What had he done? Why had he promised her that he wouldn’t follow after her? It was all he wanted to do.

The worry over her would surely kill him. And if anything happened to her—well, he couldn’t bear to think of it.

The rest of the men would be here soon enough, and who knew what would happen then. It was possible that they wouldn’t let his betrayal stand. While they couldn’t sever his bond to The Eight now, as soon as they found a man to replace Calder, they could.

He didn’t care.

He’d seen in Kate’s eyes that there’d be no dissuading her from this plan, and he’d rather help however he could than leave her to face such evil alone.

“Where have they gone? Ye have no time. Ye must go now.”

Maddock jumped at the voice and quickly turned to see Paton step from the brush behind him.

“Are ye alone?”

“Aye. Though not for long. The others are on their way. I saw ye leave, and I heard the others discover ye were gone. I followed ye so I could warn ye that yer out of time. Ye must try and get to the land of the fae before the others arrive.”

Paton’s words surprised him. He’d been one of the first to question Kate’s faith in Brachan.

“Are ye saying that ye came to help? Ye doona mean to try and stop us?”

“Aye. I knew the moment Kate told us of her plan that it dinna matter what we said to her. She meant to do it anyway. The more I thought on it, the more sense it made. But where are she and Brachan now?”

He pointed up the hill as he listened to his heart beat heavy in his throat.

“They’ve gone, Paton. They’ve gone to seek entry to the land of the fae.”

“Then what the hell are ye doing here, Maddock? Why dinna ye go with them? She’s no powers. She will be defenseless against any fae.”

“I promised her that I wouldna go.”

“Ye what?”

“She needs to do this alone, Paton. ’Tis her battle to fight and hers alone.”

There was a sudden flash of light and the air around them seemed to turn as a translucent veil appeared at the top of the hill.

Maddock watched with horrified eyes as Paton took off at a sprint toward the opening to the land of the fae.

“I promised her nothing, and the lass’ mother already hates me. If we let her die, I’ll be unable to show my face at the castle ever again.”

“Wait.” He tried to catch him, but Paton had always been fast. “Ye doona understand. Paton, none of The Eight can go through. If we die…”

It was too late, Paton threw himself through the veil and vanished before Maddock could finish.

Maddock dropped to his knees in despair. If Machara’s father killed Paton, Machara would be free. And every last one of them would be dead.

---

I knew this clearing. It had been what I’d dreamed of so many nights ago in Laurel’s apartment. And the man beside me, whose face had been blurry before, was now clear. I’d dreamed all of this. And now it was coming true.

We walked carefully into the clearing, for even the flowers seemed to be watching us. Machara’s father knew we were here. I could sense it. With every step we took, the land around us was changing. In the distance, a throne appeared—the same one from my dreams, but this time, it wasn’t empty.

While undoubtedly ancient, the man didn’t look it. If I didn’t know that he’d existed for, if not centuries, millennia, I’d have thought him not much older than Brachan. While his basic features were humanlike, he bore even less resemblance to humans than Machara. I found him terrifying to look at, and I had to strain every muscle in my legs to keep them from trembling.

“The lass may come forward. My grandson will not take another step. I’ll not speak to him, nor do I wish to look upon him. He is an abomination, a creature who should not exist.”

I glanced at Brachan uncomfortably, but he didn’t seem wounded by the old faerie’s words.

He winked at me, and something in the gesture gave me strength.

Slowly, I stepped forward.

It was time for me to see if I was worthy enough to play a part in Machara’s demise.