A Rip of Realms (A Shade of Vampire #39)(7)

“Ruby once asked me if we had witches here. I laughed at her,” he replied in astonishment.

“I’m not talking about witchcraft,” I snapped. “Just power—old, ancient power that neither of us have a conception of.”

“All right,” he muttered stiffly. “I was just saying.”

“My apologies,” I replied curtly. “It irritates me that we were never told of this power—that it has been kept in the domain of the Impartial Ministers, those least worthy to wield it.”

Ash shrugged off my apology, shuffling his feet in the dust.

“Perhaps it’s a good thing that your father couldn’t access it,” he replied.

Touché.

“Perhaps.”

“It sounds like heading out to the summer palace is our best plan,” he continued. “Then we can search for the Impartial Ministers and get one of us crowned.”

I raised my eyebrows in surprise at his assessment. “One of us?” I asked. “Ash, the emperor will be you, not I. You deserve it, and the people need you.” I frowned. There was only one potential problem with our plan. “What of Queen Trina? Tell me we were lucky enough to be rid of her.”

Ash grinned broadly. “Better than that, she’s our prisoner.”

I smiled.

That was good news—good news indeed.





Rose





After I’d received the radio call from Caleb, Mona and Corrine had transported us back to The Shade to meet with the rest of GASP. Caleb had told us Sherus’s fears the moment the witches had ceased working on the portal, and now we were being called to the Great Dome to meet with the king of the fire fae himself.

Usually I would be intrigued, but right in this moment I was just plain furious. I stormed through the redwoods toward the council chamber, an irrational rage flooding every nerve.

“You’re going to need to keep your cool in there, Rose,” Caleb muttered as we approached the building. “You know your father isn’t going to respond well if you fly off the handle—he’ll have enough to deal with. Claudia’s on the warpath too.”

At the mention of Claudia, I faltered. None of us reacted well when her temper flared, and if I went in guns blazing, then Dad would be much less likely to hear me out.

“You’re right, give me a minute.”

I paused, standing next to Caleb, rubbing my temples and trying to collect myself. I needed to breathe—this meeting needed to be handled in the right way. I couldn’t just dismiss the fears of the fae; I had to treat this like any other job. Of course, it was dangerous opening an unknown portal, especially considering the stone that had emerged from it, but…the kids. They were all that mattered to me. How could I think straight when their lives were riding on this?

“Did Dad seem like he was on Sherus’s side with all this?” I asked.

“Your father seemed conflicted,” Caleb replied evenly. “So did Ben—you know that both of them want the kids back as much as we do.”

I groaned.

“Caleb, how are you being so level-headed about this?” I asked despairingly.

“Because I have to be. Trust me, if you were the one being level-headed, I would be flying off the handle.”

His brown eyes betrayed a spark of something feral; my husband was doing his best to keep control, but I realized under the surface a storm was brewing. I knew he would be having a hard time trusting the fae king, and if he was managing to keep his cool, then so could I.

“Let’s go,” I replied, gripping his hand.

The Dome was packed; pretty much the whole of GASP’s core was present. Corrine shuffled over in her seat so that Caleb and I could sit at the front. We would be the ones arguing most heavily in favor of opening the portal, but I knew we wouldn’t be alone. Mom hurried in, coming to sit next to us. Her emerald-green eyes were flashing with determination.

“Rose, are you okay?” she asked, leaning forward on her seat.

“Pissed off, and getting pretty desperate,” I replied candidly. “Where’s Sherus?”

“I left him and your father arguing alone, ‘round the back of the building.”

I stood up, wanting to join them. If there was going to be a discussion, then I wanted in on it.

“Sit down, Rose. They’ll be through in a minute,” she added. “Let your father try to persuade the fae before he hears our case.”

“Sherus has no jurisdiction here!” I exploded. “This is a decision GASP should be making alone.”

She nodded, her expression troubled. “We might need him, we don’t know—better to have the fae on our side than not.”

I slumped down in my seat, knowing that my mom was right. Yuri and Claudia entered the Dome, both nodding in our direction. Claudia looked like she was ready for a fight—her large brown eyes seemed to crackle with electricity, a sure sign that her more passionate nature was bubbling to the surface. Ashley and Landis followed behind, both of their faces etched with disappointment.

The group hushed, and I sensed that my dad was on his way in. Sure enough, he and Sherus entered through the side door, both stormy-faced. Perhaps the conversation hadn’t gone very well. Following Sherus was a red-headed woman I presumed to be his sister — Ben had informed me that she had also come to stay in The Shade — and behind her followed two other fae I didn’t recognize.