“And yet you left me behind…”

  “I tried to come for you,” Knox argued, panic in his tone. “I tried to save you too, but…”

  “But what? You had all the others so that was good enough? The cost of one was worth it to save the rest?” Liam’s smile faded, leaving nothing but hostility and anger in its wake. Grizz’s low growl behind me vocalized my thoughts exactly. Liam was as unstable as his master.

  “Of course not,” Knox said, recoiling from Liam’s accusations. “It killed me to know you were still here. That the king would punish you for what I had done.” He stopped for a moment, collecting himself against his rising emotions. “I swear we all thought you were dead. That’s what our spies told us. That you had been tortured and killed—punished for our crimes.”

  “Almost, but not quite,” Liam said, circling Knox methodically. His hands were clasped behind his back, but I watched as his knuckles grew whiter under his tightening grip. His anger was barely restrained. I feared for when it spilled over. “It’s true that Father was angry. That he punished me severely. In fact, I do believe he’d have killed me—I could see it in his eyes as he lifted my limp head from the ground after a beating—but something changed. He decided to let me live. From that point on, I was reborn in his image, gifted with magic the rest of you never were or will be.” Not good. So not good. “It’s ironic that you sold your soul for your freedom, and all you did was trade one master for another.” Again, his weighted gaze fell on me.

  “I’m not his master,” I said, stepping up to Knox’s side. “We’re equals. A team.”

  For a moment Liam’s anger faltered, letting disbelief flash across his face. Knox didn’t miss it.

  “Do not confuse alliance with servitude, brother,” Knox said, his tone full of warning. “Come back with us. Be one of us again. Piper can help you—help heal you.”

  Liam hesitated for a moment, then let loose a laugh full of acid and pain.

  “I don’t need your whore’s help. I’m as whole as I need to be. And I’m not leaving.” He leaned in closer to Knox, and I felt Grizz move behind me, stepping between the alpha and me. He had Knox’s back, come what may. “And neither are you.”

  Knox stiffened and Grizz pressed closer, the two of them a united front against the twisted wolf turned magical weapon for the fey king. But I wouldn’t be left out of the fight. If Liam so much as raised a finger against Knox, he’d learn exactly what this whore could do.

  Death would be a mercy.

  I glanced over my shoulder to where the portal we’d come through stood. Then I pinned a vengeful stare on Liam. It seemed to only amuse him further.

  “They’re leaving. Try to stop them and it’ll mean your end.”

  Liam cocked his head, an alien expression on his face. He seemed truly baffled by my actions. Like he couldn’t begin to comprehend them.

  “You would die for them?”

  “I would die for anyone I love.” His eyes narrowed. “And if you were still one of Knox’s pack, I would die for you too.”

  A genuine, albeit mildly psychotic, smile spread across his face.

  “I must say, brother, she is both exotic and entertaining. I think I’ll keep her once the king is done with her—he always tires of his playthings. You can consider it compensation for the wrongs you’ve done me.”

  Liam’s hand shot out toward me, the speed of it mind-blowing. Before I knew it, he had his arm around my waist, dragging me away from the guys. Knox’s eyes glowed yellow and his claws extended from his fingers. He lunged for us, but was stopped with a single command.

  “Stand down.” The fey king’s voice rang out through the air with such power it was awe-inspiring. Though I wasn’t one of his creations, I still felt it. Knox froze in place, the strain visible in his expression as he tried to fight against the king’s directive and failed.

  Grizz, not hindered by the same connection that bound Knox to the king, charged Liam as I struggled to call my magic. Something about being in Liam’s hold seemed to choke it off. What little I had was lost as he squeezed me tighter. If it came down to a battle of strength, I was totally fucked.

  Liam laughed at Grizz until the man-bear clotheslined him across the throat, just above my head. He staggered back a step or two, dragging me along with him. Grizz grabbed hold of me and ripped me from Liam’s grasp. He threw me aside so he could face the demented wolf, who now stood facing off against him. Fear shot up my spine, knowing that Grizz couldn’t stand against Liam for long, if at all. And with Knox incapacitated and my magic weak at best, things started to look bleaker by the second.

