We talked everything over and decided not to rush into anything. We knew the Queen wanted to join the two courts, and she was obviously willing to do anything to make that happen. We still didn't know exactly why or how.

Mark suggested saving the Seers wife from the Queen to free the Seer from her hold, but it was too risky without knowing what was keeping her there. Not to mention the castle would be crawling with guards, and getting in and out without being seen was impossible.

Crystal was preparing for war, so she must be expecting some resistance. Was it only the Seelie fae who disagreed with her, or did she know about someone we didn't?

I was really hoping there was a group, preferably an army, we didn't know about. Most of the Seelie I'd seen were too afraid to put up a fight.

Graduation was in less than two weeks. We were going to wait until after that to do anything. She'd been working on this for years. There was no reason to think she was going to do anything drastic any time soon. Tate tried to let Mark and I off the hook, saying it wasn't our fight, but neither of us could live with that.

The Queen had Ash's parents killed, she basically tortured Tate by forcing him to be in the trials for so long, she's holding the Seer's wife hostage, and we saw for ourselves that she has no business leading anyone. She couldn't care less about the fae she was supposed to be protecting. She needed to be stopped.

It was time for a break, so we went to the kitchen to dig up a snack. Mark poured two glasses of cold brew coffee from the fridge for us, while Ash started some water in the kettle for the tea drinkers. He was happy to see Bea had a little wooden box she kept stocked with different teas.

Hedera was supposed to be getting snacks out of the cabinet for us, but it looked like she was distracted by the variety. I guess she wasn't used to junk food. She was taking all the bags out and studying them.

Tate took a few bowls over to her and said, "Here, why don't we get out a few different things?"

She gave him a relieved smile and nodded, and he started opening packages.

Crap, I was just watching her look at everything; I didn't realize she was overwhelmed. Tate knew, though, and went to help her. He's sweet. He and Mark are perfect for each other.

Ash came and leaned next to me on the counter. Putting his arm around me, he quietly asked, "Is everything alright?"

He knew I felt bad for a second and came to check on me. He was sweet too, and I was lucky. I smiled up at him, and when our eyes met, I was filled with the feeling of how much he loves me. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach, and my cheeks warmed under his stare.

He smiled and leaned down to kiss below my ear, "I love that with everything going on, I still make you blush."

I huffed out a little laugh, "Well, that's good because I don't think it's ever going to change."

"I hope not," he said as he tilted my face up to kiss me deeply.

Faeries don't seem to have any reservations about that kind of thing. They don't care who's around or where they are. He turned, so he was standing in front of me, and the next thing I knew, I was sitting on the counter with his arms wrapped around me, and he never broke our kiss.

There was a little voice in my head saying this might be inappropriate with everyone in the kitchen with us, but I couldn't care. It was a big room; they could look somewhere else.

With my arms over his strong shoulders and my hands in his hair, I kissed him, and the rest of the world disappeared. I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he pressed against me. Everything felt so good and right with him, and...

A shriek cut through the room, causing me to jump and pull back, hitting my head on the cabinet behind me. Mark burst out laughing, and I realized it was the tea kettle. The water was ready.

Ash set me back on the ground with a smile and kissed the top of my head before turning to get it off the stove. Mark was still cracking up, and I was rubbing the back of my head.

As he walked past me toward the table, Mark stopped to whisper, "That's what you get for trying to make a baby in front of everyone."

I laughed, "It's a little scary if that's where you think babies come from."

"I'm just saying, geez, get a room."

He was joking, but I couldn't help myself. I whispered, "I saw you push Tate up against a tree, and I had to stop you from climbing him. Glass houses, Mark."

His eyes were huge as I poked him on the nose and said, "Come on, we still have to decide what we're going to tell everyone."

Ash and Tate were both grinning as we sat next to them at the table. They obviously heard everything we said. Tate pulled Mark close and said something in his ear that made Mark snicker and blush.

Hedera wasn't paying us any attention. She had an Oreo, and she was focused on taking it apart. I totally understood; Oreos are amazing.

Finally, Ash got everyone's attention, saying, "I don't think anyone needs to know about all of this."

Mark shrugged, "Emily and Bea already know about you guys. I think we should tell Clara too. If we don't, we're going to have to come up with some major lies to cover the time we were gone, and she'll know we're lying."

