Emiliano became increasingly overbearing after that, though I knew it was likely the unusual nature of my abilities that bothered him. He kept insisting that no other Fae could perceive magic as a tangible substance and seemed oddly troubled by how easily I’d unraveled his heat spell. After explaining my actions a hundred times over, I finally managed to escape his scrutiny and commandeer his shower.
It took all of ten minutes for the sweat on my skin to freeze and dry. I let the steaming water wash away the chill and grime from my body, grateful for the warmth. If I were a typical werewolf, I’d likely have a cold by now from the temperature fluctuations. Yet somehow, I felt great-better than great. I felt nearly invincible. I couldn’t help but wonder if all Fae felt this way, overflowing with power, radiant with the luminous glow that seemed to pulse beneath their skin. Wiping the condensation from the mirror, I stared into my own reflection, almost not recognizing the face that looked back.
The girl in the mirror was me, but not. Her cheekbones were sharper, with the last remnants of softness smoothed away, and the angles of her jawline were now distinct. Even my figure looked different-still athletic and toned, yet the imperfections in my skin had vanished. The faint white scar on my leg from a rogue attack in Carlo’s pack was gone, leaving behind smooth, unblemished skin.
My shower ended too soon, and I slipped into one of Emiliano’s spare rooms to dress. He had generously given both Leonardo and me separate bedrooms and fresh clothes. Thankfully, this time we weren’t sharing a room. As I stepped out into the hallway, I paused, catching sight of the thick crack running down the door across from mine. Leonardo’s door was ajar-just enough to give me an unimpeded view of the room inside.
His room was almost identical to mine, complete with a cozy four-poster bed and a fire crackling warmly in a brick hearth. The quilts looked thick and inviting, but my exhaustion wasn’t enough to make me move. My gaze remained fixed on Leonardo, who’d turned his back toward me. This fleeting opportunity to watch him felt forbidden, but I couldn’t bring myself to turn away.
My mind screamed at me to leave, but I stayed, watching as he stripped off his sweat-drenched shirt, his muscles bunching and shifting with each movement. His skin was pale, and across his back stretched a brilliant dragon tattoo in vivid cobalt against his alabaster skin. I traced every scale, every tooth, and every claw of the dragon before finally tearing my gaze away.
Once I caught my breath, I headed back downstairs to the living room, where Emiliano waited.
“What you did is not normal for our kind.” He stared into the flames in the fireplace, his brow creased, as if the fire itself responded to his unease. The tendrils of flame swirled erratically, thin and agitated. Every so often, his eyes flicked over to me.
“The other Fae Lords must never learn of this, Isabella,” he said, turning fully toward me, the firelight flickering in his golden eyes. “If they knew you could see and unravel magic…they would throw everything they had at you.”
“If I have powers from each Fae court, wouldn’t that make me stronger than them?” I asked, though I couldn’t ignore the bubble of fear rising in my stomach. I’d wanted this, I reminded myself, had felt so certain I could handle whatever memories lay waiting.
“Stronger, yes-if you learn to control your abilities in time.” Emiliano nodded. “But not even you could withstand the combined forces of each court. Their armies would cover the land, and this realm would fall to their hands.”
“How could they get an army through the portals?” I asked. “My Alpha’s been tracking the portals for months, and they appear randomly, vanishing within minutes. It’d be impossible to fit six armies through one portal, let alone stabilize it for long enough.”
“You’re right,” Emiliano agreed, turning his gaze back to the fire. His eyes followed the embers as they rose, twisting through the air. “For now, the portals are unstable.”
“For now?” My stomach twisted at his tone. He was keeping something from me, I could tell. While I couldn’t blame him for guarding his life’s secrets, everything else should have been fair game.
“What did you see in the Fae Realm?” he asked. “Tell me again.”
“The realm was dying,” I replied, recalling every detail with a simmering impatience. “Trees withered, oceans dried up, people died by the dozens. I saw a sea of bones, deserted kingdoms, empty towns and villages. Then the memory shifted, and I saw the six Fae Lords sacrificing a piece of their power, which found me as a child. What am I missing, Emiliano?”
“Why do you think they surrendered part of their power?” he asked, his gaze fixed unwaveringly on the flames. “Do you believe they intended for an innocent shifter child to inherit the power of all six Fae Lords?”
“No, of course not,” I replied. “You said the power chose me.”
“It did,” he confirmed. “But that wasn’t the High Lords’ intention when they cast the spell. Tell me, why would they willingly weaken themselves by giving up their power?”
The question stilled me. Leonardo appeared in my periphery, descending the staircase to take a seat on the sectional. Where before I might not have noticed, now I felt his presence acutely. Every shift, every breath-my awareness of him was complete. I even imagined feeling the puff of each exhale and the quiet beat of his heart. Every instinct I had told me to look away, but my gaze met his, holding there for one heartbeat, two.
Could he feel this too, I wondered? This visceral pull, this aching awareness? It felt as though my soul recognized his, crying out to be held, cherished, completed. For a fleeting second, I was sure he did. Yet, despite myself, I turned my focus back to Emiliano.
“They did it to save the Fae Realm,” I murmured, a thrill of certainty running through me.
“They did.” Emiliano’s gaze returned to the fire. “The Fae Realm has been in decline for years, starting with a magical plague. The plague spared no one. Babies, elders, warriors returning from battle-it took them all. Low-born, high-born, creatures of magic. None were untouched.”
“If they knew the realm was dying, why did it take them so long to act?” Leonardo’s voice broke in, smooth as velvet, setting my heart racing.
“The Fae are a proud people,” Emiliano replied, his gaze introspective. “They think themselves superior, as did I, once-until I was exiled to the Human Realm without title or throne. Only then did I see how fragile such things were, how the very essence of Fae nature could be their downfall. They would never have sought help from the humans. Asking for aid from the magic-less is beneath them. To the Fae, humans are barely worthy of acknowledgment.”
“There are many realms coexisting with ours,” he continued, “but only the Human Realm is accessible to the Fae. Some say the warrior Oberon sensed his true mate across the void and built a bridge between worlds to reach her. It’s said he stormed into the Human Realm and took her back with him, sealing the gate behind them. This happened thousands of years ago, if it happened at all. Either way, the Human Realm is the only one linked to the Fae Realm, the only lifeline left.”
“They don’t mean to save their realm at all, do they?” Leonardo asked, echoing my thoughts. “They’re coming to claim ours.”