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“Why should we not believe it was you?” Janus says. “I heard it took you nearly a week to rescue your mate from Karnon’s palace. Why so long, Flynn?”

That question…that question hurts. Forget the fact these rulers are spinning tales out of shadows. WhydidDes wait so long?

Des leans back in his chair, looking haughtily at the other rulers. “And what if it is me? What if I, in my infinite power, staged the whole thing so the mad king would take the fall? What would you do? Whatcouldyou do?”

Mara and Janus share a look.

Janus leans forward, his eyes intense. “Whatever needed to be done.”

I feel the depth of Des’s power then, sitting in that room. It’s as vast as the universe and as dark as the night.

If he were cruel, if he were evil…there’d be no stopping him.

If he were cruel and he were evil, our bond wouldn’t care one way or another.

Like it or not, I’d still be his.

Chapter 30

The casket children have Night Kingdom traits.

My skin prickles, even though it’s warm outside.

“Why did it take you so long to find me when I was Karnon’s prisoner?” I ask Des as he and I head back to our room. I don’t want to sound hurt or accusing, but a part of me feels both.

Des stops, turning to face me. He tilts his head. “Are you actually considering their words?”

I don’t know what to say, caught between my own uncertainty and Des’s secrets. “I just need to know,” I say, my voice quiet.

Des’s mouth flattens into a grimace. He glances around us, looking at the fairies who stroll the gardens. His meaning is clear: this is not a private place. He nods to the huge cedar we’re rooming in, his wings unfolding behind him. “Follow me.”

Before I can ask him what he’s doing, he leaps into the air, his massive wings looking out of place in the bright light of day. Around us, people stop and watch.

Releasing a sigh, I take a running leap, letting my wings lift me into the air.

Des lands on one of the highest branches of the cedar. Clumsily, I join him, nearly overshooting the branch and falling off. He catches me around the waist, letting out a husky laugh I feel to my core.

He can’t be bad, hecan’t. We might both be fucked up, and sure, Des has killed a few people, but he can’t beevil—more like…wicked lite.

I situate myself on the branch so that my legs are hanging off, the backs of my ankles brushing my wings and my shoulder brushing Des’s. From this high up, fairies look like tiny bugs.

I breathe in the crisp forest air, the treetop swaying slightly in the breeze.

“That morning, the morning you went missing,” Des begins, “you can’t even—” His voice breaks, and I swivel my head to stare at him. He’s a far cry from the cocksure fae king he was back in Mara’s breakfast nook. Now I feel the heat and pain in his words.

“At first, I thought you walked out on me,” he says. “I thought you took off the way I had so many times back when you were in high school. In the days that followed, Iwishedyou had.

“It was the full cup of coffee that changed everything. It was just sitting there on the patio table, still full. You of all people wouldn’t just leave a cup of coffee untouched.”

I smile a little because it’s true; I’d never let good coffee go to waste.

“That’s about the time I realized you hadn’t left; you’d beentaken.

“The anger I felt, the fear—” He shakes his head. “I scoured the earth for you, and then I scoured the Otherworld. Every minute that passed, the dread deepened. And it—” He runs a hand through his hair, letting out a choked laugh. “It was so much worse than those seven years of waiting. So vastly worse.

“I cashed in years of favors for bread crumbs, and still it took me days to find myself in the Fauna Kingdom.”

My heart squeezes as I watch Des recall those days I was missing. I hadn’t known any of this.