Page 25 of Mountain of Mirrors and Starlight
“I’m already worried, Hawthorn!” Juliana blazed.
Hawthorn blinked rapidly. “You are?”
“Of course I’m bloody worried!”
Hawthorn continued to stare. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because I’m the only member of this family that can lie—”
Beau coughed.
“—I’m the only member of this family who can lie convincingly and someone needed to stay calm while everyone else was panicking.”
Hawthorn paused. “I wasn’t outwardly panicking—”
Juliana raised an eyebrow.
“I am quite sure no one knew but you.”
“I knew,” Beau added.
“You don’t count!”
“Rude.”
“Honestly, darling,” Juliana said, tilting her head at her son, “your panic was quite obvious.”
Beau huffed, but said nothing. He went over to his bed and flopped down.
Juliana turned back to her husband. “Did you find her?”
“Rough location. Strong lifeforce. She isn’t in any danger.”
Juliana chewed her lip. She knew as well as Beau did that things could change very quickly. “We need to go after her,” she said. “I don’t care if it messes things up with Owen. I don’t like this.”
“I know,” said Hawthorn safely. “Tomorrow. We’ll speak to him tomorrow.”
True to his word—or bound by it—Hawthorn spoke to Owen tomorrow at breakfast.
“My son and I tried a locator spell last night,” he said. “Aislinn appears to be fine, but it’s still concerning that she hasn’t yet made contact.”
Owen’s eyes twinkled. “A locator spell? Did it work?”
“Yes. Roughly.”
“Well, perfect.Perfect.I’ve just received a shipment from something I think might help with our little problem.”
Beau leaned closer, raising an eyebrow. “A shipment?”
“Something that might interest you,” Owen continued, still smiling. “I requested it before your visit, but their timing is fortuitous. A small force of unseelie monsters.”
Hawthorn’s face paled. Beau understood his reaction; the unseelie were considered separate from his subjects—but they were still technically fae. What were they doing here?
“They’ve allied with you?”
“They were… a gift from a friend.”
Beau’s stomach coiled. Vile as the unseelie could be—and dangerous, too—they were notthingsthat could be gifted. Many of them were sentient—as alive as any fae, dwarf or mortal.
