Brave (A Wicked Trilogy 3)

His jaw tightened. “That is my job.”

“And it’s my job too!”

Tink lightly touched my arm. “He has a point, Ivy.” He narrowed his eyes at Ren. “He’s really bad at making said point, but he does have a point.”

“Thanks,” Ren bit out before taking a deep breath. “Look, I get that it’s your duty too, but you’re still at risk. He could turn his attention back to you.”

Folding my arms, I cocked my hip out, moving into the standard pissed off stance. “And I get it’s your duty, but you do realize the only way the Prince controls me is through your ass, right?”

Ren stepped back, his spine going rigid.

“Yeah. Let that sink in, buddy.” I was on a roll. No stopping now. “You go out there, and if he doesn’t kill you, he’ll capture you. Using you to get me to agree to things is probably a lot easier than convincing some random halfling to have sex with him.”

“Actually,” Faye cut in, “if the Halfling doesn’t know what she is and what he is, it wouldn’t be hard at all. One-night stands happen all the time.”

Tanner sat down heavily. “This is bad.”

“It’s still too risky for you to go.” Ren ignored them. “Not trying to be an ass about it, but the further away you are, the better.”

“So, I’m supposed to sit around and do what exactly? Tend to the garden outside? Maybe take up knitting classes?”

“At least then you’re doing something.” One side of his lips kicked up. “Idle hands are the devil’s playground, or so they say.”

I was going to hit him.

Seriously.

“I’m about to shove these idle hands so far up your ass, you’ll think you’ve become a puppet.”

“You know what?” Ren leaned forward, lowering his voice. “I might actually enjoy that.”

My body flushed out of anger and something totally different. I ignored the latter, getting right up in Ren’s face. “I’m not staying behind, Ren. Not going to happen.”

“You’re impossible to reason with.” Shaking his head, he thrust his hand through his hair. “I swear to God.”

“Stop fighting,” Tink said, dancing back and forth between us. “It makes me anxious.”

“It makes me wish I had popcorn,” Fabian added.

I spun on the Summer Prince. “Why are you even here? You came from who knows where—”

“Florida,” he supplied.

“Figures,” Ren muttered under his breath.

“You came here just to tell us that Drake had left? You couldn’t, I don’t know, phone that piece of knowledge in?”

Tanner sighed from behind the desk.

“You still need me.” He threaded his fingers together. “After all, how do you plan to find the Crystal? Or the Winter Prince when we don’t know where he’s gone? Even if we do discover that, he will be smarter, hiding his presence. We will be able to sense one another, but he will not know I’m working with you.”

“Would he truly think that a prince of a court he’s helped eradicate is in the same city as him to join him for dinner?” Ren demanded, bringing up a good point.

A muscle thrummed along Fabian’s jaw. “The Winter Prince will not see me as a threat. If anything, he’ll just be curious.” His gaze slid to me. “That will be his weakness.”

Meeting the Summer Prince’s gaze head-on, I had a feeling that wasn’t the only weakness to learn.

“None of that truly matters if we don’t know where the Prince has gone.” Faye lifted her hands. “We can sit here and argue over who is leaving and who is staying, but none of that matters. We have no idea where he went.”

“That’s another good point,” Tink chimed in.

Those around me started speculating, but that was all they could do. Speculate. Which meant nothing. We couldn’t chase false leads or suspicions. We didn’t have the time. We needed to find someone who’d know—

Then it hit me.

“I know who would probably know where Drake has gone,” I said, and all eyes turned to me. “Marlon—Marlon St. Cyers. The developer in the city?” I added when everyone continued to stare at me. “He’s an Ancient who was working closely with Drake. He may know where he went.”

Tanner turned to Faye. “Do you think that’s possible? That Drake would’ve trusted him enough with that information?”

“They were close, so it’s possible.” Excitement sparked in her pale eyes. “It’s worth checking out.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do.” Resolve filled me. “We’ll find Marlon and we’ll make sure he talks.”

Chapter 15

The meeting sort of fell apart after that. Tanner wanted everyone to ‘calm down and gain perspective’ before we spoke of leaving to search down Marlon. Ren shot me a look that told me our conversation—er, argument—wasn’t over before he stalked out of the room. Prince Fabian rose fluidly, and when I saw he’d zeroed in on Tink, I made my way out into the hallway. Ren had already disappeared.

Faye followed, and when I glanced over at her, there was no missing the tension lining her face. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Faye nodded, but she still looked a little ill. “It’s just something Fabian said about Queen Morgana. How I wouldn’t recognize her if I’d seen her.” Drawing in a deep breath, she reached up, tucking her hair behind an ear. “Just the possibility of being near her without knowing makes me feel as if someone has walked over my grave.”

My brows lifted. “She’s that bad?”

Faye stopped, facing me. “What has been told about her spun in tales to entertain children are just that. Tales.” She gave a little shake of her head. “Stories of her brutality are only whispered among the oldest of our kind, her cruelty most horrendous. She has committed such grievous crimes, her ability to create life was stripped from her. In a way, she’s our boogeyman, something we all fear. Her hatred of the Summer Court is only surpassed by her hatred of humans.” Faye looked away, swallowing hard. “If she is involved, the doorways to the Otherworld opening would be the least of our worries.”

After the somewhat creepy conversation with Faye, I tried to find Ren because I was more than ready for round two of our argument. I knew I’d hurt him the night before, but that didn’t change the fact he had absolutely no right to try to tell me what I could do.

Unfortunately, he was missing in action, which was disappointing because it made me want to yell at him more.

I liked yelling at him, actually. It made me feel . . . normal. And that was kind of messed up, but whatever.

Since he was nowhere to be found, I did the next best thing. I headed to the gym, but I didn’t go into the room with the treadmills. I went for the smaller room, the one with thick mats covering the floor and a punching bag.

That’s where I spent the rest of the day, going through old training sessions with myself, like I was sixteen again. A few months ago, I would’ve balked at the notion that I needed to practice evasive techniques or groundwork, but I knew better now. I needed all the practice I could get, especially if I planned on facing the Winter Prince again.

It would’ve been nice to have a partner though.

I moved on to the punching bag, working with the iron dagger. I didn’t jab as hard as I could, because I doubted the fae here would’ve appreciated a bag full of cuts, but I picked up speed as the now too familiar sensation simmered to life in my stomach. It reminded me of gnawing hunger, but it was a craving, the same kind I imagined an addict went through. It was nowhere near as bad as it had been before, but it was still there, a shadow inside me.

Sweat was dripping into my eyes when the door opened and a burst of fresh air entered the room. Yanking the blade out of the bag, I spun around and saw Brighton.

She was standing just inside the door, one hand curled around the ends of her ponytail. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“It’s okay.” Swiping an arm over my forehead, I sheathed the dagger. “What’s up?”

“I

was just roaming around. Saw that you were in here.” She nodded at the small window in the door. “I haven’t seen you since . . . well, since you were attacked. You seem to be doing well.”

“I am. I would say I’m lucky, but I guess being part fae is why I’m okay.” Those words rolled off my tongue easier than I thought they ever would. “The whole feeding thing saved my life.”

“That’s what I heard. Mind if I sit or is it a distraction?”