Into the Fire (The Unseelie Court Book 4) Gwen Rivers (sneezy the snowman read aloud .TXT) 📖

her,” Pharaildis whispers to the dark. She hadn’t wanted the child at first, not the reminder of John and his betrayal. She’d drunk from the poisoned spring, hoping to end them both. But as the life inside her continued to thrive, she’d clung to the hope that the child would be her salvation.

“I need someone to help ease my suffering. Oh gods, please let my loneliness end. If she dies, let me die, too.”

No one had come. Not the fey who wanted everything she had to give. In the end, she had crouched over her bed and pushed until the baby had slid free of her trembling body. She laughed and held her daughter to her breast and let the babe suckle. Exhaustion had pulled her under.

At the direction of the goddess, Freya, the fey had come to take the child while Pharaildis slept. When she awoke in her prison, she was alone once more.

I shake off the dream that isn’t a dream. It had been her life.

Is it any wonder she’s insane?

“Nic?” There’s a knock on my door and Gretchen pushes it open. “I don’t suppose you’ll reconsider coming back with me?”

I roll onto one side so I can see her. “You mean school?” I gesture to my extended belly. “What’s the point? She’ll be here in a few weeks.”

Gretchen moves farther into the room. “It’s something for you to do all day other than worry.”

“I’m not worrying.” It’s true, I’m not worrying. I’m waiting. Waiting for the baby to be born. I’ve come up with a new plan, a deadly one. I have confided in no one because I doubt they’ll approve.

Once my daughter is born, I’m leaving. Crossing the Veil to save Aiden. When our lives are no longer tied together and she is no longer dependent on me, then we will part ways. She doesn’t need me. Look how decent Pharaildis had been before John had used and discarded her. Look how much her actions had condemned not just her but me as well.

Gretchen is still lingering in the doorway.

“What?” I snap, then regret it. The mortal girl is having a hard time coming to terms with what lurks inside her. She doesn’t have it any easier than I do. “Ignore me, Gretchen. I’m just….” I shrug, not knowing how to finish that sentence.

“Heartbroken?” Gretchen supplies.

“Yeah.” Funny, not so long ago, I didn’t think I even had a heart to break.

She moves farther into the room. “I know. But Nic, you can’t just sit around here. What about when the baby arrives?”

“I have a plan.” Permanent incarceration. Pharaildis must die and according to Angrboda, I am the only one who can kill her. It’s my duty to take her place.

When I don’t offer anything further, Gretchen rises and slings her backpack over her shoulder. “I’ll be back by dinner. I think I’m going to stop by and see my grandmother first.”

The only family member she’d bothered to contact. I wonder why she doesn’t just go live with the woman and am absurdly grateful that she’s stuck around. “See you.”

I lie back down and wait for her to shut me back into my room.

“Hurry up, little one,” I whisper to the baby inside me. “The waiting is killing me.”

There’s a forceful kick as though my daughter wants out too. I wonder what she’ll look like. Will she have my fair hair and ice-blue eyes? Or will she take after Aiden’s line, with bright green eyes and dark hair? Will she be tall like him or petite like me and Sophie? Maybe some of Garret’s DNA will creep in.

There’s another knock on the door, this one more forceful.

“What?” Why can’t they all just leave me the hell alone?

Harmony slips inside and tosses a pair of sneakers at me. “We need to talk.”

I glare at the seer. Aiden’s sister. Funny how I don’t like her any more than I did before I found out about their relationship. “Go away.”

“No. Aiden would hate to see you like this.”

“Like what?”

“A borderline shut-in? A recluse? A hot mess minus the hot?”

“I hate your face,” I tell her without heat.

Her expression turns serious. “I know what you’re planning.”

“I have a destiny.” My tone is hollow.

“And it isn’t to wallow in your own filth and make a suicide run at Pharaildis.”

A tired breath escapes. “Freya said—,”

“Fuck Freya and whatever she said,” Harmony snaps.

My eyebrows lift at that.

“You are the Risen Queen of the Shadow Throne. You will be the mother of the One True Queen. You can’t throw your life away.”

I sit up, staring at her furious purple face. “You know something.”

“Maybe I do and maybe I don’t. But the only way you’ll find out is if you get up and brush your godsdamned teeth. Your breath smells like a cesspool. Meet me in the kitchen in five minutes or I will forcibly drag your pregnant ass out of here.” She storms off, letting the door bang shut in her wake.

I study the sneakers a moment. She might be bluffing. I wouldn’t put it past her to lure me out and tell me diddly freaking squat. But as I look around the dismal room, I know there’s an undeniable truth behind her tantrum. Aiden would hate to see me like this.

“Hey, Nic.” Chloe says when I emerge from the bathroom. “You hungry?”

I am busy pulling my greasy hair up into a ponytail. Blonde to my shoulders and then black below that. I really need to cut it. “Not right now.”

“I’m making veggie chili tonight.”

I stare at her. I wish I could give Chloe the reaction I know she wants. But it’s not in me to feign excitement. Nothing is in me except a huge sucking void of emptiness. And the One True Queen.

Harmony trots down the stairs from Chloe’s space, carrying my backpack. When she hands the tattered thing to me, I frown. “What’s this for?”

“You’ll see.” Without another word, she strides out the door.

“See you later,” Chloe says. I detect the worry in