  I ran to Knox’s side, wrapping my hand around his wrist and pressing the amulet to his chest. Liam had said the fey queen’s magic would interfere with the king’s, and I prayed that he wasn’t full of shit. Much to my surprise, Knox started to move. I could feel that a part of him was still tethered to the king’s command, but the rest of him fought it like a man possessed. Moments later Knox was free, running to aid Grizz. Together they formed a wall to keep Liam at bay while I turned my attention to the fey king. Maybe I didn’t have the power to fight him—maybe it was still broken—but negotiating had long been a skill of mine, honed to perfection during my years surviving alone on the streets. I could wield that against him either way.

  And I still had the amulet in case all else failed.

  “I did not expect you to bring your entourage with you,” the fey king said, coming out of a pocket of shadow. “All the better for me.”

  “You summoned me,” I said, every ounce of disdain I felt for him dripping from my words.

  “And you came like a good girl. Is it door number three, then?” he asked, stepping closer. I could feel the rush of sexuality flowing from him and I struggled to fight it. “I can give you the freedom to be who you really are.”

  “So can they,” I replied through gritted teeth.

  “Can they now?” he asked, feigning interest. “From all I have heard and the bits I have seen, you look like you’re collateral damage in their war. Join me and all the pressure goes away.”

  “I am happy where I am.” My fists balled at my sides.

  “You’d be happier here.”

  “You can’t give me something I already have,” I said, staring down his beautiful face.

  He smiled at my insolence.

  “Maybe. Maybe not. But I can certainly take it away…”

  “This is between you and me,” Knox interrupted, reaching back to take my hand in his. I felt a tiny rush of power, but nothing like I had in the past when we’d joined forces. Something was wrong. As though my fears were written all over my face, the fey king smiled.

  “You look surprised by something, Piper. Is my realm not everything you imagined it would be? Are you disappointed by your new home?”

  “I told you, I won’t be staying,” I said, looking back over my shoulder again at the portal. I heard his laugh envelop me as the small tear in the veil sewed itself shut.

  “I’m afraid you will be. All of you.” He gave Knox a pointed look before returning his focus to me. “Now, it’s time you and I sort out how we can take down the queen.”

  “You can’t, Piper,” Knox said quietly in my ear.

  “Of course she can’t,” the fey king said, his expression incredulous. “Not without my help.”

  “Remember what we talked about with Drake the other day?” Knox said, ignoring the king. “About Reinhardt and what his death meant?”

  I looked up at him, reading between the lines. I didn’t like what I found. If the fey queen died, she would need a successor. And since the whereabouts of my mother, or anyone else from her line, were unknown, that would leave me to fill the vacancy, tethering me to Faerie—and making me the fey king’s next target. All part of his plan, no doubt.

  “What will it be, Piper?” the king asked. This time, I could feel the press of magic in his words, making me want to obey him. Knox’s hand squeezed mine tighter, and my head cleared.

  “No,” I said softly, trying to silently call upon the magic in the amulet to help us out. I only needed enough to create a portal and run. Wherever it led, it would be safer than where we were. Even if it landed us in the queen’s lap. “I won’t do it.”

  His calm, beautiful façade fell just enough to show the wretched evil it belied. The true fey king.

  “You will,” he replied, his tone calm but full of malice. It seemed the fey king—like the queen—did not enjoy being rebuffed. “Or I will make you.” He turned his attention to Grizz and Knox, and my heart fell to my stomach. “Liam,” he called as if beckoning a child to him. “If you’d be so kind.” The assassin’s eyes fell upon his “brother” and I could see them dilate with anticipation. In a flash, he lunged for Knox. I threw my hand out to ward him off, and to my surprise, a fireball flew out from my palm, striking the rogue wolf in the chest. It knocked him backward, charring his exposed skin. He looked down at it as though I’d only served to annoy him, then set his sights once again on Knox.

