"I have wings."

"You have wings," Calix repeated, his expression filled with amazement.

They stretched several feet on either side of me. Giant, angel-like wings with iridescent white feathers. Holding on to Calix like I was, I couldn't touch them, but instinctually, I knew they were not soft. They would be cold and hard. Weapons in their own right. Death masked in pearl and innocence.

Calix craned his head, peering into the mists above us. There were no shouts of alarm from the palace. They could not see us, and they would surely think we were dead by now. All the better for us to make our escape. Only now we had nowhere to go. No one to trust.

"Can you get us down?" He asked.

"I don't even know how we're up. My wings aren't moving."

They suddenly pulled in tight against my body, and we plummeted down. Too fast and too far. The wings snapped wide again, bringing us to a halt only a few feet from the ground.

Calix told me to let him go, and he dropped to the ground, graceful as a cat. Holding his arms out, I thought once again about how to get down, and the wings closed against my back. I fell into his outstretched arms.

We tipped sideways, falling with a shriek. The air whooshed out of my lungs, and I laid on my back, gasping as I squinted into the sky. Calix leaned over me, cupped my face, and kissed my lips. When he pulled away, he laughed. A full, rich chuckle that vibrated through me.

"Sorry about that little moon. Those things weigh a bit more than I expected."

"Great." I huffed. It was a struggle to sit up. He had to help me, and every gust threatened to knock me back down.

"Luna...These are magnificent."

Calix traced his finger over the arch of one wing, and I arched my back. He might as well have been running his finger through my most intimate parts.

"Interesting. Very interesting," he said, his eyes taking on a devious light.

"Focus," I said even as I debated finishing what we started in the cells. "Why the hell do I have wings? I've never seen a winged Fae."

"That's because only pure Fae had them."

"Pure Fae?"

"Ones born to Ancient Ones and humans. The original lines."

We stared at one another as what he said sunk in. I shook my head.

"That's not possible. The Ancient Ones have all been asleep for centuries."

"Yes. For three centuries. But in the human realm, that is only 30 years. It's possible that you were born just before the Vow. That would explain why they took you back to the human realm. They wouldn't want you stuck in this world after the Vow. As a child of an Ancient One, you would have been a target."

"But...but..." I sputtered, my brain whirling as I tried to comprehend this new version of my reality. "If my father was the human, then my mother would have to have been Roisin or Ciara? So does that mean I belong to the Winter or Spring Court?"

Calix scratched at the skin beneath his shackles, his expression deeply pensive. Finally, he said, "I wouldn't think so. The Ancient Ones had powers beyond elemental magic. Their children founded the four courts. It was simply how their children chose to define the borders based on their elemental magic. You could be the start of your own court."

"That would be convenient."

Calix grinned. "Wouldn't it be? Or—"

"Or what?" I pressed.

"There's another female Ancient One. One who didn't have children of her own. At least, not that we knew of."

Her beautiful face filled my mind. So perfect, frozen in time in the temple. Was it possible?

"Aisling."

As soon as I spoke her name, a sense of rightness settled over me. In the temple, I'd been drawn to her more than the others, and while it might seem silly to think it meant anything, I knew better. In Faerie, magic was always in play.

"Calix, if that's true, then we're free. I belong to no Court so there is no one to contest our mating, and we can focus on getting back your throne."

He cupped my face and pressed his forehead against mine. Tension laced his shoulders tight, and I could feel the creases in his skin.

Pushing away, I ran my thumb over his wrinkled brow. "You don't seem to agree."

"It's just not going to be that easy. We have no proof that Aisling is your mother."

I flexed my wings and pointed at them. "These aren't proof enough?"

"They're proof that you're full blooded Fae, and that you're a threat. Our power has dwindled since the Vow, and by your very nature, you will be the most powerful creature in Faerie."

"Really?" I snorted. "So far, all I've got are wings. You can pull lightning from the sky and turn to mist."

A cocky grin spread across his face, and he tapped me on the nose. "I am pretty spectacular, aren't I?"

"Calix..."

He rolled his eyes, then sobered. "Niamh is hell bent on breaking the Vow. For whatever reason, hers or another's—"

"Another's?"

"It's something I've been thinking about for a while. I know it sounds naïve and foolish, but something is wrong with her. This isn't my big sister. She was always more interested in soaring among the clouds than ruling the country. It drove my father out of his mind sometimes, but considering her mother's nature, he should have known better."

He looked down at his hands, his wrists still bound in iron cuffs. There was something so sad and defeated about him. It made my heart ache, and I wanted so badly for him to be right. Niamh had been so kind to me during my time in the Summer palace. It was devastating to think it had all been a lie.

"So, what do we do next?" I asked, rising slowly to avoid toppling over. Calix put a hand out to steady me. "I'm never going to get used to these. Too bad I can't make them disap—"

No sooner were the words out of my mouth than the wings disappeared. A single feather fell to the ground with a metallic clink, and I pitched forward, slamming into Calix with a grunt. The iron cuffs grazed my exposed skin, burning the flesh and making me jerk away with a hiss.

"Are you okay?" He asked, grabbing my arm and eying the burn mark. Rage glinted in his eyes.

"I'm fine. How can you stand to wear those?"

"It's not pleasant," he replied through gritted teeth.

"Then that's the first order of business. Getting those off."

"It'll be tricky without the key. Not many objects can cut through Fae iron."

I bent down and scooped up the feather. Exactly as I suspected. Cold and hard and sharp. Its ridged edges bit into my flesh as I curled my fingers around it.

"Let me try something," I said, grabbing his hand before he could protest and slicing the feather over the iron.

"Luna, be careful," he shouted as the cuff split open and fell off. "Shit."

I repeated the process on the other cuff. Almost at once, the ragged wounds on his wrists began to heal. He rubbed the reddened skin, relief relaxing his limbs as he stared at me in awe.

"Now that we've taken care of that," I said with a giddy grin, "what's next?"

"I'm afraid the next part won't be so easy. We need to find proof that Aisling is your mother. Being able to hide your wings has bought us some time, but we can't be sure that nothing else will give you away."

"That was three hundred years ago. How do we find proof? Everyone who would've known her is likely dead or not going to help us."

"Your father never gave you any clues?"

"No. Not really. And he's dead now. The only thing I have left of him are the videos he sends me." I grabbed Calix's hand. "The videos!"

"I'm not sure what a video is..."

"It's hard to explain...We have objects that can capture moments, and you can play them back. Watch them again and again. My phone. Do you still have it? I found it in your room."

He blushed. "The silver and glass object?"

"Yes. I took it back that day, but I left it behind when I left Faerie."

"Then it is lost to us. We cannot risk going into Summer."

"I have the videos saved in the cloud, and I'm sure I can figure out where my father has the others stored. Which means I need a new phone."

Calix frowned. "I'm afraid you won't find one of those here."

"No, I have to go back to the human realm."

Panic tightened his features, and his fingers dug into my skin as he gripped my arms. "You cannot. What if you can't get back?"

"I can. I'm a Changeling. But I'm going to need help. Jones is the only one who can show me the way."

"I don't like it, Luna." He shook as he held me against him. "I can't lose you again."

"You won't," I promised him. "Because I'm taking you with me."