KARIS

Once Finean and Alistair’s shadows faded from view, I helped Loftin back to the bed. “I’m locking this door.”

He snorted as I crossed the room. “Won’t keep them out if they really want in.”

“I don’t care.”

The door was so warped from Finean’s angry entrance, I had to shoulder it closed before the lock would slide. Loftin was right. The flimsy sliver of silver holding the door shut wouldn’t stop any of the Leancan or Finean from coming back in here. I sank back against the wood and examined the hunter, brought to his knees by the poison of a simple metal.

“Bounty hunter, huh?” His shoulders slumped. “So you decapitated the Banshee, led me through the forest, and saved me from the Puca and Sluagh and Cratans and Brownies, all just to deliver me to the queen you hate?”

He raised his head, frowning at me, his orange eyes meeting mine. I pushed off the door and walked toward him. As I sat down beside him on the mattress, I noticed the blisters on his wrists were gone. Only small, pink streaks remained.

“In Ironton, I was forced to rely on someone most of the time. It was stifling, never having freedom, not being able to do the most basic things on my own. In Faery I can see, but I still feel blind. I thought I could trust you.”

He cleared his throat. “That was your first mistake, Karis. I’m not the good guy in this story; I’m not the hero. But I’m sure they already told you that.”

“They didn’t tell me anything.”

“No? Then how’d you know about my deal with Nemain?”

“I saw a vision.”

He didn’t have words for once. We sat in silence until he finally found them. “It’s no excuse, but I didn’t know you then. I thought you were as evil and dangerous as your mother. My father made many bad decisions, but even he didn’t deserve what she did to him.”

“You’re right, Loftin. It’s no excuse.”

“You shouldn’t trust Finean or Alistair, either.”

I let out a miserable laugh. “I don’t.”

“They aren’t going to let you go,” he warned.

“Then we pretend we’re doing what they want and sneak away.”

“You’d take me with you?” he asked, shocked.

I used his words against him. “You’ve made many bad decisions, but even you don’t deserve what they did to you, or what they will do if I leave you behind.”

He sat up and took a deep breath. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Just so you know, I’m not letting you drag me to Nemain,” I vowed. “Once we’re out of danger, we’ll part ways.”

He shook his head. “I wouldn’t take you to her. Not now that I know you. I was going to tell you the truth at the top of the cliff, but then the Brownies bit you, and you were dying, and everything went to shit.”

“Yes, it did.”

I’d known he wanted to tell me something, but at the time, I thought it had to do with Iric. Was he being honest now? Was he really planning to tell me how he’d been hunting me all along, marching me towards the monster who was waiting for me in the Ash Court? Or was this simply another lie? I was exhausted just thinking about the webs I was tangled in and how they overlapped.

“Do you think Finean will find Iric?” I questioned.

“He’ll try,” Loftin contended. “If anyone can, Finean should be able to. And he has more motivation than anyone to do it. He wants to please you.”

Why would he want that? Ugh. I didn’t even want to think about it. I fidgeted with my skirts. “Do you think you could help me unlace this dress?”

His eyes snapped to mine.

“Don’t look at me like that. There’s no way I’m wandering around this place searching for Bryony.” I suppressed a shudder. Every time I thought of how Alistair stared at my throat, it made me sick.

“You’re afraid of the Leancan. What happened?”

“Where to start? Dinner was enlightening. They drank from goblets filled with blood while I ate meat and vegetables—which, come to think of it, I’m not sure how they kept from rotting. I thought everything rotted here.”

“They might have a fae who has the ability to grow things. This is the Court of Spring, so if any of their faeries survived, they might have managed to retain limited power.”

“Like your fire.”

He nodded.

“Hmm. Maybe. And then there was the Alistair incident.”

A growl rumbled in Loftin’s chest. “What Alistair incident?

Like he had room to be angry? “When he took me into the room with the mirror to talk to Finean, he looked like he was still hungry, even though we’d just eaten.”

“It’s your power he craves, not just your blood. He might think that by feeding from you, he’ll take some of it in.”

“That doesn’t bode well for me.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“What I don’t understand is how Finean fits into this world. Alistair seemed so powerful when we came here, but he all but cowered to Finean as soon as he stepped through the mirror.”

His nose wrinkled before he spoke. “Finean’s the most powerful fae in existence now, other than Nemain and now you.”

“Why doesn’t she attack him?”

“She’s tried. For years, she’s hunted him, but he evades her every attempt. He’s superb at hiding.”

I sighed. Trying to escape the lair was pointless. And I didn’t know if it was from the Brownie bites or not, but I was tired to the bone. Ready for the oblivion of sleep, I stood up and held the bodice of my dress tight to my body. “I’m tired. Can you unlace me or not?”

He cleared his throat and stood behind me. When his knuckles grazed my skin, I inhaled sharply. There was no point in hoping he didn’t hear, but thankfully, he didn’t say anything about it.

Slowly, he unlaced the gown and then the corset beneath it. I walked across the room where Bryony had thankfully unfolded a screen, and undressed behind it. She’d even put a soft, white nightgown on the chair behind it for me.

“I can sleep on the floor,” Loftin offered from the other side of the room.

“That’s stupid. We can share the bed. It’s plenty big.”

He was quiet. I hope he didn’t think I was insinuating anything inappropriate. My ears heated at the tips. “I slept next to Iric all the time. This is no different, other than the fact that the mattress looks a thousand times more comfortable than my cot at home.”

“I won’t compromise you,” he promised.

I shook my head. Fae males were ridiculous. Sometimes preening like a peacock at the slightest attention, and other times vowing to protect a female’s virtue. My invitation wasn’t for him to make love to me, but simply to sleep on the same mattress. To rest.

He was sitting on the edge of the bed, still battling with the sleeping arrangements when I slid under the covers. The bed could hold ten of us. I didn’t know what was so strange. “Get some rest, Loftin. We need to find a way out of here tomorrow. I need to get to Iric before he finds Nemain by accident, or she finds him.” Which was what probably would happen, knowing my luck.

He waved his hand, extinguishing the torch and leaving us in utter darkness.

It felt so strange, not being able to see anything. I wiggled my fingers in front of my face. I couldn’t see the shapes at all.

The mattress dipped under his weight and he laid back on the bed—on top of the covers. I fought a giggle.

There was one thing I needed to ask, one thing he hadn’t told me about. “Loftin?”

“Yeah?”

“I can’t believe you’re a prince.”

He turned away from me. “I’m not Prince of anything, Karis.” Silence stretched thickly between us.

“I’m not Princess of anything, either,” I whispered. I pulled the covers tighter around my body and let the darkness swallow me.