Beauty (A Faery Story 3)

He kind of wished he had something of Lach’s now. And Bron’s.

“I was so sorry to hear of your brother’s passing.” Rachel Harper looked up at him with kind eyes.

She was going to fight. Shim knew it. She would fight and her older children would, too. Her husbands would fight. She was probably terrified, but she would do it because it was the right thing. Rachel understood what Bron knew, what Shim was just starting to discover. “He would have been honored to fight at your side.”

A ghost of a smile curved up her lips. “I thought this wasn’t your fight, Your Highness.”

“It’s everyone’s fight. That’s why they call it the good fight, isn’t it?”

She curtseyed, the first formal gesture he’d seen from anyone on the plane. “You will do your kingdom proud, Your Highness.”

Shim stood in the middle of the square and breathed in as Bron brushed against him with her mind.

Come for me. My time is now.

She was so serene, so perfectly powerful. She was ready.

And Lach wasn’t here.

“Mrs. Harper, thank you, but I need to find Harry.” Roan had gone with Lach.

Dellacourt was suddenly at his side. “What’s wrong?”

“Bron’s ready. We have to go.” He took a long breath. She was ready and he was miles and miles away.

“Uhm, we’re two days march from the palace. She better stay ready for a while.” Dellacourt looked around. “Or we can hope Roan brings back an army of bikes. Do you understand how much easier warfare is on my plane? We all sit in our rooms and fire at each other remotely. Seriously, I have snacks and drinks during wars. I always get my face fucked up on Faery planes. It’s barbaric.”

Shim had begun to notice the vampire talked really fast when he was getting emotional. It had annoyed him greatly at first until he’d realized that for all Dellacourt’s complaints, he’d walked away from his whole world.

Dante Dellacourt fought the good fight.

“I shall try to preserve your beauty,” Shim replied.

Dellacourt flushed a bit. “Sorry. It’s just I’ve been waiting for this fight for what seems like most of my life and now that it’s here, I worry about the cost. I won’t back down, you understand. I will pay it, but I worry.”

He looked back at his wife. Kaja wouldn’t stand in the background. She wouldn’t allow herself to be locked away. She would fight beside her husband because that was what husbands and wives did.

But Shim needed to consider other things now. He had a war to stage and the most important piece was in place. “How do we get everyone to the palace and quickly?”

“We ride the winds.” Beckett Finn strode up the road, his voice ringing out.

Shim sighed because he could feel his brother again. Lach walked slightly behind the Kings of the Seelie Fae.

Beckett and Cian Finn strode into the square with their wife between them. Not a one wore a crown on their head, but everyone in the village dropped to one knee.

Shim was happy to see the kings, but happier to see his brother. He rushed to Lach. “Did you hear her?”

Lach nodded, his whole face beaming, looking more vibrant than he could ever remember his brother looking. “I did. And we were hurrying.” His smile grew vibrant. “Father worked while we were gone. He found a witch. She tore open a huge fucking hole in the door. Torin is going to know we’re here now. Take a look at what I brought, brother.”

Shim looked behind Lach and felt his mouth drop open. An army walked behind Lach. Shim couldn’t count them. They seemed endless. He saw Maon, his father’s chief advisor and the whole council dressed for war. And then he saw Gillian, flying, her feet working so hard they barely touched the ground. His sister ran and flung herself at their father.

“When I got home, they were all waiting. Vampires. Our people. Beck and Cian’s people. They wouldn’t be left behind. Our father most of all.”

“Dad?” Dellacourt shouted out and ran toward a big man in boots and a hat.

But Shim was concentrating on his father.

King Fergus of the Unseelie Fae kept his arm around his daughter as he walked to meet his sons. “Shim, I’m so proud of you, son.”