Several hours later, word finally came from the jail that they had extracted information from one of the prisoners. The building itself was less than two blocks away from the tavern, but Kesio hired a carriage to take us there instead of walking. It hunched over the street like a gargoyle, all rough stone and no straight lines. Inscribed over the wide oaken doors were a series of deep-cut runes, each glowing faintly red. In a city of elegance, the symbolism was not lost on me.

"Right this way, Your Royal Highnesses," the captain of the guard said, leading us down a long corridor.

"This doesn't look like a police station," Rachael muttered to me as we trailed behind the royal siblings and the Tsolas.

"More like a barracks," I replied, pitching my voice low. There was a decidedly wild west feel to everything, from the swords and halberds on the wall, to the drab interior and single desk surrounded by a sea of over-stuffed cabinets. Set into one wall were three cells, one of which had a single occupant passed out on the floor. It vaguely reminded me of an old black-and-white TV show my grandparents liked to watch.

At the end of the corridor was a single door marked with a blue rune. The captain placed his hand upon the rune and I heard the slight click of a lock opening.

A stairwell was on the other end of the door. Down we went, our path illuminated by globes of white light held in dish-like sconces. As we descended, a sense of unease filled me, causing my shoulder blades to twitch. This was less of a prison and more of a dungeon.

At the bottom, a second door with another blue rune blocked our way. The captain opened the door and the sound of prisoners shouting flooded out. I jumped and Rachael shrieked as a man in a shapeless brown smock rushed up to the glowing green bars of his cell and rattled them.

"It's okay," I said soothingly, throwing my arm around her. But everything was decidedly not okay. Never in a thousand years would I have imagined myself in the bowels of an elven prison, searching for answers from a group that tried to kidnap me.

The green bars pulsed and the prisoner screamed as an electric charge rippled across the barrier. He threw himself backwards, eyes hollow, fingers curled into claws.

"What is he in for?" Kesio asked casually, hands in the pockets of his jacket.

"The man is a serial rapist, sir," the captain replied flatly. "He is scheduled for execution in the morning."

At the mention of his crimes, the man pushed himself into a sitting position and leered at Rachael, licking his lips in an obscene manner.

"God!" I exclaimed in disgust. I turned Rachael away from the bars, shielding her with my body. "I want her sent back upstairs," I told the captain as she shuddered in my embrace. "She shouldn't be down here."

The captain opened his mouth, but it was the crown prince who replied instead. "This frightens you?" he asked, sweeping a hand towards the bars. He cocked his head to the side, perplexed. "This man will be dead by morning. There is no possible way he could hurt you."

My eyes widened. How could he be so cavalier about everything? Holding tightly onto Rachael, I turned my head to pin the prince with as deadly a glare as I could manage. "That doesn't matter," I retorted, incensed. On either side of Kesio, the two Tsolas blinked. God knew that I was playing with fire here, but honestly, I didn't care. Family came first. "She's sixteen years old. She shouldn't be in death row."

The pleasant, captivating face of a playboy prince vanished, replaced by an imperious scowl. "Lower your tone, my lady."

Oh, we were playing that game now, huh? I felt my lips curl back from my teeth. "Lower my tone? I don't think so. I'm not one of your subjects and I certainly won't bow and scrape in deference to you, either."

The prince took a step towards me, one finger raised. "You—"

"Enough," Leihalani said, maneuvering between us. "Tsola Briarblade, please take Lady Rachael upstairs and wait with her until we are finished."

Kesio whirled on his sister. "You do not command my bodyguards."

Leihalani regarded her brother steadily and shook her head, pity clear on her face. "You have a lot to learn, Kesio. Go," she said, waving a hand at the Tsola.

Garin, that dark-haired tank of an elf, turned around smoothly and extended his hand towards the stairway door. "This way, lady."

As she shuffled past me, Rachael shot me a look full of gratitude.

"Shall we continue?" the captain inquired, folding his hands behind his back. Kesio nodded, not meeting my eye.

We trooped onward. I stayed far behind, not wanting to be anywhere near the crown prince. What a spoiled, self-absorbed bastard, I thought acerbically, wishing I could burn a hole in that absurd jacket with the force of my glare. He certainly had me fooled with his easy manner and charm. But all of that was a façade. God forbid anyone contradict him. When push came to shove, he did so with both hands.

He wasn't going to fool me again.

There were several other prisoners in the green-barred cells, some violent and loud, others quietly contemplative. One sat on her camp bed and read a large novel. As we drifted closer to yet another door at the end of the ward, I happened to notice a familiar face in the very last cell. Although divested of his blue cloak, I'd recognize the man who dragged me off my horse any day.

He and the rest of the elves involved were in the process of being shackled to individual areas of their communal cell by the guards. His head came up as we passed. An involuntary shudder rippled through my spine and I flinched, bumping into Tsola Arun.

"Sorry," I whispered, purely on reflex.

Tsola Arun merely nodded.

A guard standing by the door at the end of the cell block bowed and pushed it open. Without a word, Leihalani, Kesio, myself and Tsola Arun went inside. The oaken door closed heavily behind us.

