I buried my face in his hair, letting the cool, soft strands brush my cheeks. He was my rock, the one thing I could lean on when the world was crumbling around me. “I guess I made a rather strong impression for my first Elysium as queen,” I murmured, finally starting to feel a bit steadier, like the ground wasn’t cracking under my feet. “I just hope I’m invited back after this. Mab is never going to forgive me for walking out on her.”

I felt him smile. “She’ll get over it.”

“You think so?”

“Not really.”

I groaned, and we both fell silent.

We stayed like that for a while, holding each other, offering comfort and support, yet lost in our own thoughts. Ash was quiet; I wondered what he was thinking, if he was pleased or terrified at the notion of becoming a father. Not only that, the father to a child who might or might not grow up to destroy the courts. How did one reconcile that? Was there a way to ever be prepared for something that extreme?

I couldn’t ask him yet. I still didn’t know how I felt about it.

“When do you want to leave?” Ash murmured at length. And his voice, though it shook ever so slightly in the beginning, was steady by the end. I took a deep breath.

“Tonight,” I said. “I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep until this whole thing is resolved.” He nodded, and I pulled away to pace the room. Ash watched quietly from the bed. “Though, I’m not even sure how to find the oracle,” I mused, turning to face him. “She didn’t say where she would be. I guess we could go back to the Voodoo Museum in New Orleans—”

“You will not find her there, human.”

I spun, my heart leaping at the familiar, bored voice. Through the open doors, silhouetted against the night sky, a furry gray cat perched on the balcony, watching us with moonlike golden eyes.

At the sight of the intruder, Beau jerked upright, bristling and showing his teeth. He tensed to lunge, but Ash put a hand on his neck and murmured a quiet word, and Beau calmed instantly, sinking back to the bed. The gray cat yawned, unimpressed, and gave his paw a couple licks.

“Hello, Iron Queen.” Grimalkin sighed, as if this meeting was encroaching on his valuable time. “We meet yet again. Sooner than I had anticipated, but I suppose it is to be expected.” He shook his furry head, contemplating us both. “Why is it that neither of you can manage to stay out of trouble for a single season?”

Ash rose from the mattress, his expression wary and puzzled. “How did you get in here, cat?” he asked, frowning. Grimalkin sniffed.

“I climbed.”

“That’s not what I meant.”