  “Interesting,” the king purred, looking at me like I was more than he’d expected. Like he had underestimated me. “Knox.” The weight of his name shot a ripple through the air around us. Like a puppet on a string, Knox drew his chest up as his body went rigid. This was the moment he’d feared. The one when the king would use his connection against us. He should have never returned to the king’s realm. “If you won’t help me willingly, Piper, then you will do it by force. But understand one thing—you will do my bidding. All my pets do.”

  With a flick of his wrist, Knox released my hand and growled at me as though I were the enemy in his presence. Grizz grabbed his shoulder, his massive hand encasing it whole, but Knox simply turned and threw the man-bear across the field. I was certain the fall would kill him. Knox’s powers had never been that strong on Earth. I swallowed hard at the realization.

  He was as formidable as Liam in his true world.

  “Knox,” I said, my tone low and calm. I pulled the amulet over my head and clutched it in my hands, rubbing it like a rosary. “Knox… it’s me. You have to fight this. He may have created you, but you said it yourself—we were fated. And no power of his can override fate.”

  I heard the king’s laughter behind me, and I did my best to ignore it.

  I saw Knox’s hand raise in a fist, but there was a shake to it. A resistance. I looked into his ice blue eyes and searched for any sign of recognition. Somewhere deep inside, I found it.

  “If you will not help me, I have no use for you, Piper,” the king warned. Knox stepped closer, claws extending from his fingers. “You know it will destroy him if he kills you, don’t you? He’ll be trapped here with his guilt for an eternity…”

  “Fight this,” I whispered to him, pressing the amulet against his chest. He faltered for a moment before stepping back and knocking it from my hand.

  “Hit her,” the fey king ordered, his voice cruel and commanding. The bite of stinging flesh shot through me. I heard Grizz growl in the distance and felt oddly relieved in that moment. At least he was okay—for now. “Again!” the king shouted. Open palm met cheek, this time with the slicing of delicate flesh under the sharp tips of his claws.

  Tears ran down my face as Knox methodically—and slowly—attacked me. I tried to defend myself, but he just kept moving, changing his angle of attack. I tried to call my magic, but nothing came. Nothing at all. I dropped to the ground to search for the amulet, still weathering Knox’s blows.

  The king looked on as though bored by the whole thing. Liam, however, was intrigued. Whether it was morbid curiosity or true fascination with my behavior, he took a step closer to us, watching his brother slowly beat me to death. I wondered if he would join in.

  With another crushing blow, I lurched forward onto my stomach, my arms and legs sprawled out. My hand grabbed Knox’s ankle and I squeezed it hard. There was a definite pause in his otherwise rhythmic beating. I focused on the connection we had—the one I’d always felt around Knox—and I channeled the shit out of it into him. I looked up at him through matted hair to see wide eyes staring back at me as he stood frozen, a look of horror on his face as he took in what he’d done.

  The fey king laughed.

  “How touching. You think love can save you,” he said, bitterness dripping from his words. “Love is an illusion. A lie. The only true power you can hold over another, besides power itself, is fear and brutality.” The fey king stepped closer, and I tried to reach the amulet, fingers scraping the barren earth as they clawed for it. If we were to have any chance at all to get out of there, I needed it. “Knox was able to escape my dominance once. I was careless back then, and I suffered because of it. But I’ve taken a lesser creature and made him everything I’d hoped Knox would one day become. The perfect killing machine.” My eyes fell to Liam, who stood next to his creator, staring down at my hand where it gripped Knox. “But now my prodigal son has returned and I can continue my work. He will be even better than Liam. The firstborn is always the best, you know. And I will prove it.” He put his hand on Knox’s shoulder and squeezed it hard. “Kill her.”

  Something in Knox’s eyes twitched just as my fingertips grazed the amulet.

  “I love you,” I whispered to him, scrambling to my feet while focusing on the magic in the amulet. Knox’s head slowly swiveled toward the king, then back to me. Slowly raising a clawed hand, he drew his jerky finger gently along my cheek.

