Page 88 of Solstice

He held up his hand. “Alexei, I would do anything for you. My sister’s son, you are very dear to my heart.” Dmitri shook his head and gave me a genuine smile, clapping me on the side of the cheek. “I have a gift for you.”

“A gift?” Anticipation rose in my chest.

“Come with me.” He led me farther away from the house where a black Range Rover with tinted windows was parked. Power emanated from inside the vehicle, a strange magic I recognized from Faerie. This wasn’t dark and twisted like the king. This was light and airy, and it made me want to fall to my knees with idolatry.

When two of his guards circled around us, going to the back door, I almost told them to stop. One guard opened it, and the other reached inside to yank out a tall blond woman in soiled white robes.

The queen.

“Holy shit. You did it.” I took a step forward, and her wild eyes darted between me and the other men.

“Of course I did it. Who do you think I am?” Dmitri smirked.

She’d been gagged with a piece of cloth and her wrists were zip-tied together in front of her body. Her skin had turned a pale, ghostly white, and that once radiant look in her eye was now faded to a haunted imitation of what it used to be. Slicing cold terror replaced that excitement inside me, and my stomach dropped. Even on this side of the realm, she still radiated with the eternal, vibrant energy that terrified and exhilarated me.

“How did you find her? Where did you find her?”

“My guards caught her sneaking around Poppy’s rooms. You were right.” Dmitri waved his hand to his guards. “Poppy has been hiding her this whole time.”

I fucking knew it.

If the queen remembered me, she didn’t act like it. She struggled against the bodyguards, trying to use her weight to attempt to escape, and the more she struggled, the tighter they held her. Bruises lined her wrists and biceps. It must have been a long journey to get to this point.

“Wait, stop!” I took a step closer and held up my hand. “Be gentle.”

She was the queen of the fairies, for fuck’s sake.

“Your Highness.” I came closer, and she eyed me up and down, still suspicious but cautiously interested. “Do you remember me from Samhain a few years ago?”

Her panicked gaze flicked between us like she didn’t understand and waited for someone else to translate. When no one did, she struggled and tried to hit one of them in the face. He ducked out of the way and grabbed her wrists, tossing her in the back seat before slamming the door shut.

“She’s a wild animal,” the guard said.

“She bit me.” The other guard held up a red bruise on his forearm.

“She’s scared.” I turned to Dmitri. “I’ll be back with help. We’ll take her from here.”

His eyes narrowed. “What are you caught up in,malysh?”

I shook my head. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“I’ve believed a lot.”

I nodded and put my hand on his shoulder. “One day, Uncle. You’ll get me drunk, and I’ll explain the whole thing.”

“One day.” He eyed me skeptically. “Before I leave this trip. Yes?”

“Yes.”

“Uh-huh.” He turned to head back toward the house, and I followed him. “As for Poppy.” He shrugged. “She didn’t want to come to the wedding. I cannot force her.”

“She’s still in Russia?” It was my attempt at making sure she was still going through with the plan…at least until she realized her queen had been taken. She had to appear as normal as possible, as hidden as possible, until the time was right.

He nodded. “She was when I left. As for where she is right now?” Dmitri shrugged.

“That’s okay.” I pulled out my phone and sent a message to Ivy to meet me out here. We had to figure out how to hide a fairy queen until the wedding was over. With Siobhan not answering and two days to figure out a new plan, we were fucking screwed no matter what.

“Do you need anything else from me, Alexei? Manpower? Protection?”

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