Forever Fae (Forever Fae #1)(42)

Elvena takes this time to speak.

“There is more, Your Highness.”

The King prompts her to continue.

“I hate to say it, but Avery is missing as well. Meliantha came to me and asked for a favor. It appears that Princess Calista and Prince Ryder had some reservations about him and I was asked to look around his quarters.” Elvena looks around and makes sure everyone is listening to her.

“It appears that not only is Avery missing, but he had traces of dark magic around his room. It’s the strongest magic I have felt in a very long time.”

The room falls silent.

With Avery and Warren both missing, it’s starting to look like they were in this together. I did see them talking at the ceremony and if it’s true, Warren is definitely a traitor. He is my best friend, but even that will not save him from the punishment of death.

King Oberon finally speaks.

“What does all this mean? Are you saying we’ve had a traitor beside us this whole time?”

Elvena nods her head.

“That is exactly what I’m saying, Your Highness. The magic I traced is the same magic of the sorcerers I felt a century ago. I believe it is what we have suspected all along.” She pauses and looks around the room again with a grave expression. “Another dark sorcerer is in the Land of the Fae,” she reveals.

Commotion explodes at the mention of a dark sorcerer being alive and the voices echo loudly from the walls of the Great Room. It’s a deafening sound. We all speculated there was a chance a dark sorcerer still lived, but no one really wanted to believe it. I heard stories growing up about the dark times in the Land of the Fae a century ago.

The King is obviously irritated by the chaos in the room because he yells above the crowd, “Silence!”

The room falls quiet again and I can tell he is thinking of an appropriate response to what Elvena has disclosed.

He commands, “We need guards searching the Summer territory for Avery in case he hasn’t escaped yet. When he is found he will be executed. We need to be on our guard fully.”

He turns to Elvena and asks, “Do you know what the sorcerer wants?”

She nods her head and gives the King a grave look.

“He wants power and as we all can assume, he is most likely the evil the prophecy speaks of. He needs the power of The Four. The power of The Four involves Calista, so she will be his first target.

“Does she know this?” The King demands and then turns to Merrick to ask, “Where is she?” His voice is laced with fear and worry and I don’t blame him because I’m feeling the same way. Calista is not here and I fear that something may be wrong.

Merrick looks at me and then turns to bow his head to the King and answers.

“Forgive me, Your Highness, but she ran away from Ryder and me this morning.” He looks sheepishly around the room and adds, “She subdued us both this morning and left us there.”

King Oberon looks agitated and asks, “Why would she do that? Did she beat you up as well? You both look like hell.”

I decide to jump in and explain.

“She left because we both…” I point to Merrick and then back to myself. “Acted like complete jackasses. She got pissed at us and brought the force of her power down on us.” I pause for a second before saying what needs to be said next. If anything happens to Calista because Warren was here, I’ll never forgive myself.

“There’s something else you should know as well. Warren, my friend that accompanied Kalen and me, has disappeared, too. We searched his room and found most of his things missing. He has been acting oddly since we arrived and I saw him talking to Avery yesterday at the ceremony. I believe he has turned traitor.”

The King is in despair. It can’t be easy to know that traitors were here under his nose this entire time and he didn’t know.

He quickly demands, “I want guards watching my family at all times and do not, by any means, let them out of your sight.” He looks at Merrick and Merrick drops his gaze to the floor in shame. I can honestly say I feel somewhat bad for him because he let Calista get away, but so did I.

“Elvena, please go and find Calista,” the King pleads.

“Yes, Your Highness.” She bows and turns to walk away, but not before giving me a questioning glance. I shrug my shoulders and shake my head so she knows I have no clue where Calista is. I wish I knew.

Elvena leaves in search of Calista and everyone in the great room spends this time talking about strategies and preventive measures. I’m beginning to get worried and I see that Merrick is looking agitated and worried, too. I lean over to whisper to Merrick.

“Can you hear her…you know, in your thoughts?”

Merrick scrunches up his face in concentration and then deflates.

“I try, but I can’t hear her. It doesn’t feel like her usual shield, but there’s something there physically blocking me from entering her mind. I’ve tried all afternoon, but nothing happens.”

I look up to see Elvena and Meliantha running through the doors.

Meliantha is sobbing hysterically and screams, “She’s gone! Calista’s gone!” My heart stops and the feelings of dread wash over my body. Where could she be? If Warren has something to do with this I’m going to kill that f*cker with my bare hands.

Meliantha quickens her pace as she walks to King Oberon and wails, “We’ve searched everywhere and Elvena can’t sense her anywhere here.” She sinks to the ground holding her face and rocking back and forth. Out of all of Calista’s siblings I can tell that Calista and Meliantha are the closest. Kalen is about to go and comfort her when Queen Tatiana runs toward her and takes Meliantha into her arms holding her tight. Kalen backs up and I know he wanted to be the one to go to her. The queen takes the crying Meliantha and leaves the room.