Page 152 of Fallen Court

And we were—quite simply—fucked.

“I know who has her.”

“Who?” she demanded.

But I was already dialing Roark. He answered on the second ring. “Tell me you have something.”

“She’s at The Fontaine.” I didn’t bother telling him how I knew. “I think Ciara is with her.”

Roark cursed. “Wait for me.”

It was suicide to go in alone. Baptiste was well protected. She’d always been paranoid. Now I knew why. The Hunt might grab me, but that was a risk I no longer cared about. I needed to reach Cate before it was too late. I heard his engine rev through the speaker.

“I’m close. Wait,” he repeated.

Our only chance was going in together.

“Hurry.” But the line had already gone dead.

“So, uh, what is the plan?” Willow asked as I opened the tracking app on my phone.

I clicked Roark’s name, watching as his avatar appeared on a map of the French Quarter. “Shoot first. Ask questions later.”

“That isn’t a plan.”

People kept telling me that, but you couldn’t plan for life and death. You couldn’t plan how to survive. You just had to do it. “Planning isn’t my strong suit.” I glanced over at Willow. “You should stay here.”

“I could be helpful.”

“Gods willing, only four of us are walking out of that restaurant.” And you didn’t bring magic to a gunfight. “Something tells me a lot of people are about to die, and no offense, I don’t think the Belle Mère would approve.”

She blanched. “What if they surrender?”

“They won’t.” My mouth pressed into a thin line. Baptiste would never bow to me. I should have seen her betrayal coming. Bad blood didn’t wash itself clean with time. It festered.

“If the wards fall, the Wild Hunt will come for you,” she reminded me.

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

“I’m just saying that shooting the place up could mean hitting a fae. So when I ask what your plan is, I suggest you come up with one.”

“They’re going to kill her unless I kill them. So that’s the plan, like it or not.”

“What does Baptiste want?” Willow asked. “Why would she do this? I thought she agreed to the bona fides spell.”

“Revenge?”

Willow snorted. “Because you dated like a million years ago? Don’t think so highly of yourself. She isn’t just dropping the wards; she’s putting every magical creature in the city at risk. Why?”

“Before, when you told me about the icon—”

“Icons,” she corrected me.

I ignored her. “You said that they would come in a time of great chaos.”

She nodded.

“I’ve heard chaos mentioned before.” I just couldn’t remember where.