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“It must’ve been a shock,” she says when I don’t respond, “coming here to the Otherworld—and being kidnapped no less! I can’t imagine being trapped in Karnon’s palace. That awful place had long since gone to seed by the time you arrived.”

Bones breaking, blood dripping, endless agony.

I give her a tight smile.

She leans forward. “I hear Desmond arrivedjustin time. It seems uncanny almost. I wonder how he found you so quickly…”

I narrow my eyes at her, seeing exactly what she’s getting at. Had I not talked to Des about this earlier, her words would worm their way under my skin.

She lightly touches my arm. “Well, it’s no matter now. You’re safe, and thanks to those wings of yours, Desmond has ensured you cannot leave his side to return to earth.”

As soon as that last sentence registers, my heart seems to skip a beat.

Thanks to those wings of yours, Desmond has ensured you cannot leave his side…

“Callypso?” Mara’s voice echoes, as though from a distance.

I blink several times, the Flora Queen’s face coming into focus. Her expression is pinched with concern, though I know it’s all an act. Just like the casual way she managed to plant those bits of doubt in my mind.

“Are you all right?” she asks, reaching for my arm.

Des’s words up on the treetop return to me. How, despite our weak connection, he felt my need and my pain through our bond. That my agony at the hands of Karnon had to be as intense as it was for the Bargainer to sense my distress and, through it, my location.

That was how Des found me when he did.Notbecause he wanted to keep me here in the Otherworld like some caged bird. He doesn’t think like that, even if the Flora Queen does.

The moment Mara’s fingers touch my elbow, I jerk it out of her reach.

Around us, I hear a few muffled gasps from fairies who must’ve caught sight of the action. Apparently, not letting a queen touch you is some sort of faux pas.

“You’re wrong.” I take a step back. I can feel my wings ruffling in agitation. “So, so wrong.”

I need to get away from these creatures, with their fake smiles and duplicitous words.

“Wait, I hope I didn’t upset you,” she says.

A lie.

“I called you over because I’ve been meaning to give you a gift in honor of your bond to the King of the Night.”

I feel the first tendrils of apprehension. I’ve learned from Des that when it comes to gifts from fairies, there are always strings attached.

The Flora Queen’s harem presses in around me, boxing me in while Mara gestures to someone over her shoulder. A human servant weaves through the throng of guests carrying a silver tray. Resting on it is a delicate metal wineglass filled with light-purple liquid. She stops at the queen’s side.

Carefully, Mara removes it from the tray. “Do you know what this is?” she asks.

I shake my head, bewildered by this newest turn of events.

“I would’ve thought that perhaps…but never mind.” She hands me the goblet, and it’s only as she does so that it clicks. This is her gift—whatever this actually is.

Reluctantly, I take the silver cup, staring down at the liquid with a slight grimace.

When I don’t take any further action, some of Mara’s men laugh at me like I’m a simpleton. To receive a drink but not to taste it!

“You must try it,” the Flora Queen insists.

There’s no way in hell I’m going to try it. Not a drink given to me by this broad.

Before I can commit some further faux pas, the air shifts and the shadows deepen. Everyone else must feel it too because conversations hush.