Brave (A Wicked Trilogy 3)

“You don’t sound like you really believe that.”

I bit down on my lip as my stomach twisted with nervous energy and something else. The . . . hunger was there, but it was manageable.

He let go of my curl and his fingers drifted over my cheek. “What are you thinking?”

Impulse almost had me saying nothing, but I stopped myself before that bad habit took over. “I . . . I’m wondering if tonight was, you know, too easy. Do you know what I mean? I could just be paranoid—”

“No. You’re not being paranoid. All things considered, it was easy.”

I tilted my head so I could look up at him. “Do you think it’s a trap?”

Silvery moonlight cut across his cheekbones. “It could be, but we’re going to be prepared if so.”

We would be, but I kept replaying Daniel’s reaction to me over and over in my head. Both him and Miles had been shocked, but I’d expected more of a fight to convince them that we hadn’t betrayed them.

But Daniel knew me. He might not know Ren all that well, but he knew who I was at the core. “Thank God Daniel is still here. If he wasn’t, I don’t think we’d be able to convince Miles.”

“I have no idea how to read that guy,” he admitted.

“Don’t feel bad. I’ve known him for years and I still can’t.” Snuggling back down against his chest, I folded my hand against his side. My stomach started to settle, but my mind was nowhere near that. “I’m . . . I’m hungry.”

“I’m sure there’s food. . . .” Ren trailed off. “You’re not talking about food, are you?”

“No,” I whispered, my hand curling around his shirt. Shame burned at the back of my throat.

Ren’s fingers kept moving along my cheek. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

I swallowed down the sudden knot in my throat and closed my eyes again. “I don’t think so. It’s really not that bad. The . . . feeling is fading. I just—I don’t know. I just wanted to say it out loud.”

The arm at my waist somehow got tighter. “I’m glad you did. I just wish there was something I could do to make it easier for you.”

Some of the tension eased out of my muscles as the shame faded off. Ren wasn’t bothered by it. At least not enough to have any measurable reaction to it. I don’t know how I was expecting Ren to respond, but him not freaking out and just being, well, Ren did more than he knew. “You’re doing it right now. Helping me.”

“I’m glad to hear that even though it doesn’t feel like I’m doing much.”

“You’re doing everything.” I squeezed his side, letting out a sigh. I needed to refocus. “So, let’s say that our next meeting isn’t a trap. We find the Halfling before the Prince does, we still need to find the Crystal or we need to figure out how to weaken him enough to kill him. Finding the Halfling before he does is just a small step in the right direction.”

“But it’s a step.” Ren fell quiet and several minutes past before he spoke again. “There’s something none of us have really talked about.”

“What?”

“The ritual.” Tension crept into his body. “I’d asked Tanner and Faye about it. Even Merle. None of them had any details on exactly how we’re supposed to complete the ritual safely.”

“You mean, how I’m supposed to get the Prince’s blood and mine on the Crystal while in the Otherworld?” I placed my hand on his arm.

“Yeah. I don’t like the idea of this ritual, Ivy. No one is talking about it, and you have to be in the Otherworld to complete it?” His hand curled around the back of my head, his fingers tangling in my hair. “I don’t need to know a lot to know that there is a metric shit ton that can go wrong with that.”

A shudder worked its way through me. “Yeah, like . . . getting trapped in the Otherworld.”

“That will not happen.” His voice was hard.

I wanted to believe that. I had to believe that, because if I didn’t, the mere idea of being trapped in the Otherworld with a very pissed off Prince terrified me. But we didn’t have enough information on this ritual, like how much time I’d have between starting it and getting back through the doorway.

There was a tiny part of me, though, that was curious about the possibility of seeing the Otherworld, even if it was only for a handful of seconds.

“I think you’re onto something about finding out a way to weaken the Prince,” Ren said. “Fighting him will be dangerous, but it’s not as big of a risk as the ritual. We just need to find out how.”

Unless Fabian was going to start talking, I wasn’t sure how we would find out. It was beginning to feel like we didn’t have a choice on how this was going to go down.

That was if we even made it to the point where we did have one.

“And you think this is wise?” Fabian asked the following morning over breakfast. We were sitting at an island large enough to seat ten people. “That they can be trusted?”

“As much as we can be trusted.” I peeled the skin from a banana. “They’re taking a risk meeting us, too.”

“But there are more of them than us,” Kalen said, repeating what he’d said last night.

“But we have a Summer Prince.” Ren dropped onto the bar stool beside me. “Pretty sure that he can take out a dozen of them in about five seconds if things go south.”

I arched a brow as I munched down on my banana. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Fabian inclined his head. “Did they tell you anything about the Winter Prince or the Halfling?”

“Not yet. I’m hoping they fill us in today with good—” Something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. I turned.

Holy crap.

I lowered the banana as Tink buzzed into the room—twelve-inch-tall Tink with gossamer wings. My mouth dropped open. Ren followed my gaze, and he made a choked sound. It had been so long since I’d seen him in this form that I forgot whatever it was I had been talking about.

He flew across the kitchen, his wings moving silently, but everyone was staring. Faye looked like she was going to slip off the stool while Kalen was actually—wow, he was actually starting to grin.

The brownie was wearing dark trousers, but he was shirtless and shoeless as he buzzed up around the pocket light then came back down.

“Tink.” My eyes widened as he hovered over Fabian’s shoulder. “You’re . . . Tink sized.”

“Heard we’d be taking a field trip this morning. Figured I’m too cute to kill in this form.” He landed on the Summer Prince’s broad shoulder. “Plus, I’m less intimidating this way. That’s why Ren didn’t kill me at first.”

“That is not why I didn’t kill you at first,” Ren replied dryly.

I watched Tink sit down on Fabian’s shoulder.

Kalen looked over at Faye and then back to Tink again. “I’ve never seen a brownie in this form.”

“You’ve never seen a brownie before me at all,” Tink pointed out as he kicked his feet off Fabian’s upper chest. “So which way do you like me better? Big or small?”

My brows furrowed.

“I think . . . this way,” Kalen answered. “Yeah. Like this.”

“Not me,” murmured the Summer Prince.

Tink leaned over and grabbed a chunk of the Prince’s hair. He pulled it back and whispered something in Fabian’s ear that earned him a deep laugh.

I really didn’t want to know what it was.

I finished off the banana, and then it was time to leave. Sliding off the stool, I followed Ren out into the foyer. Tink left Fabian’s shoulder and flew over to mine. He landed, balancing himself with a hand against my head.

“I’m excited to meet these Order members.” He shifted closer to my head.

“Why?”

“Because I cannot wait to see their faces when they get a look at me!” His laugh was more of a childish giggle. “They are going to freak.”

A grin tugged at my lips. “They probably will. So, I want you to stay close to either me or Fabian, okay? At least, at

first.”

“Of course—oh!” He turned on my shoulder, yelling as I neared the door. I winced. “Fabian, don’t forget my suitcase!”

Ren pivoted around. “Your suitcase?”

“Yes. It’s Plan B.”