The power to make the world tremble.

I eyed Calix over the edge of my book. Right now the only power he appeared to possess was the ability to annoy me. After leaving me yesterday, Niamh kept me company, making me laugh and cry with her many stories about her brothers and her life in Faerie. Listening to the princess talk was fast becoming my favorite thing. Her gentle voice and poetic phrasing, especially when talking about flying, captivated me, and I would have gladly stayed awake all night listening to her.

But she wouldn't allow it. When she saw my first long blink, she forced me back into bed and crawled beneath the covers beside me. Softly, she sang a lullaby that soothed away lingering aches and fears and drew me into a deep, unbothered sleep.

I awoke refreshed and ready to take on another day in Faerie. The only evidence of Niamh was a lingering lavender scent on her pillow. Naively, I thought that meant I was alone, and I hopped out of the, pulling my nightgown over my head as I made my way to the bathtub. A cough brought my arms down to cover my breasts with the balled up material, and I spun around, hoping to find Lorcan leaning against a wall with an appreciative feline smile.

Instead, I found Calix. He was in the same pose I had imagined his brother, only his expression held no trace of a smile. Just storms in his eyes and a twitching muscle in his jaw.

"Enjoying the view, little moon?"

There were two choices before me. Hide behind the book and pretend I hadn't been caught or admit I'd been staring. The first wasn't really an option because Calix would tease me mercilessly for such an obvious lie.

"I was hoping Faerie would rub off on me, and I would develop magical abilities."

He set his own book down and tilted his head. "And that required an intense focus on my handsome face?"

A grimace twisted my lips. "Don't flatter yourself—" Even if he was breathtakingly beautiful, the lout—"I was trying to make you disappear."

Calix hooked the toe of his boot beneath my chair and dragged it across the floor. Yelping, I clamped my hands on the arms of the chair and gaped at him as he widened his legs to bring my chair between his thighs. A lock of black hair fell across his forehead as he leaned forward.

Finger under my chin, he said, "Humans are such ungrateful creatures. You'd be dead if it wasn't for me. I'm wasting my valuable time babysitting you because, as surely as I breathe, if you were left alone for a single second, you would find harm. I'd gladly leave you alone, but it seems that my brother, who is completely responsible for this entire mess, has decided to play king today, which means you're stuck with me."

I jerked my head back, but he grabbed my chin to force me to look at him. At that moment, I truly did wish for magical powers, specifically the power to murder someone with my eyes.

"I am not anyone's responsibility, but my own. You do not have to see to my safety. I will stay in this palace for the next 26 days, and then I'll go home."

"You and I both know that's not possible. Besides, what about your promise to my brother? Thirty days to convince you to stay."

"That promise meant nothing when you revealed he was using magic to deceive me."

His grip tightened, and his eyes dropped to my mouth. Despite my anger, a different new heat spread through me. "Did you tell him he couldn't use magic? Did you set any boundaries?"

"N-no."

"Then, as much as I hate to admit it, he's done nothing that breaks the contract between you. And that's what a promise is in Faerie. A contract."

"T-that still doesn't mean you have to keep me safe."

Calix tore his gaze away from my mouth and released me with a disgusted sigh. I rubbed at the places on my skin where his fingers had sunk into my flesh. There would be bruising.

Picking up his book, he took it to the bookshelf and shoved it forcefully into its proper place. "You are here as a guest of the Summer Court, and as such, it is our responsibility to keep you safe. If you were to be killed while staying here... Even if your death was the result of another Court's meddling... it could mean war. Your very presence in Faerie has already created ripples that may yet become waves."

"Because humans haven't been here in 300 years?"

"Niamh told you that?"

"Yes."

"It's not precisely true. There are still humans in Faerie. Ones born here."

"She called them Faerie born."

He squatted in front of the fireplace and tossed in another log. The fire popped and snapped as the logs shifted and flames devoured the new one. I'd wondered why a fire was even necessary during such a warm day, but it didn't take me long to realize it put off no heat. It served no other purpose than ambience and light.

"What else did she tell you?"

Hand falling from my cheek, I swiveled in the chair and studied him as I spoke. "She said Fae couldn't take humans into Faerie anymore because they couldn't glamour them. That it wasn't just forbidden, but something you couldn't do any more. The part she didn't explain was why or how that happened."

The prince remained silent in front of the fire. Tension pinned his shoulders in a hard line that stretched his simple tunic tight across his muscular back. Around his hips he wore a belt and sword, and when he move it was as if the blade was a part of him. No one would doubt he could use it and use it well.

"Will you tell me?" I asked when I could bear the quiet no longer.

"Have you noticed the portraits?"

He pointed to paintings on the library's inside wall. I had noticed them and guessed at their identities. Two beautiful women.

One with hair of spun gold, sky-blue eyes, and roses in her cheeks. Lorcan's mother. The other a breathtaking beauty with midnight skin, high elegant cheekbones, and beaded braids hanging over her shoulders. Niamh's mother.

"Which one is your mother?"

I saw nothing of Calix in either, but he could favor his father. If I had to choose, I would guess he and Niamh shared a mother because they were the middle and the youngest. It made me curious about what could have happened to Lorcan's mother.

"Neither."

Frowning, I looked about the room for another picture and found none. "Are you adopted?"

Calix cracked a smile. "No."

"Then why is her picture not in here?"

"It used to be. Right over the fireplace in a place of honor next to our father, but after the Vow, or as many Fae call it, the Curse, we took them down for safety reasons. Visiting dignitaries seem to take offense to being forced to look upon the two people who ended their way of life."

I wrapped my arms around my legs and propped my chin on my knees. I was almost terrified to say anything because I didn't want him to stop speaking. No one had given me answers, and I craved them.

"Calix," I said, drawing him out of his reveries. Eyes slightly unfocused, he turned toward me. "Please. What happened?"

He hesitated, but only for a split second. "My mother, Cassandra, was an earth born human. She was everything to him. Not just a means of producing a child, but his true mate. And it's because of her he's dead."