As I moved to leave a certain Fairy caught my eye. I gasped and my body went ice cold. A mistake had occurred. How could there have been a mistake? If evil had gotten mixed up with the gray, had any of the gray gotten mixed up with the Dark? Had I killed an innocent? My stomach roiled and I walked in a daze over to one who should already be dead.
"The Reggie," I said in a deadly quiet voice. "I'd say it's nice to see you again, but it's not. It appears you were overlooked. You don't belong on this side."
He trembled and was barely able to meet my eyes, but his voice was clear and loud. "No, there is no mistake. I belong here. I am no longer Light, but I will never be completely Dark."
"Interesting," I spat. "You could have fooled me."
He had almost caused me to lose my son and my mate. He had betrayed The Kev's trust and he thought he was gray? I laughed at his audacity. He was delusional and he was going to die. With a flick of my wrist, he landed in a heap at my feet. I relived the agony of watching The Corrine cut my son. It was seared in my mind and would never vanish.
"Are you the one that informed The Corrine of our presence?" I demanded.
"Yes, I was."
In my mind, he was directly responsible for everything. Rational? No, but I was far beyond that now. How was he gray? The only thing that held me back from killing him dead where he lay was the sheer confusion as to how this had happened. I checked his hands—not a trace of black. Was magic not precise? Was it because of Sammy's age that a mistake had occurred?
No. There was a reason The Reggie was gray, but I didn't care. Wasn't I allowed to have a bad fucking day? Was it wrong to ignore my principles and kill for the sheer satisfaction of killing? No matter what he had done right, he had still been the catalyst that had started what could have been the utter destruction of my life.
Circling him, I considered my options. Ethan watched me carefully and the Mini Elves hovered around my head. I had always been clear in the past. I had known what I was doing was right. As painful as it was, I had always killed with a clear conscience and sometimes great sadness. Now I simply felt anger. I wanted to kill a frozen and defenseless man in anger. I grabbed my head and pressed my skull. He had betrayed me—hadn't he?
"What will it be, Astrid?" The Kev's voice rang out and bounced off the walls of the ballroom. I stiffened. No one was going to stop me, not even The Kev.
"He dies," I yelled.
The Reggie’s eyes grew wide and I shrugged indifferently.
"He dies for betraying you. He dies for pushing me into a cell. He dies for not stopping The Corrine from harming my child. He dies for the sins of all of them. He dies because even though he portrays himself as innocent, nothing is ever how it seems," I said coldly.
"Very astute, Krumecaca," The Kev said.
"Which part?" I asked wearily.
"Only the very last few words," he replied.
Nothing is ever how it seems. "You suck," I muttered as I let my hands fall to my sides. The Reggie's sigh of relief made me want to kick him, but I was no longer gunning for his life. I was still unsure as to why, but I knew it was the way it had to be. "Explain."
"The Reggie's far from pure, but I will let him tell his story."
"Talk, Fairy," I ground out.
"I was following orders."
"From who? The Corrine?" I yelled. This was a fucking waste of my time.
"No. From The Kev."
I froze. That was impossible, but I wanted to hear the rest of his tale. "Go on," I told him.
"We wanted to test the loyalty of The Bob and The Gus. We waited for two hours to see if they would go to The Corrine with the information."
"I resent that," The Bob screeched from somewhere amidst the dangling Fairies.
"So do I," The Gus griped indignantly.
"I never thought you were turncoats," The Henry told them. "I knew you were true."
Oh my God, what a kiss ass.
The Reggie cleared his throat and continued. "When we realized they had not told her, The Kev instructed me to do it."
"Why?" I demanded to The Kev. "Why would you do that?"
"Because we needed her to make a move. She needed to be fully aware that Samuel was not the child of Gemma. We gave her a chance to return the child. We planned to take her down for all the death and destruction she has caused over the years, but we wanted Samuel to be no part of this. We also had to ensure that Ethan was abducted so he could be closer to Samuel."
"She could have killed my baby," I snapped.
"The child can't die," The Reggie whispered reverently.
"There are many forms of death," I shot back.
"You are right," The Reggie said sadly. He took a deep breath and went on. "I was to go back to the safe house and watch over you but you were gone. When I found you I did the only thing I could think of to keep you safe…it was a mistake."
"Ya think?"
"I still think you should kill his ass," Susu whispered in my ear. She was such a bloodthirsty little shit.
Smiling, I patted her head. I wanted to kill him. I really truly did, but I wouldn't. I never wanted to see him again, but he did not deserve to die. With a flick of my fingers all the Fairies fell to the floor. The appalling extras I'd saddled everyone with disappeared too. They were back to their former blinding beauty.
"What will you do with them?" I asked as they all crawled to their knees and prostrated themselves before me.