“Ye could say that,” his father said, turning to give the Queen of the Seelie Fae a soft smile.
Chance’s eyes opened wide, as there was no mistaking the gaze she returned to his da. What the devil was going on here?
The queen returned to the subject at hand. “What you two did was without planning and without thought. You went off willy nilly … without a consideration of how you would imprison Pestale once you caught up with him!”
“Doona mean to imprison him,” Chance said meaningfully.
“Nevertheless, did you think that he would just stand and allow you to kill him? His sense of self is greater than that. He has shifted off to his ‘time dimension’, which will make it a very difficult task to capture him. If you had contacted me, I would have sent my head Tracker, Nuad, with the Golden Net. You could have used it to your advantage.”
Chance’s thick lashes fluttered, and his brows drew together as he screwed up his mouth. It was true, as much as he hated to admit it to himself: he had been all brawn and no brain. He wasn’t usually so rash—or was he?
Trevor stepped forward. “It was more my fault than his. Chance wouldn’t really know about the Golden Net. It is a Fae Relic, after all, used by our Trackers. He doesn’t have access to it and would not have thought of using it. I should have thought of it … I should have realized.” Trevor shook his head. “The fault is mine.”
“I am not here to find fault but to point out to you both that Lord Morgan …” She directed a glance at Chance’s father. “… and I … wish to be kept informed and consulted, especially now that my princess is in jeopardy.”
“Aye, so be it, but, Queen Aaibhe, there is no one alive that wants Princess Royce safely out of this more than I, and ye can be certain, so she shall be!” Chance said gruffly.
“Then you need to follow her into the ‘time dimension’ the Dark Prince has erected, and we need to stop him before his ‘time travel’ into the past affects us all.”
“The wizard is working on that right now,” Trevor offered.
“Good, because it is the one thing I am presently unable to provide you—time travel. The Dark King and I decided centuries ago to forgo the ability when a certain catastrophe occurred because we had been … careless,” the queen said on a sigh. “I have been working to restore the power to myself … if only to prevent events like this from taking place, but it will take a great deal more effort before I have it perfected.”
“The Dark King may have been careless, my Queen, but you were not ever careless in anything,” Trevor returned hotly.
The queen smiled. “Ever the loyal one, perhaps careless is a strong word, but it is a tale we don’t have time to discuss just now. Off to your wizard. I want my princess safely returned to me—and I want the Dark Prince captured.”
Morgan LeBlanc placed his arm around his son’s shoulder, and as Chance looked into his father’s face, so much like his own, he sighed. “Da … I must get to her—I must!”
“I know, son, and so ye shall.”
* * *
So many spells—and so many long put aside lessons wobbled about in Royce’s mind. She had to sift through them and find the right one. But how? If only she had paid more attention when the instructions had been handed out. If only she had practiced more.
Royce screamed with frustration as she attempted to single out the one ancient Danu spell that would allow her to use the Peckering in this dimension, which would in turn allow the Peckering to get her back to her time.
“He is going to hurt David and his family …” she whined as she shook the Peckering with one hand and ran the other through her hair.
“I am afraid so, Princess, and now it may be too late to stop him. You must face the inevitable—he has had a long head start.”
“Even so, I might be able to get there in time …”
“He has the Dark King’s Daoine blood, but I sensed he is not as powerful as you simply because he has descended into darkness. Dark never is stronger than light—it simply obscures the way.”
“But I can’t find the spell … I can’t find it …”
Too late, Royce thought. The Peckering was correct—it was already too late. He could have already hurt her human family, and it was all her fault. She had led the Dark Prince right to them, and then … she had been too stupid to figure out how to stop him!
r /> As though giving truth to this thought, Pestale returned and stood before her—gloating and looking as evil as anything beautiful could look.
Hurriedly she sent her Peckering off and out of his reach. He should not be able to take the Peckering from her, but she decided to take a safe course.
“Now, Princess … shall I show you what I have done?” Pestale said triumphantly, moving his finger across the stone wall at her back.
She spun around to face the wall. Her heart ached and her mind began reeling as she saw, as though watching a movie, the humans on the makeshift screen writhe as they were tortured.
He showed her David at first playing. His mother laughed as she called his name and started outdoors towards him. And then everything turned into abject horror right before her eyes.