But she also knows there are several ways to return to Faerie. If one of us willingly wants to return to Faerie, then we need four of us to open the gate. Four is a sacred number to the fae. They have four countries, four courts, four seasons, four times of day in which the courts are named for—Samhradh, a country of perpetual sunshine. Colloquially known as the Day Lands and location of the Queen’s royal seat. Geimhreadh, a country of eternal darkness and called the Night Lands. Earrach, the Dawn Lands, and Fómhar, the Dusk Lands.
Four. Four of us to open the gate if one of us is willing.
If we’re all unwilling, our enemies only need one of us. They don’t even need our deaths. They just need to spill our unwilling blood.
“Why do you need four, then?”
Proof that we’re deserving to return to Faerie. That one of us at least feels like we’re one of them, not one of the supernaturals or humans we were raised among.
“And Astra knew this? She has the sight?”
Yes. But I thought she was no longer a problem. A few months after I had the vision about her plans to find and use three of us to open the gate, Eirik found and killed her. I thought she was dead. He thought she was dead.
“What happened?”
He stabbed her in the heart with iron, and she appeared to die a slow, painful death. Niamh couldn’t believe Astra had been able to contrive that. She must have used magic as an illusion. He only thought he was using iron, and she made him see what she wanted him to see. The scary part is that it tricked me too.
“But now you’re getting visions of her again.”
Yes. She’s alive. And she’s on track to take me, Rose, and the last fae-borne, Elijah, to Scotland to open a gate that no one knows about. Everyone thinks the only gate is in Ireland … but there’s another near Edinburgh.
“Is that what the stones were from the vision?”
Niamh nodded. Standing stones. They mark the gate to Faerie. They were put there thousands of years ago to warn people not to go near. That within the circle, the fabric between worlds was broken and they’d slip into Faerie.
Kiyo frowned. “Why am I in this vision?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
He considered this a moment. “Okay. I believe you.”
His words caused her to melt into the bed with relief. Good. Because we need to be on the same team. I said Astra and I were different sides of the same coin, but I feel like her powers have grown exponentially. She may be more powerful than any of us now. She’s capable of things … she can hide from us. My vision told me that’s how she’ll get Rose and Elijah. We’ll sense something but not danger, and not enough to protect ourselves. And if our guard is down with her, she’ll be able to manipulate us like we can manipulate humans. I know now, so my guard will be up with her, but I should warn Rose and try to get to Elijah too. It’s just … I feel like Tokyo is the priority and I don’t know why.
Kiyo suddenly sat up, his whole being alert.
“What is it?”
“You can’t sense danger from her and she can manipulate you?”
“If my guard was down.”
His eyebrows nearly hit his hairline. “Niamh, your guard is down. You’ve been grieving for months for Ronan. Burying yourself in guilt.”
“So?”
“Is it possible Astra could make you think you were seeing visions?”
“What are you saying?”
“You haven’t been able to make sense of the visions you’ve been receiving. Visions that are coming too often. Visions that are pushing you toward vengeance … toward darkness.”
You think she’s planting these visions in my head to steer me off my path?
“Didn’t you say you sensed someone following you when you went after Meghan?”
Niamh nodded, disbelief making her dizzy.
“And that these visions felt different?”
Yes. Aggressive and insistent and like they want me to feel something rather than relay information like the others. Oh my God. Realization caused a wave of nausea. Kiyo was right.
“She’s been pushing you for months, and then I arrived and tried to talk you out of it—”
“So she pulled out the big guns: Meghan O’Connor.”
“And it didn’t work. So she sent you another vision at the airport.”
“Where I could feel her following me.” Niamh nodded as it all began to make sense, the kind of sense that sat right with her, finally. Despite the awful realization that she’d been manipulated, relief also filled her. Now that she knew, she could take back control. She was at the airport, trying to push me to kill the child abuser.
“It’s possible, right?”
No, Kiyo. It’s not possible. It’s what’s been happening. These visions never really felt like my true visions. I couldn’t put my finger on why, and I was too distracted by my pain to stop and think. She grabbed his arm. It’s Astra. She’s been using my grief against me. Her grip on him tightened. “Thank you. Thank you, Kiyo.”