Page 24 of Ruthless Fae
I blinked up at her, reevaluating her.
She dangled over the branch, holding it tight in her strong lean arms as she looked me in the eyes. “You are blood. I will always come for you.” Gently, she put a hand on my cheek. “Now, let’s get you out of thesefhèinervines.”
Between the two of us, we managed to untangle the rest of the vines. I dropped down, spurring my wings into flight just before crashing into the jungle floor. Nearly landing on the unconscious Daniella, I fluttered over her as Kiana dropped down from the tree.
A crashing sound put us both on edge, but when the wolf came into view another wave of relief washed over me. His green eyes surveyed the scene as if confused. He made a small whining sound, ears back.
“I’m okay,” I said, “Kiana saved me.”
The queen brushed leaves off her dirty shift dress. “Yes, yes, but we need to go. We’re still being pursued, you know.” She said it all in a dismissive tone as if this were something that happened all the time, and I realized that, for her, maybe it did. I’d spent so long underestimating my aunt. I vowed never to do that again.
Vaughn turned to go, but I held up a hand to stop him.
“Can you carry her?” I gestured to Daniella prone on the jungle floor.
Vaughn tilted his head in question.
I nodded. “I have a feeling we’re going to need her.”
Chapter Eleven
Back on the ship,Vaughn set a still-unconscious Daniella in the middle of an empty, windowless room, then stepped out and closed the door.
Dean McIntosh waved her hands toward the door, releasing a golden spell that seeped through the metal and went all around the edge completely sealing Daniella in.
“Nothing can go in and out of that room now,” the dean said with a nod of satisfaction.
The ship contained no plants that Daniella could control, and the spell should take care of the vines she could produce on her own.
Together, we rushed down the passageway to the control center. Kiana waited there, staring at all the computer monitors with distrust, the dean’s people staring back, uselessly trying to disguise their curiosity over the Queen of the Seelie Fae.
We had arrived just minutes before, and Vinya had led Kiana here while we secured Daniella. Vinya now sat off to the side, staring at her clasped hands in contemplation. She seemed to process things better in silence and on her own.
The dean gave Kiana a curt nod. Her eyes held distrust built-up over time. She knew of my aunt’s troubled past, having worked with her at the Academy on one occasion, and I’d also told her that Kiana had allied herself with the Habermanns. Perhaps, when the dean heard the Queen’s explanation of what had happened, she would see everything under a different light.
Approaching a blank wall, the dean pressed a button. A panel slid out of the way, revealing a monitor. Daniella’s prone shape appeared on the screen.
“Can your magic cure her?” I asked, apprehension tightening my chest. Vaughn intertwined his fingers with mine for support, and I relaxed a fraction.
Dean McIntosh shook her head. “I don’t know, Tally, but I’ll try everything in my power to make your friend better.”
“Youmustfigure it out,” Kiana said fervently. “My son… he’s also a… creature.”
The dean gave Kiana a sideways glance, pushing air through her nose. “I was under the impression that you permitted the Habermanns to run experiments on him.”
“I didn’t do such a thing. Those perverse humans didn’t need my permission. I was their prisoner. I only went along because they threatened to kill him and Tally.”
Dean McIntosh narrowed her eyes. “And how did you manage to escape their highly fortified dome?”
“Because—” she started.
Vinya interrupted. “She’s waking up.”
The witch walked to the monitor and stared intently at the stirring shape.
Daniella was on her knees, swaying on the spot and glancing around her closed-in space. Suddenly, she jumped to her feet and rushed toward the door. She pulled on the handle, and when the door didn’t open, she pounded on it. Fists clenched, she stood as vines elongated from her body and tried to slide under the door. As soon as they touched the dean’s magic, however, they burned and disintegrated into ashes. She tried again and again with the same result.
After several long minutes, she turned toward the camera and screamed, her mouth forming a wide “O.” A terrible screech came through the speakers. I covered my ears just as the dean waved her hand and the volume lowered.
