The Wood Queen Read Online Free

the Ironwood?
    Donna didn’t know all that much about the specifics, but her understanding was that Aliette’s power was the only thing keeping the elves alive, stuck as they were between dimensions and stranded on the outskirts of the human world. The entrance to their temporary home could only be found through the dwindling remains of Ironwood Forest, with the Elflands sort of running adjacent to it but not visible to the human eye. The only way to gain access to it was by using one of the Old Paths and crossing the magical barrier between realms.
    Finding an Old Path was, of course, the real trick—which is where Xan had come in, last time.
    Xan … She had to give herself a mental shake; no time to get sidetracked by thoughts of the new guy in her life, and what he might mean to her.
    How could the queen leave her people, then, and enter Ironbridge? Perhaps with the same power that allowed her to send a messenger to the Frost Estate …
    If Ivy noticed or understood Donna’s silence, she gave no sign of it. She just stood there still as a stone, all her fidgeting gone in an instant. Waiting.
    Donna needed to snap out of it, and fast. She had to do something—say something. “Tell Her Majesty that I need to know more about this meeting. How do I know she’s not setting me up?”
    Ivy fixed her with that disturbing gaze. “My queen expected you to be afraid, which is why she offered to meet you on your own territory. She will take human form—something she hasn’t done for almost a century—and is prepared to meet you in a public venue of your choosing.” Ivy’s expression turned sly. “My queen says that she has something you desire, and that you will go to her in the end.”
    Donna scowled, all fear momentarily forgotten as she fought the temptation to say something cutting and just walk away. Why risk getting caught up in Aliette’s games again? But there was something in Ivy’s bright expression that Donna couldn’t quite bring herself to ignore, nomatter how crazy she was to listen to the twisted words of her enemy.
    Of course, the queen would dangle a potentially tempting morsel in front of her, but surely it was a trap—this had to be a lame attempt to draw her out.
    But if it wasn’t a trap, what on earth did she have that Aliette could possibly want?
    “Listen, Ivy,” she said, making the only sane decision there was. “I don’t care about what your queen wants from me. We did a deal, and it’s over now. Tell her that this time I won’t hesitate to go to the Order. Whatever she’s really after, it can’t possibly be worth starting a war over.”
    “You might be surprised.” The fey girl nodded before heading back into the mist-covered trees. “She said you would refuse her.”
    Relief made Donna light-headed. “Is that it? You’re leaving—just like that?”
    Ivy stopped and looked over her shoulder. “But she also said that you will not refuse her a second time.”

    Minutes later, Donna found the right path and headed back toward the main part of the estate. She knew that if she uncovered her tattoos right now, the iron markings would be flashing with their own inner light and power. Pins and needles filled her arms and hands, buzzing like angry wasps.
    Something in her chest felt heavy and restricted—as though a metal band was being slowly wrapped around her chest and squeezed. Donna gasped and tried to breathe through the strange sensation. Pain in her arms and hands was hardly a new experience, but this pain was entirely different.
    This new feeling seemed to affect the whole of her.
    Breathing through the pain, Donna forced herself to be calm. At least she knew enough to be sure that whatever this sensation was, it had something to do with the tattoos, with the iron that laced her skin and bones and held her all together in ways she couldn’t even begin to understand. Probably it was something triggered by Ivy’s presence.
    Maker had fixed her before, which meant he could