Into the Fire (The Unseelie Court Book 4) by Gwen Rivers (latest ebook reader .TXT) 📕

anticipated such resistance from the giantess. Her encounters with Laufey and her kind had been limited in the past, they’d always been mutually beneficial.

She raises a brow at the giantess. “Do you really want to see the fey continue to rule this realm?”

“Better than having the dead overrun it.” Laufey gestures to the window. “It’s nothing but a blackened husk of what it used to be. You were the first dreamer here, Pharaildis. You know what this land could be. And yet you desecrate what you once held sacred.”

Rage, hot and quick, surges through Pharaildis at her words. “They did this to me. Those accursed Fates. I have one of them lurking just beyond that door.” She stabs a finger at the adjacent cell.

“You’re not the first to have a beef with your destiny.” Laufey lifts her chin. “I sympathized with you when you were imprisoned here. It was neither just nor fair.”

Her gaze falls to Gleipnir, the unbreakable chain that binds Pharaildis’s ankles and tethers her to the fey realm. “You killed your lover when he spurned you. Given the chance, I would have done the same.”

Pharaildis’s hands clench into fists. “History has it wrong. John the Baptist was a letch, no better than any mortal. He came to my bed, made me a promise. And then when he found out about her, he abandoned me. When I called for his head, those…Norns dump me here like refuse to serve the fey. I have spent hundreds of thousands of years, trapped and alone. Powerless in the dark. I will get my vengeance. I will be set free.”

Something like sympathy flits across the giant’s face. “It isn’t just. But neither is it just that you punish them all for the acts of a few. The One True Queen is destined to end your reign of terror and blood.”

Pharaildis lashes out with her stolen fire. The giantess throws up a magic shield and the flames wrap around her and her lover, incinerating the guards behind them. Their screaming echoes off the solid walls of the Unseelie catacombs.

Breathing hard, Pharaildis lowers her hands. “I have no interest in justice any longer. I will catch your grandson and when I do, I will use him to set Loki free. And you my dear giantess, will help me do it.”

“Never.” The hardness is back in Laufey’s eyes. “I will never help you on this quest.”

Calm suffuses Pharaildis once more. She holds the winning hand. “You will. Or, you will watch your lover die.”

I surge up out of my latest nightmare, clutching the bedspread and panting. I grunt as all the aches and pains from the car wreck make themselves known. My healing has slowed along with all my other abilities.

A knock sounds and a moment later Chloe slips inside.

“I had a dream about Laufey and Fern,” I say.

“Are they all right?” Chloe sits on the end of my bed.

“They were.” Though I don’t know how long they’ll stay that way. I think back to everything I’d seen. “Tell me about the prophecy of the One True Queen.”

Chloe’s red gold eyebrows shoot up. “Where did you hear that?”

“It was in my dream. Angrboda said it, too. What does it say?”

“In essence, the One True Queen will rule the entire Unseelie Court. She is destined to repair the Veil and unite the two halves of the courts into one mighty kingdom.”

She sighs. “And, if she joins with the One True King, the Seelie and Unseelie Courts will come together as one. But it’s never been possible before.”

“Why not?”

“Your magic is based on the air. In order to rule year-round an Unseelie Queen must be able to wield fire as well.”

I put a hand over my stomach. “Fire, like what she will inherit from Aiden?”

“Exactly. That’s why Brigit had you murdered in your last life, to avert the prophecy of the One True Queen. It wasn’t just jealousy—the One True Queen can sit on both thrones and overthrow the previous ruler. Brigit wanted to keep her power. And Underhill will be even more ruthless if she knows you are with child.”

So Addy didn’t fight to get me free only for my sake. She used the deception so that this baby would be born in safety. “She knows.”

Chloe grasps my hand. “Underhill will be hunting you now. You and Aiden both.”

I toss the covers to the side. “We need to get out of here. It’s not right to put them in danger from not just the FBI, but Underhill as well.”

“Nic, think this through. The pocket realm is safe. No one can enter without a giant and there are less than a dozen on this side of the Veil. The baby is draining your magic. Your only defense is your goodnight kiss.” She gestures to the scrapes and cuts on my arm. “You’re not even healing properly. You need a safe place to convalesce.”

“Look me in the eye and tell me that Sophie, Garret, and Tate will be all right.”

“I’ll do everything in my power to ensure their safety.” Her gaze shifts to the side. “Addy is stronger with mystical protections.”

I reach out and clasp her hand in mine. “I’m sure she’ll get free. Knowing Addy, she’s looking for a way to free the rest of our forces before she makes her move.”

Chloe nods, though doesn’t hold my gaze. “You’re probably right.”

Another knock on the open wood doorframe. “Nic? Are you hungry?”

I gesture for her to enter. “Come in, Sophie.”

She does, offering a hesitant smile as she sees me sitting up in bed. “You look better today.”

“I feel better.” I smile in appreciation.

“Chloe tells me that you are a vegetarian.”

Technically I am but the smell of something delectable, which I fear is animal-based, reaches me. “Um, well usually. But… not entirely?”

Way to be decisive, Nic.

“No need to explain.” Sophie comes into the room and shuts the door. “I had unusual cravings during my pregnancies, too.”

Chloe blinks. “You told her?”

Sophie shook her head. “She didn’t need to.