The soft patter of footsteps echoed faintly down the corridor, and I turned swiftly to Noemi, the question already pressing on my lips.
“How do you manage to keep track of them all throughout this entire castle?” I whispered quickly, urgency thickening my voice. “This place is nearly endless.”
“It took Graziana almost two years to master the spell,” she murmured, eyes fixed on the grate, not once meeting mine.
“And what of the excitable brothers from the Air Court?” Isotta drawled slowly, her voice edged with disdain. “Clearly, they’ve failed the one task we entrusted to them. How fares the progress on this new mission?”
“Gaetano remains insufferable as always, but he’s still ours to command. I’ll root out any weakness he shows. And Geremia,” Marinella mused, her tone laced with malicious amusement, “is a constant delight. I must say, though, I’d take him over Gaetano any day. The mission proceeds as planned-our allies are cooperative, and no one suspects a thing.”
Isotta sighed sharply. “I understand your confidence in this new scheme, but I still question why I need them at all. They failed her capture once already. A simple chase through a human forest was beyond them. She must have allies of her own-someone must have helped her create a portal into our realm.”
“The High Lord of the Earth Court, perhaps?” Marinella suggested with a nonchalant shrug. “He’s known to be friendly with her, and rumor has it they were close long before she unexpectedly became Fae.”
“And this second plan-how does it benefit me if she’s not even in the human realm?” Isotta pressed, dismissing Marinella’s comment with impatience.
Marinella chuckled, unperturbed by Isotta’s irritation. “This is why you sought me out, remember? You wanted someone as driven as you, but with a fresh perspective. In war, sometimes it’s the unseen strikes that bring the greatest victory. For us Fae, it’s the wounds of the mind, not the body, that last through the ages.”
“Do you think that’s enough to wound her, truly?” Isotta asked, her tone softening as though she was warming to the idea. “Destroying her home… would that give me the opening I need?”
“Oh, without a doubt,” Marinella snickered, her voice thick with satisfaction. “In a month’s time, our hard work will bear fruit.”
The words rattled inside me, sharp as shards of ice slicing through my thoughts. I couldn’t ignore what they meant, what these two Fae intended. I realized then that my home was anywhere Leonardo was. But it was the thought of my werewolf family in harm’s way that made my throat clench.
Their conversation ended as someone familiar to both approached. The two greeted this unknown figure and went on their way, while we stayed hidden behind the walls, silent and unseen.
“Even comfortable as they are, that’s the most they’ll reveal of their plans,” Noemi muttered, casting me a troubled glance. “When I peer into the human realm, the details are often blurred, hard to make out. I can’t help with my visions, but if there’s anything else you need, just say so.”
There was no chance of relaxing after that. Leonardo and I paced our room, tossing ideas back and forth, each thought a small comfort against the weight of what we’d learned.
“It’s clear they’re planning an attack,” Leonardo muttered, “but how? They can’t create portals large enough to transport troops.”
“They’d need more than just a handful of Fae to take down our pack, and Carlo’s family would certainly come to help. They’d be foolish not to consider our allies, so they’d need enough power to overcome any resistance.”
“I know. I don’t care for him, but yes, he would help,” Leonardo replied, flashing me a mischievous grin before resuming his pacing. “They’ve got men in the human realm, but we don’t know how many.”
“They could take the long route, stirring up enemies against you, but that would cost time. They’ll want a faster solution, especially with our time differences.”
Suddenly, the pieces clicked into place, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Seems you’ve worked something out, kitten,” Leonardo grinned, pulling me into his arms.
Wrapped together, I felt a sense of peace, though I knew our problems hadn’t vanished. There was so much to face, and I was struggling to take it day by day. We’d planned on finding a way back after helping here in the Water Court, but Isotta and Marinella had forced us onto a clock. We had just one month-one month, human or Fae time, to uncover their plan and stop it.
“Does this ever feel impossible to you?” I murmured, rolling onto my back.
The Fae bed’s lush silk felt rough and prickly against my skin now, its softness a mockery of the dread pooling inside me.
“Impossible? No.” Leonardo’s voice came through the darkness, thick with sleep. “I used to think that earning your forgiveness was impossible, but our second chance proved me wrong.”
He rolled closer, his arms encircling me until my eyes grew heavy, and soon, I drifted to sleep, his gentle words the last I remembered.
I awoke to an empty, frigid room, my fingers and toes numb. The silken blanket over me seemed coated in ice. A strange twist of dread tightened in my stomach, an instinct that something was very wrong.
I stumbled from the bed, nearly collapsing as numb feet buckled under me. Pain shot up my knees as I hit the porcelain floor, but I refused to let it stop me. After several tries, I steadied myself, gritting my teeth as I forced myself up.
The bedroom doors lay open, Leonardo’s fading scent lingering in the air. I pushed forward, feet growing warmer as I moved. Concentrating, I summoned a flicker of fire within me, feeling heat surge through my veins and light my skin. Fire danced where my feet touched the floor, but the flames faded as fear crept in.
The temperature dropped as I moved down the hall. Frost began to coat every surface, my breath puffing out in clouds. The flames at my feet dwindled, their embers sputtering against the icy floor.
As I rounded a corner, the sight before me made my heart stall. The hallway opened into a small courtyard drenched in moonlight, a place where Leonardo’s sisters had said spring still held its ground.
There, amidst the courtyard’s blooming flowers and glittering stars, Leonardo stood by a frozen fountain, his bare back hunched. His tattooed dragon seemed to ripple, and for a moment, I could only stare. A perfect circle of frost surrounded him, where water had frozen mid-stream and flowers crumbled like shards of colored glass.
“Leonardo?” My voice was steady, strong.
He shuddered at the sound, slowly rising. His eyes met mine, their crystal gray depths beautiful yet disturbingly vacant, glassy as though he were somewhere far away. Just like in Noemi’s vision.