Summer of Frost (Forever Fae #3)(35)

He shrugged. “I’m pretty sure it worked, especially since she’s in the mortal realm. We are all weaker in that world, but I know Sorcha’s spirit. If anything, the potion will only be temporary.”

Relief flowed through me, but until it wore off she was still susceptible to Alston’s advances and the dangers of being around him. If she got her memories back before I found her there was no telling what he would do to her.

“How do you know she’s in the mortal realm, son?” my father asked.

“Because he told me, and it makes perfect sense. You see, once Sorcha gave her blood, the dark sorcerer had instant access to her power. He didn’t need her anymore, but someone else did, someone that turned against us,” I said, peering over at Oren. Sarette was by his side, standing frozen in horror. Her wish to have her cousin alive was about to come true, but he was also dead once I found him.

When I glanced back at my father, his brows were furrowed in confusion. “Who else was there that would want to take her, son?”

“Alston of the Winter Court took her. We thought he was dead after the battle, but he wasn’t. He was hiding out in the woods when Sorcha and I found him. He made a deal with the sorcerer, and in return he took her to the mortal realm so she couldn’t be found. With the memories of me and everything that’s happened erased out of her mind, he could feed her lie after lie and she wouldn’t know the truth.”

Sarette’s high-pitched wail caught everyone’s attention. “He wouldn’t do that! He would never betray our court!” I knew it had to be hard to find out that a close family member was a traitor, but at the moment, I couldn’t bring myself to feel sympathy for her.

“Be that as it may,” I snapped at her. “Your cousin is indeed alive, and he did betray your court, the whole Land of the Fae as a matter of fact. He has Sorcha in the mortal realm, and there’s no telling what’s going to happen to her if we don’t find her.”

Oren tried to console her, but she pulled away from him and ran out of the throne room. Oren then began to speak, “I know Alston, and I know his ways. If she’s lost her memories he’s going to manipulate her into thinking something else, and whatever it is, he’s going to make it seem like she can’t come home. If he steps back in the Land of the Fae he knows he’s dead. This was the perfect way to get Sorcha and disappear for good. His obsession with her is lethal. He’ll do anything to keep her to himself.”

“Where would he take her?” I asked impatiently.

Oren shrugged helplessly. “There are so many places they used to go together. It could be anywhere, but I have some good guesses.”

“Well, then that’s where we’ll start. We leave immediately, Guardian,” I commanded. “I’m not going to stop until I find her.”

“Neither am I,” Oren agreed, coming to my side.

Oren and I both turned to leave, but stopped when we heard the one question I dreaded someone asking. “How are we going to defeat the dark sorcerer now without the scroll?” Finn asked.

My father sighed, eyed me wearily, and frowned. “We will find another way. There has to be another way.” I knew my father didn’t believe it, but we still had to make sure our people knew there was hope. I could only pray there was another way to defeat the sorcerer.





Dressed in regular clothes, Oren and I were ready to begin our search in the mortal realm. “How long do you think it’ll take Sorcha to get her memories back?” Oren asked.

I shrugged. “I don’t know, but we’ll find a way to help her. So, where are we going to look first?” I asked him.

Instead of answering, he began forming the portal. When he was done, he stepped through and I followed him into the bustling streets of Paris. “Really, Oren?” I questioned doubtfully. “I didn’t take Alston for the romantic type.”

Oren grunted. “He wasn’t. He just tried to make Sorcha think he was. He was so desperate for her attention that he brought her here, and other places, in hopes she would fall in love with him.”

“Did it ever work?”

Oren shook his head. “Not really. For a time, I think she was in love with him, but once she met you she started to pull away from him. He didn’t like it and started trying to hold on to her harder. Sorcha isn’t the type to be claimed by any man, but in your case I’m sure she’d reconsider. Even now, with you out of her memories, she’s still not going to love him like that. However, she is going to remember him the way he was before he went possessive on her. They had more of a physical relationship than an emotional one.”

Abruptly, I turned to him, growling. “That is the last thing I want to think about right now!”

“I know,” Oren agreed calmly. “But if she still thinks they’re lovers, then you need to be prepared for what we might find. We don’t know how their relationship is going be out here.”

Not thinking clearly, I punched the side of the building we were passing in frustration. I only wished it was Alston’s face. Part of the building crumbled on impact, leaving a huge dent in the side. Wide-eyed, I looked around at the people who stopped to stare at me.

“We might need to go or I’m going to get arrested and put in a lab.”

Oren agreed. “Good idea. Next time, don’t try to knock down a building. We’re trying to be discreet, and anyway, I don’t sense Sorcha here at all.”