Seated in the middle of the room, strapped to a heavy chair by glowing green bands, was the woman in the blue cloak. A small table with four chairs were set up opposite the prisoner. She stared at us, fear etched into every line of her face. Whatever the guards had done, it had positively scared her into talking.

"Your Royal Highnesses, Lady Alina," the captain said, gesturing to the chairs.

"Thank you," Kesio said, pulling out the first chair and sitting down. One of the guards attempted to pull out Leihalani's chair, but the princess waved him off. I quickly took my own seat, leaving the third chair empty.

The captain walked around the table and stood next to the woman. "You will tell Their Royal Highnesses exactly what you told us, is that understood?"

Mutely, she nodded, tear tracks curving down high cheekbones.

"Good. Explain to Their Royal Highnesses why you attempted to abduct their human guest."

Licking her lips, the woman glanced at me. "Because of her magic."

"What do you mean?" Leihalani asked as I started in surprise. "Why would you need her magic when you have your own?"

The woman shifted. Her gaze trailed over my shoulder to the door.

"Answer the Summer Princess," the captain said, nudging a chair leg with a booted foot. "Exactly what you told us."

She looked up at the captain, then fixed her eyes on Leihalani. "To stop the Convergence."

"No one can stop the Convergence," Leihalani argued, leaning forward. "The High Fae decreed it so before They ascended."

A wild gleam lit the woman's eyes. She rolled her wrists around beneath the glowing green bands. "The Convergence cannot be allowed to happen," she said, her voice rising slightly in pitch. "Our worlds were never meant to be together. Humans are dirty, vile creatures who would sooner see us exterminated than live in harmony." Sharp like a knife, her gaze cut to me. "We know all about your people, human. My father was once a scout for Queen Ilhara, the grandmother of Their Royal Highnesses. He would often tell us stories of what he saw: your cataclysmic wars and your inter-species strife. If you hate yourselves so much, how can you find a place for us? Do you deny these tales?"

There was nothing to deny. I'd said the same things myself to the elves.

"Do not answer her, lady," the captain said. "No more outbursts," he told the woman, griping her shoulder tightly and giving her a rough shake. Green-streaked black hair fell forward, partially obscuring her face. 

Kesio tapped his fingers atop the table. "And how do you plan to stop the Convergence?" he asked roughly.

"Plan?" The woman cocked her head to the side, a thick lock covering one eye. "We haven't been planning, Your Royal Highness, we've been acting."

Oh, boy. I slid a glance in Leihalani's direction. What the hell had I gotten myself into?

"How?" the princess asked, folding her arms. While her mouth was set in a firm line, something about that answer made her uneasy.

"For decades, we have been bringing human children here and harnessing their abilities, funneling the raw magic into crystals. Once the crystals are full, we intend to detonate the Gates." She sat up straight in the chair, chin lifted proudly.

"But Jimmy isn't of witch or shapeshifter stock!" I exclaimed, surprising everyone around me with the vehemence in my tone. "He's just a normal little boy!"

The woman cocked her head, puzzled. "Who?"

I grit my teeth, annoyance flaring up. "Someone kidnapped a boy from my town. Was it your group?"

She shrugged, in as much as possible with her hands cuffed to the chair. "I don't know. It's not my place to keep track of where we get them."

A low, frustrated growl rumbled from my throat. Leihalani reached across the empty space and laid a hand on my arm. That simple touch knocked some sense back into me. I clamped my lips shut and stared at the prisoner. She flinched.

"Say that your group did take the boy," Leihalani hypothesized. "Why would they take a non-magical child?"

"Sometimes initiates make mistakes," the other woman replied with a slight cough, avoiding my eyes. "We find that non-magical human children still have something to give. Magical adults have too much control over their powers, but we've found ways to access them," she added, darting a quick look in my direction.

Anger rose like the tide in my chest; I felt the leopard claw at my insides with a wild fury unlike I'd ever experienced. "Where is he?" I demanded, rising from my chair. "My family tracked his scent to the Gate. It was mixed with an elf's. Where. Is. He!?"

"Alina," Leihalani murmured, reaching out once more.

I shook her off, letting the pressure rise.

"We have covens all over Summer," the woman replied hastily, leaning as far back away from me as she could in her captive state. "He could be at any number of them."

I saw it, then—a little twitch beneath her left eye. As the guards, prince and princess, and Tsola bodyguard stared in silence, I stripped down to my bra and underwear. Throwing my clothes in a pile atop the desk, I shifted.

The leopard roared free, thudding to the floor of the interrogation room.

"No!" the woman shrieked, bare feet scrabbling at the cold floor. She bucked and tossed herself around in the chair, but it held fast.

"The boy," the captain inquired calmly as I stalked towards the woman on soft paws. "Where is he?"

"Hyelion!" she screamed, twisting away from me. Placing my paws on an arm of the chair, I pushed up onto my hind legs, towering over her. "Hyelion!"

I bared my fangs, pressing my face close to hers. She screamed once more, then her eyes rolled up into her head and she slumped over in a dead faint.