Page 71 of Renegade Queen
“What can you do?” Dean asked, then his eyes widened almost comically as it no doubt registered how that had sounded. “I mean, if we know what we’re working with, perhaps we can adapt our plan accordingly.”
I could have sworn he was blushing right then, and if Ryder were here, he’d never have heard the end of it.
Just the thought of my friend had my mind turning to him. I hoped the three of them were alright and staying ahead of those freaky soldiers. We didn’t need to have to run out of here and try and rescue them as well with nothing but a half-baked plan and a whole bunch of hope.
“You have to remember that I grew up in the Spring Court, and I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone what I could do. I was tutored in how to use Spring magic, and I spent most of my life surrounded by it. In the other aspects, I only learned how to keep it contained. I never had the chance to learn how to do anything with it.” The sadness in her voice made me feel like a complete ass.
Here we were, looking at her like she had all the answers, and it really wasn’t fair on her.
“You’re going to have to fill in the blanks of what Spring magic is,” Dean told her. “We didn’t grow up here. We don’t have the same knowledge as you.”
Alyssa nodded in agreement, not even a fraction as annoyed as I was with him. He could be such a dick at times, and I was fairly certain he knew it.
“I can manipulate plants and communicate with some animals,” she told us like it was nothing.
We’d all seen the way she’d used those vines to rip apart The Endless in the clearing. I was pretty sure I’d have nightmares about it for the rest of my life. And she’d made it look so easy. Well, maybe not easy. She clearly had to put a lot into it. But damn, I wasn’t sure it would even have occurred to me as a possibility.
And then I understood what Dean was trying to say.
We didn’t know how any of this worked. And being in the dark against the weapons people could use against us had the potential of turning this into a suicide mission. Not that it had ever been anything else.
“Most people in the Courts have a way of manipulating their element, and it ranges depending on how strong their magic is. If the connection is fading, then people’s control will be getting less and less,” she explained. “The Winter Court governs water. They can manipulate any water source but the size of that would depend on the user’s strength. Complex or delicate work would require a lot of skill and control as well.”
“And by control, do you mean they won’t be able to do as much? Or do you mean that it will all explode in wild and uncontrollable ways?” Dean asked.
She thought for a moment before speaking. “Both.”
“Comforting,” Dean snarked, but at least it had the effect of making her smile.
“Our best plan is to get in and out before anyone even knows we’re there,” Alyssa told us with a shrug. “We know The Endless are out terrorising the people, or at least a portion of them. At the very least, Arik will have a personal guard in the palace. Not to mention, he is powerful himself in unexplainable ways. Facing him, facing whatever number of soldiers he has at the palace, is how we fail.”
“So, we see how far we can get, and if it looks like we’re going to draw attention or we can’t make it through, we come back here and rethink our next steps,” I decided.
It wasn’t what I wanted to do. Fuck, I wanted to force my way in there and kill everyone who stood in my way. But as much as I hated to admit it, that wouldn’t be possible. And barging in there with no clear path out would only get ourselves and Damon killed.
Alyssa sighed and started to pace in front of us. It was the first time I’d seen her look like she didn’t know what to do. She stopped and turned before she spoke. “He took him for a reason,” she said, making my blood run cold. “But I can’t figure out why. Why him? Why a human?”
“You think it’s a trap,” Dean stated.
Alyssa slowly shook her head. And she had to be right because before Damon was taken, there was nothing that linked Damon to her.
“How can it be? I’ve never met Damon. How would Arik know you’d come to me for help? This can’t be about me. But he has to have some kind of reason.”
“Maybe he’s planning on making a move on the human realm,” I suggested. That would make sense, right?
“There’s no way we can know,” Dean pointed out. “The only person with any information about what might be happening here is Damon. And it’s one more reason why we need to get him out of there. If Arik plans to move on the human realm, we have to stop him. He’d sweep across our world before anyone could figure out how to stop him. Magic isn’t something we’re equipped to fight against.”
“Why, though? What could he possibly want from the humans? He wouldn’t have the same access to his magic over there. He can’t bring weapons back to Nymeria. I can’t figure out what there would be for him to gain.” Alyssa sounded frustrated now, and this had clearly been on her mind for longer than any of us had realised. We’d been so fixated on getting Damon back that we hadn’t taken the time to consider why he’d been taken in the first place.
“There’s only one way to find out,” Dean said grimly. “It’s time to get our brother back.”
Alyssa nodded, turning to look at the tunnel we needed to move through. I could see the reluctance in her posture now. She doubted the plan. Fuck, we should all be doubting the plan because it was crap.
“Let’s do this,” she breathed and then started forward.
My heart leapt in my chest at the idea. This was it. We were so close now.
Chapter 31