Two.

There were two Calixes. The king, whose sneer had melted into horror, and the soldier at my side, whose eyes glimmered like the brightest stars at midnight. Though my mind was slow to comprehend what it was witnessing, my heart was not. It knew the truth.

Smith was the real Calix. But that raised bigger questions...How and who?

He—Calix, the real one—glanced at me, expression one of sorrow and pleading. Legs still trembling, I went to him and touched his face. A rush of emotions washed over me...some recognizable as my own, but others...they were clearly his. And they were so intense and consuming, I ripped my hand away before I could lose myself in them.

False Calix stumbled backward, one foot lifted as if to flee, but Lorcan moved swiftly. He came up behind him, blocking his escape route, and pushed him toward our small group in the middle of the clearing.

"Did you really think getting rid of us was that easy?" Calix asked, one hand resting on the sword he drove into the earth.

False Calix's confidence returned. A fact I found odd, considering two of the most powerful Fae in Faerie surrounded him.

"It seems we are all guilty of such arrogance. If removing me from the throne was so easy, you would have moved against me as soon as I took it. You only do so now because you've pushed the limits of your pathetic mate bond."

Calix was the one who steadied me this time as my knees threatened to give out. His arm was a band of comfort about my waist, and when he drew me close to his chest, I buried my face into his shoulder, inhaling deeply and wondering how I had not figured it out before.

"Mate?" I whispered.

"We can talk about it later," he said, kissing the top of my head with a tenderness I didn't know he possessed.

A sharp laugh drew our attention back to the usurper. There was something dark and twisted about his features as he raked his dull eyes over me. Lorcan tensed behind him, the vines near him twitching as if readying for his call.

"I wondered if you knew. Human senses are so dull many Fae doubt they truly feel the mate bond. At least until they pledge themselves to Faerie. You were so pathetic and mopey. It was sickening. I am glad to be relieved of the burden of hearing you complain about how I've changed. It would have made our marriage tiresome."

"Well, lucky for you that there will be no marriage."

I glared at him, wondering if I could move fast enough to strike him again. Calix tightened his grip on me as if reading my thoughts. Which...I stiffened and swallowed hard. I didn't know anything about mate bonds. In some of my books, mates could actually read thoughts. That would be highly unfortunate.

"Luna is right." Calix raised his blade and pointed it at his evil twin. "You're going to let us walk out here without a fuss."

"And why would I do that? You'd be taking my only chance to draw the humans out and break the wretched curse on this land. You should be grateful I plan to try another human and not your mate again. She's clearly defective."

"You?" I looked at Lorcan, hoping he would give me a clue to this male's identity, but he would not meet my eyes. Shaking off the strange feeling, I focused on the king again. "I'm not defective."

"Then why is the curse not broken?" He shouted. Birds scattered from the trees, shrieking as they took flight.

"Because I'm not—" Jones hissed through his teeth. A warning to stop, but I didn't heed it. "Human. I'm a Changeling."

Jones groaned. Lorcan and the two Calixes went still as stone, all three pairs of eyes anchoring to me. But each showed drastically different emotions. Horror. Calculation. Shock.

"Is that so?" False Calix stepped toward me, but Lorcan snatched him back. "To what Court do you belong?"

"Luna, be silent," Calix commanded, pushing me toward Jones. "We're leaving. Unless you can call your armies down upon us before I can whisk everyone away, you're going to have to call today a loss."

Lorcan released him and eased to our side until his shoulders brushed against his brothers. A united front at last, but there was no question who was the leader now. Power rippled off Calix, far eclipsing Lorcan's. There was something missing from the former king. An emptiness echoing with sadness.

False Calix drew in a deep breath, then stomped his foot against the muddy earth. "Why is it always this way? You two ganging up on me?"

Calix looked at Lorcan. I watched them both. "That's not how I recall our childhood at all."

Lorcan shook his head. "I don't say this often, but Calix is right. More often than not, you and I went against him, sister."

Sister? I whipped my eyes to the false Calix, but in his place, wearing ill-fitting clothes I never thought she would be caught dead in, was Niamh. Her dark blue curls stuck to her damp cheeks, and with one searing glance at me, she shifted into a bird and flew back toward the palace.

"Wh—"

Calix cut my question off with a kiss that curled my toes and drew an embarrassing moan from my lips. I gripped his shoulders, chasing him for another as he drew back, regret bright in his eyes.

"Later, you can ask all the questions you want. We have to make it out of the Summer Court before she really does send the army after us."

"You'll tell me everything?"

He squeezed my hand. "Everything."