Brave (A Wicked Trilogy 3)

There was nothing Tanner could say in return to that.

“So, let me get this straight. The fae here are basically safe as long as the Prince doesn’t catch wind of this place? But if he does, he’ll find a way to get in and he will kill every fae in here for shits and giggles?”

Tanner paled. “That is an unlikely yes.”

Unlikely? Yeah. Right. I felt like I knew Drake well enough to know he’d eventually, sooner than later, find this place. “I think you forgot to mention all this in your stay at Hotel Good Fae pitch when I first arrived.”

“He didn’t fail to mention it, dear. He chose not to.” Merle held my gaze. “The safety of those here is irrelevant to the mission of keeping your belly empty of the Prince’s seed.”

I vomited a little in my mouth. “Can you never say it like that again? Please?”

“It’s the truth,” she replied. “These fae would be dead if the Prince discovered the location whether you were here or not. Keeping you out of his hands is the top priority.”

That was hard to swallow. I didn’t like knowing that my life—or, well, my womb—had a higher value than other lives. “Or I could, you know, just die. That would fix the problem.”

She held my gaze. “It would, however, it appears you’re hard to kill when you can feed and heal yourself.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. “I didn’t choose to do that.”

“I know.” Something flickered over her face. Sympathy? Compassion? Constipation? Who knew? “I know you would not have made that call, but there are people here who will make that call for you. And they will continue to do so, to save you.”

She was right. “But me being here means that the unlikely chance of him discovering this place moves closer to the likely territory.”

“It’s irrelevant, sweetie,” Merle repeated.

I blinked at her and then turned to Tanner. “Every time someone goes out there—out in the world beyond the glamour of this building, they run the risk of being seen by one of the Prince’s minions.” My heart lurched in my chest. “Just like when Ren and Faye went out there looking for the Crystal. They could’ve been seen and followed.”

“Faye is careful and she’s aware of the risk,” Tanner stated.

“And what about Ren?”

Tanner didn’t reply and a horrible thought occurred. Did Ren know about the danger of me staying here? No. There was no way he would’ve signed off on putting the fae here in danger. But then I thought about what he’d done for me. I obviously didn’t know what extent he’d go to keep me safe. “You said that me being here was no problem.”

“And it isn’t, Ivy.” Tanner picked up his cup. “We have survived here longer than you realize without being discovered by those we wish to remain hidden to. We shall continue that way.”

“Things are different now. That was before the Prince arrived.”

He shook his head. “Things are just more complicated.” A faint smile appeared, one of approval. “I appreciate your concern for my brothers and sisters, more than you know, especially after what was done to you, but we are willing to shoulder the risk to make sure the Prince does not open those doors, destroying the mortal realm just like his court did to our world.”

Not every fae here was obviously willing to shoulder that risk.

“I don’t appreciate your concern,” Merle retorted. “It’s misguided and will lead to foolish decisions.”

“Do you not care about the fae here?” I demanded.

A small smile appeared, the kind that reminded me of a grandmother’s. “You wouldn’t want me to answer that question.”

“And we wouldn’t ask her to answer that question,” Tanner added.

I couldn’t believe they could be so dismissive of the risk involved or the fact that they thought I’d be okay with this. The inhabitants of this place were fae, but they weren’t hurting humans. Like Tink, they were just trying to scratch out some sort of life. And Tink and Ren were also here. Them staying safe was of the utmost priority to me. “I’m not okay with this.”

“We don’t expect you to be,” Merle answered. “We just expect you to deal with it. You grew up in the Order. You know sometimes you have to sacrifice the many to protect the few. You’ve lived that life every day you’ve breathed. Get with the program, Ivy. It hasn’t changed.”

I sucked in air and turned to Tanner. “You all have to realize that it’s only a matter of time before the Prince realizes you’re harboring me here. It’s not if he does, it’s when he does. What do you do then? How long would the glamour hold against him?”

Tanner took a sip of his tea. “We’d hopefully have weeks.” There was a pause as his pale gaze met mine. “But if we’re lucky, we’ll have days. Hours if we aren’t.”

Chapter 11

Get with the program?

Oh, I was so going to get with the program. Throwing the door shut behind me, I flipped on the light and stalked toward the narrow closet next to the dresser.

Spying the weekender bag Tink had used to pack some of my stuff in, I grabbed it from the floor of the closet and tossed it onto the bed.

Days? Hours? Weeks? They had no idea how long we had before the Prince found this place and broke through the glamour. It wasn’t an unlikely event. It was inevitable. There were too may fae here, too many unknown variables at play. With me here, the Prince would discover Hotel Good Fae, and there was no doubt in my mind that the very first person he’d take out was Ren.

Panic unfurled in the pit of my stomach as I stared at the bag. With sudden clarity, I knew I couldn’t tell Ren or Tink what I was planning to do. Neither of them would want me to leave. They’d stop me, and the whole point was to keep them safe.

That meant I had to leave without them.

Raw pain punched my chest as I turned to the dresser. Could I do that? Could I walk out of here without saying goodbye? Without one more kiss? One more I love you?

And what about Tink?

He would be so pissed, and would probably annoy Ren to the point of getting himself murdered in cold blood, but Tink had to understand. He knew what the Prince was capable of.

“Oh God,” I whispered, pressing the heel of my palm to my forehead. The back of my throat burned as I closed my eyes.

What was I doing?

The panic turned into the kind of hurting that sucked away at the soul. I had to leave them. I knew that. It was the only way they’d be safe until they found that damned Crystal, or I . . . found a way to weaken the Prince so he could be killed.

Lowering my hand, I opened my eyes. They were damp as I stared at the dresser. Everyone was focused on putting the Prince back in the Otherworld because killing him was virtually impossible, but nothing was truly impossible.

Someone out there had to know how to weaken him enough that cutting off his head was feasible.

Steely resolve filled me as I stepped forward, opening the drawer. Since the Prince could sense me, he had to know I was still in New Orleans. If I left, then he’d follow. I’d just have to keep moving until I figured out a way to weaken the bastard long enough to kill him. While I was gone, Ren and Tink could work with Tanner to find the Crystal. They’d be safe, and that was all that mattered.

The door opened just as I yanked several pants out of the drawer. Spinning around, I saw Ren standing in the open doorway.

Crap.

I guessed I wouldn’t know if I could walk out of here without seeing him or saying goodbye. This just got a hell of a lot harder.

Nothing about him looked relaxed as his gaze moved from my hands to the open bag on the bed. “You didn’t come to the cafeteria.” There was a pause. “What are you doing, Ivy?”

What I was doing at that exact moment was being frozen between the bed and dresser, cradling pants to my boobs. “I . . . I’m packing.”

Stepping into the room, he closed the door behind him. “Packing to go where?”

I opened my mouth, but I had no idea what to say. I hadn’t planned

to see him before I left.

His brows lowered as he came closer. “What are you doing, Sweetness?”

Swallowing, I glanced down at the bag. A huge part of me wished I could lie, but I’d already lied too many times to him. As much as this was going to suck, I had to tell the truth. “I . . . I need to leave.”