The Faerie War by rachel morgan

Draven wants to catch every single unmarked fae and force us to follow him.”
    “And then what? When he’s got all of us under his control will he turn to the human realm?”
    “The prisoner doesn’t know. He wasn’t one of Draven’s closest advisors. He does know about the special army, though.”
    “Special army?”
    Jamon stops on a wide ledge and stands there. “As well as having all the guardians fighting for him, Draven has an army of faeries with extra abilities. Magic that other faeries don’t have. One of the Unseelie princes put it together.”
    “Zell,” I say. Thanks, memory, for another random piece of information that doesn’t fit with any of the other random pieces of information you’ve left me with.
    “You remember him?” Jamon asks. He steps out of the way as I climb up beside him onto the ledge.
    “I remember his name and who he is. I remember hating him. Other than that it’s all . . . hidden behind a fog.”
    “Okay, well, it was Zell who gathered these special faeries to form an army. It was Zell who found the chest with Tharros’ power locked inside. He figured out how to open the chest, but then Draven killed him and took the power for himself.”
    “Wow. You’ve got to be really sure of yourself to take out Unseelie royalty.” I place my hands on my hips and look out over the white-sprinkled world. I imagine Draven’s influence spreading like the enchanted winter.
    “Yeah, but here’s the real shocker,” Jamon continues. “I’d heard rumors of this, but I didn’t think it was true.”
    “What?”
    “Draven is a Seelie prince.”
    “ What? ” My hands slip off my hips. “How did he wind up so evil then?”
    “I don’t know. We gather from the prisoner that no one knew much about him before he killed Zell and attacked the rest of the fae realm.”
    With a sigh, I turn my attention to the ledge beneath my feet. I blow a gust of magic from my mouth. The snow vanishes, leaving the ledge dry. I sit down and wrap my arms around my knees. “So what’s happening with the Guilds?”
    Jamon takes a seat beside me. “The ones that were destroyed, like the Creepy Hollow Guild, are being rebuilt. The guardians still use the Guilds as their bases, but now they’re working for Draven. He uses them to go out and find unmarked fae, who are either taken back to be marked or are killed if they put up too much of a fight.”
    I shake my head as I imagine guardians who might be my family and friends attacking the very people they used to protect. It makes hot anger burn deep inside me. I clench my fist and pound it against the cold surface of the ledge. “He can’t be allowed to do these awful things. We have to stop him , Jamon.”
    “That’s what we plan to try and do.”
    I put my head in my hands and moan. “And I’m supposed to help you, but I’m useless the way I am.” I look up. “This prisoner of ours, is he a guardian?”
    “No, he’s from the Unseelie Court. He was one of Zell’s personal guards.”
    “Oh.”
    “Why?”
    I let out a long breath. “I really need to speak to a guardian. I need to know how to do what I’m supposed to be able to do. I mean, look at this.” I point to my wrists. “This says that I’m good at being a guardian. I was the best in my year, and yet I can’t even get the weapons to appear when I want them to.”
    “They appeared when you saved my life.”
    “Yeah, but they didn’t appear when all those faeries invaded your Underground home yesterday. And they didn’t appear earlier when I was practicing.”
    Jamon stands. “I think your self-preservation instincts need a good jolt.” He smiles. “And I’m more than happy to be the one to jolt them.”
    “So you’re going to attack me and scare the weapons into existence?”
    “When you least expect it.”
    “And if it doesn’t work every time?”
    He shrugs. “I’ll just have to keep scaring you until it does.”
    With a sigh, I get to my feet and peer down the