Nodding, I agreed, "I don't want to lie to her either. We're way too close to try to hide something this big."

Hedera looked nervous, "You want to tell someone else? What if she doesn't like us?"

"She already likes Ash and me," Tate smiled at her, "she just doesn't know we're faeries. She'll like you too. You need to remember, the things the Queen was saying about humans and this world aren't true."

Hedera nodded and took a deep breath, "Of course." Looking at me and then Mark, she said, "I'm sorry. You and your family have all been very kind to me. I'm just worried."

"I understand, I'd be nervous too, but I promise Clara's nothing to be afraid of." I smiled at her, and she gave me a little smile back. "In fact, you're going to need some clothes, and I know Clara would love to take you shopping."

Ash said, "You're right, Clara should know, I don't want to do anything to come between the three of you. I don't think we should tell her, or your Mother, and Bea about the rest of it. They don't need to know about the Queen or what she's doing. It could put them in danger."

"Mom already knows I was kidnapped. What are we going to say about that?"

"Yeah," Mark nodded, "she saw us when we got back too. We looked a little beat up. How can we explain that?"

I didn't like the idea of lying to Mom, but if she knew what really happened, she definitely wouldn't want us to go back. When we were ready to go, we'd have to lie then; I guess we might as well start now.

Mark sat up excitedly, "Why don't we use the lies the Queen uses? We could say Queen Crystal was worried about Ash. She thought we tricked him into staying here because humans are scary. We went to get Jo, and Ash explained that he was choosing to stay. We all had a good laugh at the misunderstanding, and then we came home."

I nodded, "Sounds good to me. Our injuries could be from traveling. You fell and rolled down a hill, and all I have left could be from walking in the woods at night."

"Works for me," Mark said as he smiled and held his fist up for a bump. I bumped it, and he made an explosion sound that made me chuckle.

We looked at everyone, and they were staring at us with wide, surprised eyes. "What?" I asked.

Tate scoffed, "The two of you just came up with a lie to cover everything in a matter of seconds. Why are you so good at that?"

Mark shrugged, "Humans don't really have a problem with lying, especially if it's for a good reason."

"Yep. I have no problem lying to keep them out of this. Do you think that covered everything?"

Ash said, "Yes, I think it did."

Hedera still looked worried. "I don't think I'll be able to say those things."

"That's OK, just let me and Mark do all the talking. They won't question you about anything," I smiled, and she looked relieved.

Tate said, "OK. Now that we have that covered, what about Fawn? Do we think she knew about any of this?"

Hedera shook her head, "She doesn't know anything about the Queen's plans. The Queen doesn't like her very much, and Dahlia was annoyed at staying with her. Fawn stays to herself and doesn't have anyone left at court to tell her what's going on, so it's easy for the Queen to keep her in the dark."

That was the most she'd ever said without being prompted. She ducked her head, obviously uncomfortable with the attention. "I told you, no one notices me. They all talk like I'm not there."

Tate smiled at her and patted her on the back, "Well, that's coming in handy now, isn't it?" She nodded, and he went on, "I'm glad Fawn isn't involved. I say we leave it that way."

"But they can go straight into her house. What if they do something to her, or they sneak in on you guys?" Mark looked worried.

Tate thought about it, "You're right. I guess we won't be able to live there anymore. As long as we stay away, they have no reason to bother Fawn; they haven't so far."

Ash made a sound of agreement, "We can't close the passage anyway. We can tell her we found somewhere else to live and check-in with her to see if anyone else is using the passage."

"Where will we live?" Tate seemed to think Ash had it figured out, but he just shrugged.

"We don't have anywhere to live?" Hedera looked worried.

"Of course, you do!" I said, "There's no way Mom or Bea would let you go without somewhere to stay."

"We'll all be able to live with you?" she asked.

I glanced at Mark before answering, "Probably not all of you. I don't think Mom would let either of us have our boyfriend move in. I bet she'd let you live with us, though, and this place is huge. You guys could live with Bea. She already knows about you and everything; it's perfect!"

Ash shook his head, "That all sounds good, but is it really yours to offer?"

"No, but I know they'll be alright with it. We'll work it all out when they get home." I smiled, and everyone seemed to relax. "That's it, right? We have everything figured out?"

Tate nodded, "Yeah, I guess we do. What now?"

Mark stood up and smiled, "Now, I say we go find a movie to watch until Bea gets home."