Page 72 of Solstice

Lex shook his head. “She’s not in danger, not yet. He’ll want to use her against us first. He’ll need to put us in our place, and until he does that, he has to keep her around.”

“That wasn’t up to you to decide.”

“No.” He eyed me with an incredulous glare. “It was up to Poppy.”

I almost accused him of manipulating her, but there was more going on inside Poppy than she let us see. She played the child card, but behind those eyes existed a knowledge I could only guess at. “And she agreed to this, knowing what he might do to her?”

Lex nodded. “She’s got an out. She can teleport anywhere she wants, anytime she wants.”

“What if he turns her against us?”

He made a sad noise and turned to our husband. “Nothing will turn her away from her beloved Carter.”

I looked at Carter, who up until now, hadn’t said a word. He seethed with rage, staring at our husband as betrayal burned behind his red-rimmed eyes.

“How could you do this?” Carter’s voice broke, like he didn’t know how to filter his outrage and stay calm. “How could you do this…to me?”

“Poppy’s lying to you, Chicago,” Lex said, his tone softer. “When we asked her if she’d heard from the queen, she said no. The lie hit me so hard, I almost threw up.”

“So what? She knows where the queen is. She’s keeping herself safe.” Carter pushed to his feet, getting in Lex’s face. “Does that mean she deserves to be used like a pawn in your sick fucking game?”

“This isn’t a game,” Lex snarled, remaining the cold, stoic monster he wanted everyone to think he was. “And in case you haven’t noticed, she’s more powerful than anything anyone’s ever seen. Pretending she’s not will put all of us in danger, including her.”

I couldn’t argue with him. Once again, Lex had been the bad guy for the greater good, the anti-hero in this fucked-up fairy tale, the one that had to fall on the sword so everyone else would be okay.

“You should have told us.” Carter’s jaw squared. “This is about trust. You knew we’d be pissed, that we’d try to stop you. That’s why you didn’t say anything.”

Lex didn’t argue, just redirected his focus to me. “What about her, huh? Your precious Weeds is a fucking sleeper agent for the fairy king. Don’t you think that’s something we should discuss?” His sharp hazel gaze cut right through me.

“It’s not like that,” I said. “Up until now, it’s felt like he’s been invading my mind. This time…I’m invading his.”

Carter swallowed his anger and hung his head between his shoulders. “We’re a family. A team. It’s not supposed to be like this between us.”

“Every family has fights.” Lex tried to take a step toward him, but Carter only wiped away tears and stepped back.

“I guess I ought to come clean, too.” He put his hands on his hips and held my gaze. “I’m going to see Miri while I’m on my tour.”

My heart bottomed out, sinking into the abyss of my aching gut like a boulder. “What?”

“Part of it goes through London. I’ve scheduled a stop at Danae Enterprises on a day that Her Royal Highness is supposed to make a rare public appearance.”

“How?” Lex’s one word held so much anguish, I almost rushed to hug him before remembering I was upset with him.

“My agent is her cousin, remember?” Carter shrugged. “She’s sneaking me in. Miri doesn’t know.”

I sighed and closed my eyes, everything in me growing heavy with his confession. Jealousy flared to life harder than it ever had before, and not for the first time in my life, I wished I could trade places with him. I wished I had what he had with her, that unconditional friendship, that trust that meant he could reach out to her when she wanted to be unreachable to everyone else.

“Tell her I love her,” I whimpered. “Tell her I’m sorry. Tell her to come home.”

“What a fucking match we all are, huh?” Carter shook his head and sighed. “Keeping secrets and hiding away in foreign palaces.”

“I promised to rescue her from her evil grandmother.” I swallowed the sob that threatened to climb up the back of my throat as I remembered that night. I still wanted to keep it; I just didn’t know how to get to her. This seemed like a viable approach. If I couldn’t go myself, I could send Carter.

He took a step closer, brushing a pinky down the side of my face. “You still might have to. When it comes to our princess, my knight’s heart is no match for your royal one.”

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. “That’s bullshit. You have your whole California bond.All we have is us?”

“She’s my soul mate, same as you, Weeds. But she loved you first, and she always has.” Carter turned to Lex and pulled him closer, grabbing our hands in his. “We promised until the end, the four of us. No more secrets. No more lies.”

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