Page 43 of Monsters of Midnight

“It’s impossible for us to stop,” I explained. “He was able to get a hold of the rings. He melted them down before I could stop him.”

I had no remorse about it. It was simply a fact, but the whole time I talked about it all I could imagine was Caroline being sucked through the lava portal. Hello one-way ticket to Undirheim.

“Perhaps,” said the Unseelie king. “How are you going to ensure you are protecting our children?”

The Seelie and Unseelie royal families had been doing a trial run of having their children in arranged marriage of sorts. They were both studying at the Crown Academy based in Quebec. Rumor had it the children had been put into the situation in order to foster a relationship that had in fact blossomed into something the youth were willing to call an engagement.

At least that’s what the fae wanted you to believe. You were never sure of anything with the fae. They would tell you a lie directly to your face while staring you in the eyes just to make sure their control was never questioned. They liked to keep you guessing with masterful plots only of their design.

In this case, I could tell by the disdainful look on the dark fae king’s face I had struck a nerve.

“You seriously think they would dare to attack the Vatican?” he asked.

“How long has the portal been sealed?” I countered.

“Since before Roman times.” The dark fae and light fae kings exchanged a look.

“Has anyone checked the seal since then?” I asked.

“It’s fallen off our radar,” the Seelie King shrugged. It was clear they both consider this an important consideration.

The Seelie king turned to the Unseelie king, and they slowly nodded in agreement. “We have not been checking it either,” he said. “Two thousand years is a long time even in fae years.”

“Well, my recommendation would be that we check the seal immediately,” I said. “Then set up a reinforcement team to pack up whatever measures you currently have in place, which doesn’t sound like it’s much, to provide protection to the portal. We need to make sure the monsters don’t start a run on your capital.”

“Do you not need some refreshment first?” The Seelie king asked me.

“No,” I said curtly. My goal was not to come here and while away my time with the fae. It was to find out if there was potential breach of the monster portal here and then to find out if Cade had his designs set on the Vatican at all.

“In this case I will take you to the portal so you can inspect the seal for yourself. And then you can do some research. There are no older records in all the world than those here in the fae libraries.”

“I’ve heard them say the same thing in Dublin,” I murmured. Even though it only been one time, they were pretty proud of their library there too.

Regardless, I had a job to do, as much as I didn’t trust the fae and I knew their ideas were always in favor of themselves. The biggest challenge was that their desires were based on whim. They had plenty of everything. They were like the lords of old, bored and causing antics just to get attention or to pass the time. Either way I was going to operate in this room I was not going to be at the whim of the fae. I took a deep breath. That meant showing not a single weakness, especially a weakness. I bowed to the Seelie and Unseelie royal family.

This was not a place to show your weaknesses.

Chapter 25

CAROLINE

Oren stood at the door of my cell, her grey eyes piercing me with some level of understanding I didn’t want to admit. How was it that this creature who I barely knew seemed to be able to look inside me and understand something so fundamental as the way I felt about Ryder?

“I know how you feel,” she said, as if to reassure me.

“What is it you know?” I asked.

“Valkyries aren’t like the other creatures in the legends,” Oren said.

“You’re assuming I know anything about the Valkyrie,” I countered.

A slight smile twitched at the corner of Oren’s mouth, which was usually pressed in a hard, thin line.

“In many ways we share an experience with you,” she said. “Those who discover they are fae past forty get a sudden jolt into the magical world of the Legendi.”

“I thought Valkyrie were magical mythical creatures who were born into the world, the Legendi,” I explained.

“The vast majority of our career is like this,” Oren said “I am not one of them. I was a human up until the day I killed myself.”

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