Brave (A Wicked Trilogy 3)

There was a good chance I fell in love with him even more in that moment.

Miles tilted his head to the side, his brows snapping together.

“You all have no idea what we’ve been through

to get where we are standing right now. No idea,” Ren continued, his voice hardening. “And if we were really working with the Prince or against the Order, we wouldn’t be standing here. Do not question my loyalty and you better not question hers.”

“Is that everything?” Daniel asked, sounding wary.

“It is,” Ren answered.

Kind of. We’d told them everything—everything except for where the Summer Court was and that they had come with us. I also hadn’t told them about Tink.

“Why didn’t you contact me—contact us?” Anger seeped into Daniel’s voice. “We had people out there looking for you. Both of you. For weeks, until we assumed you were both dead—”

“Or that we had betrayed the Order,” I finished for him. “We did neither of those things, but it was too risky to contact you. I was still healing and my head . . .” Drawing in a shuddering breath, I tried again. “I wasn’t ready to talk to you, or to anyone.”

Daniel’s gaze met mine for a brief moment and then he looked away.

“What about Kyle?” Miles asked. “Daniel mentioned that you ran into him on the way here. We haven’t heard from him.”

“He’s dead.” I was the one who answered. “He tried to kill us, and if he was alive, he’d have kept trying to kill us. So, he’s dead—a dead liar.”

“Bold words,” Daniel murmured.

“True words.” I waited until a young couple passed us. “Do you know how the Elite and the Order once closed the gates?”

Miles didn’t answer. Neither did Daniel.“I know that the Order once worked with the fae to close the gates. That was how you all got your hands on the Crystal, and I know that the Elite betrayed those fae—the fae who did not hunt mortals—the fae who hunted others of their kind that did.” I didn’t mistake the sharp inhale. “Kyle said it was the Elite that turned on them, but there was no way that the Order didn’t know. I know that was before all of our time and the stories have changed over the years, but I’m alive because of good fae.”

“It’s hard to think that such a creature exists,” Miles commented.

“You’d be surprised”—Ren pinned him with a stare—“by what you once thought was true. I was trained in the Elite. I know I was trained with a lot of lies.”

“And that statement is damn near treasonous.” Miles stepped around the bench. “You do realize that.”

“Still the truth.” I kept an eye on him. “The Order knew that there were good fae before—that the fae had helped us. Why were we never told that?”

“The treaty between our kinds was so long ago it no longer mattered how it used to be,” Daniel said. “If I remember correctly, it was the Summer Court who helped us once upon a time, and after the gates were closed, there was no more Summer Court. It would’ve been too dangerous for our members if they knew that maybe—just maybe—there were fae out there that didn’t want to harm them or other mortals. Each time they’d hesitate to determine if the fae they were dealing with meant them harm, they’d be vulnerable to attack.”

“I understand that, but we should’ve known.” My hands closed into fists. “They were there, always there. They could’ve been helping us this entire time.”

“They could’ve. And many more of our members would’ve died trying to decipher which fae were good and which were bad,” Daniel reasoned. “And you’re forgetting that we had no reason to believe that these Summer fae were still here. We were told that they were all killed.”

“Slaughtered would’ve been a better word.” I got what Daniel was saying. It even made sense, but it didn’t make it okay, and we were all going to have to move past it if we had any hope of defeating the Prince. “We can stand here all night and argue about who are the bigger betrayers, and while we do that, I’m guessing the Prince gets one step closer to the Halfling that’s in San Diego.”

“Because that’s why you’re still here, right? If you all had found the Halfling, you would have killed her and then we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” Ren lifted his chin. “We’re here to stop the Prince, just like you are.”

“We know how to send him back to the Otherworld,” I said, and that got their attention. “He has the Crystal. We know there is a ritual that will seal him back in the Otherworld. And if we can’t get the Crystal and complete the ritual, then we’ll kill him. Since we have no idea how to weaken the bastard enough to get him with the thorn stake or to, you know, decapitate him, we’re going to need the Order’s help.”

“We’re going to need all the help we can get,” Ren affirmed. “We need to work together, and then afterward, you can kick us out of the Order. Exile us. Whatever. But right now, we need to get past all of that.”

“I know it’s asking a lot,” I said. “But I’m asking you to believe what we’re telling you.”

Daniel’s mouth tightened and then he exhaled heavily as his gaze met mine. “I’ve known you for years, girl. Known that you’ve made a lot of bad and dumb decisions.”

Um.

“You’re often reckless and impulsive,” he continued, and I really wasn’t sure where this list of my glaring flaws was leading. “But I’ve never known you to be a traitor. I believe you.”

Relief hit me so hard I almost fell over. I looked over at Ren and saw that his shoulders had loosened. “Thank you,” I said, because it was all I could say. “And you?”

“The jury is still out on that,” Miles answered after a heartbeat. “But you two are right. We need everyone we can get to stop the Prince. We need to work together. All of us.”

“Then what’s next?” Ren placed a hand on my lower back.

Daniel stood. “We plan.”

“Now is not the time. Out in the open like this.” Miles crossed his arms. “The San Diego branch has us set up in one of their homes on the harbor. We can meet—all of us. That means whoever you’ve come with.”

“We’ve come with fae,” Ren answered. “Are you sure these Order members are going to be cool with that? The Elite?”

“Cool with seeing me?” I pushed.

“We will make them okay,” Daniel promised. “We all need to set a lot of things aside if we hope to stop the Prince from succeeding.”

I glanced at Ren.

He nodded. “Tell us when and where.”

Chapter 28

The house in Del Mar was quiet when we returned to it. We’d already filled Faye and Kalen in on everything, but we couldn’t find Fabian or Tink. Well, we really didn’t look that hard, figuring they were holed up in one of the many bedrooms.

Ren had stopped me when I headed for the stairs, grabbing ahold of my hand and pulling me toward the back of the house, stopping to grab a soft looking blanket off the back of the couch. He’d led me out onto the veranda surrounding the pool, to one of the comfy looking chaise lounges.

So that’s where we found ourselves after our meeting with Daniel and Miles, our daggers on the table, within reach, and our shoes tucked under the chair. I was lying on my side, between his legs, and nestled against his chest. The blanket was draped over us, and we both were staring up at the stars blanketing the night sky, the low whoosh of moving waves a comforting, lulling sound.

I was glad that he’d brought me out here. There was something so normal about this that I wished I had the ability to slow down time and make the time out here last forever.

“Yeah,” Ren said finally, his fingers idly moving through my hair. “I think I could live here.”

A grin tugged at my lips. “Especially if we had this house and view.”

“True,” he murmured. “But all I’d need is to be able to see the stars and have you right here, like you are right now.”

The grin turned into a smile. “There you go, always saying the right thing.”

His arm tightened around me. “I don’t always say the right thing. I think you know that.”

“But when you do, you make up for the stupid stuff that comes out of your mouth.”

Ren chuckled as he tugged on

a curl. A moment passed. “I think tonight went good.”

I closed my eyes. “Yeah.”