  Then, looking at his father, he put it to his own throat and sliced it wide open.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Blood drained from my face at the rate it poured from Knox’s body. Watching the pool of red below him grow was surreal. Until it wasn’t. The second my mind reconciled what I was seeing with what it meant, I screamed his name.

  “Knox!”

  No response.

  I heard the fey king laughing somewhere behind me, and my blood boiled. If I’d had my full powers, I’d have ripped his head from his body with a flick of my wrist. But I didn’t have them, which would soon prove to be a problem for other reasons.

  Grizz looked at me as he scooped the alpha’s limp, dripping form from the ground. I clutched the amulet in my hand and squeezed it, trying to milk every bit of magic I could from it—hoping it would give me enough power to incapacitate the king long enough to make a break for it. Hopefully it would help guide us to its creator’s land.

  “He always was a clever one,” the fey king said, the amusement in his tone making me see red. “Shame he found a way around my directive. Losing him is disappointing.”

  “He isn’t yours to lose,” I said, my voice low and threatening. “He never was.”

  The king cocked his head. “You think the wolves are yours.”

  “I think I’ve earned their loyalty, unlike you, who forces them into submission.”

  Grizz made a noise behind me, a desperate plea to get out of there before we ran out of time—if we had any to start with.

  “Can I force you into submission, I wonder?” the fey king said, stepping closer to me.

  My hand clutched the amulet that warmed in my grasp, begging me to draw every last ounce of power it had. I had one shot to take the king down. One shot to take him by surprise if I wanted Knox to have any chance of surviving. With a deep breath, I thought about what Drake had taught me. I thought about all I’d lost—and all I still stood to lose. There was no way I would let the fey king accomplish what the fey queen had attempted. He couldn’t take someone I loved from me.

  Over my dead fucking body.

  “Did you mean what you said?” Liam asked, his empty eyes drifting from Knox’s dying body to me. “About the wolves?”

  I nodded once, tears welling in my eyes.

  “There is nothing I wouldn’t do for them,” I replied, anger and sadness thick in my tone.

  It was then that I saw something in Liam’s eyes that reminded me of Knox. For that brief moment in time, he looked like his brother. Softer. Kinder. A hint of what he’d once been before the king destroyed him.

  Then he smiled. “Time to take him home,” he said before launching himself at the fey king. For a moment, I was paralyzed by the sight. Then Grizz grabbed my arm and started running in the opposite direction. The amulet grew brighter with every step.

  I heard an inhuman cry from behind us, and I turned to see the fey king stand. Without thinking, I stopped and threw my hands up, shooting a ball of fire toward him. It grew as it sped across the distance and then exploded, raining down upon him and Liam.

  We continued running, not daring to look back again. At best, I’d incapacitated the king. At worst, I’d just pissed him off. Either way, it didn’t matter. We had to get to away.

  As we ran, I could feel the familiar tug of magic that I’d felt before in Faerie grow stronger. We were closing in on the border with every step. Relief flooded me, knowing that it wouldn’t be long before my powers would return and I could save Knox. I feared he wouldn’t make it home without being healed first.

  “Grizz! Is he still alive?” I shouted as we hit a clearing. The bear grunted something at me in return that I took as a yes. I wanted to let out a sigh of relief, but something I saw in the distance cut off my breath altogether. Standing in a long line across what I had to assume was the border between the king’s dark land and the lush territory of the queen was her royal army, with her majesty, the queen herself, standing in the middle.

  We instinctively slowed, Grizz and I both knowing what her presence meant. But then a calm and eerie voice from behind us spurred us on. The king was coming. We were between a rock and a hard place.

  Where my fey powers lay, an army awaited.

  Where my fey powers were null, certain death approached.

  “Such a conundrum,” the fey queen said, the joy she took in my predicament duly noted. “If you do not give him what he wants, he will kill you, my dear. Make no mistake about that. And your wolf—poor Trevor—he is not long for this world, or yours, for that matter. Tick tock, Piper. Time to make a decision.”