“I will. Soon.”

My heart pulled for him. I hated when we weren’t complete, and even though Carter and I never had between us what we both had with Lex and Ivy, it was no less powerful for its uniqueness. Once upon a time, all we had was us. We loved each other, through and through.

“Are you okay, Juliet?” His tone radiated with concern.

Keeping this one secret from my spouses was killing me, and that was on top of the anxiety rolling around in my stomach about the fairy king and queen and whether they’d gotten out. If they had, it was my fault. I was responsible for it all.

Perhaps it was time we went to see Smythe. We’d delayed this long enough.

“I miss you, Romeo.”

“I miss you, too.” Someone in the background called his name. “I have to go. Call me back if you need me, okay?”

I sighed. “Okay. Go. Love you.”

“Love you.” And he hung up.

It had been good to talk to Carter, and some of his sunshine crept into my soul over the phone, but I couldn’t shake the notion something was terribly out of sorts. I stared down at my hands, clenching and unclenching them before going to one of Ivy’s houseplants, a beautiful pothos, and touching a tender leaf, making it grow three times its size.

It’s not the gift,my subconscious told me.Think harder.

It had to be the impending doom. It had to be whatever happened that night, on top of the stress of trying to be HRH Princess Miriam and a loving spouse to three people and the embodiment of Mother Nature. It was all catching up to me, and I needed to rest.

“Bleeding Christ, Miriam Stuart, get your act together.” I shook my head and laughed, taking another long inhale of the cigarette, mixing with the crisp winter night. Ivy’s alarm went off below, and I knew she planned to get up early so she could work out before going to the Capitol. And after that, we’d head out to find Smythe and hopefully get some more information on this fairy-tale nonsense.

13

Lex

February in Maine sucked. There was four feet of snow on the ground, and the wind chill cut right through my wool coat, making me long for Virginia’s humidity.

“You’re sure this is the right place?” I looked out the window at the shitty run-down Victorian. Shutters hung off the siding, and one of the rooms on the second floor had a busted window with cardboard blocking the inside.

“Yes, Mr. Fairfax.” Theo nodded from the rearview. “I haven’t had a chance to scope out the property, but I can if you give me five minutes.”

“No.” I shook my head and looked at Ivy next to me.

She pursed her lips and nodded. “We should go.”

“We’ve come all this way,” Miri said from the third row, looking between the two of us.

In for a fucking penny, am I right?

I opened the door and climbed out, helping Ivy and Miri before shutting it behind us.

“Wait here,” I told Theo.

“Sir, I amstronglyagainst that plan.” He clenched his jaw, resistance in his steely eyes.

I didn’t blame him. I paid him a ton of money to keep us safe, and here we were, walking into Lemony Snickett’s worst fucking nightmare without him.

“Noted,” I said. “Wait here.”

We turned and headed toward the entrance. Sure, the place looked creepy as hell, but I’d stood my ground against a fairy queen, so whatever waited inside could take their best shot. The rotting floorboards creaked as we walked up the stairs, holding firm while we crossed the porch to the door. I opened the flimsy screen and gave the wooden entrance two firm knocks.

No one answered.

“You think it’s empty?” Ivy looked at the picture on her phone of Smythe coming in and out of this same place. This was definitely it.

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