Page 22 of Filthy Fae

“You met his mother?” Aaron asked, a smile forming as he looked from me to Mack. “That’s a big step. Does that mean you’ll be moving in here with us soon? I might have to get a bigger bed.”

Darrel cleared his throat and glowered at his brother. “Queen Titania threatened Scarlet,” he said, stepping behind my chair and resting his hands on my shoulders. “In three days, all of us might be going to war.”

“I’m not going to let that happen,” I said. What I told Aaron this morning couldn’t be truer. The reasons I was falling in love with Darrel so easily and completely—his honesty, bluntness, perceptiveness, and dogged protectiveness—were also the reasons he was getting on my last nerve this morning.

Mack shifted in his seat. “Actually, I came to explain what’s happening with Queen Titania and to help Scarlet.”

“More threats?” I asked, holding in my groan.

“A decree…” He swallowed, dropping his eyes to his hands. “I want to preface this by saying that I will not let this happen. If all else fails, I have a way to stop her. But a fae messenger is going to arrive to deliver this message, and you should hear it from me first. The fae messenger is a trap. It will be someone she wants you to kill. If you kill them, she’ll attack immediately without waiting for Zane to be released.”

“Just come out with it, Mack,” I said. I flicked my gaze over to Darrel, and he nodded slightly. Swallowing, I added, “We can handle your message without killing the messenger. What’s the message?”

“She’s calling for a hunt. Whoever brings her Zane alive will be able to make any request. The hunt starts the moment the police release Zane Reed from custody. The queen has granted permission to kill anyone protecting him—up to twenty-two wolves.”

Chapter Nine

Scarlet

Silence followed Mack’s words. It wasn’t a huge revelation after everything the queen spewed at me last night, but I’d hoped that Titania had returned home and calmed down after the police station. Considering the years of peace we’d had with the Spring Court, I’d hoped she would decide to handle this discretely.

Obviously, all my hopes were in vain.

“What happens if Scarlet proves Zane is innocent?” Aaron asked as he slipped into the chair on the other side of me.

“Or if I can’t prove it and handle the situation myself?” The words made me feel sick, especially with who I suspected of actually committing the crime. At the end of the day, though, this was my responsibility.

Mack shook his head. “If you kill Zane yourself, Queen Titania will call for the hunt to deliver the heads of twenty-two werewolves. But if you can provide enough evidence that Titania believes Zane is innocent, she can’t start a war.”

“Like hell she won’t,” Darrel growled.

“She won’t. She’ll have to call off the hunt,” Mack said, ignoring Darrel and taking my hand. “It’s complicated, but it all started when my mother tried to steal Oberon’s kingdom.”

“What?” Aaron asked, looking as shocked with the abrupt change in conversation as I was.

“I was a kid. My mother, she’s ambitious. She’s also obsessed with King Oberon. The feeling isn’t mutual. Probably to get his attention, she attempted to usurp him.”

“What does this have to do with anything?” Darrel growled, his wolf shining through his eyes.

“It has to do with everything. King Oberon cursed her for a hundred years—and in that time, if she does anything to grab power from anyone else, Queen Titania will wither and die.”

“Then maybe we should let her,” Darrel grumbled as he pushed away from my chair.

“Darrel.” I turned, ready to really let him have it, but Mack held up a hand.

“He has a right to say that. A lot of people have a right to say that. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.” Mack inhaled deeply and rubbed his thumb across my palm. “After Queen Titania was cursed, my mother bound a fae prince from each kingdom to her life force for the length of the curse—including Oberon’s favorite son and heir. If she begins to wither, she will drain each of them of their life force to keep herself alive as long as possible. Which means before she dies, all of them die, too.”

“You’re talking about the four fae in the police station?” I asked, realizing who he was referring to. “She bound her own son?”

“Yeah, my brother, Naveen. The queen has a lot of us. Her disposable sons.” His voice held years of resentment.

Guilt hit me, strong and hard, and I squeezed his hand. He’d been suffering this shit for years, wanting to confide in his best friend, and I’d blocked his every attempt. Like an asshole, I’d assumed that because he was a celebrity prince with infinite resources and I was dirt-poor, that all I was doing was shielding him and his perfect life from my baggage. All this time, he’d been suffering this alone, and I’d been right here, refusing to comfort him. “I don’t deserve you.”

“What?” His brow furrowed, and I realized I’d said the last part aloud.

I felt too sick to repeat myself. “So, the queen plans to kill just enough of us that it will be revenge only, a life for a life?”

“If she starts killing werewolves, the surrounding packs will attack her,” Aaron said.