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I watch the four of them retreat, their stifling power leaving with them.

After they leave, Aetherial steps up to me, putting all my guards on edge. I wave them down.

“Your mate’s really going through the bender with the whole bonding process,” she says, looking at the door they exited through.

I glance over at her. Is that what’s going on? He mentioned his instincts getting the better of him, but the Desmond I know always was the epitome of control.

“I hear Night rulers get it particularly bad,” she continues. “Something about their ancestral blood apparently makes them hyperaggressive.”

Des had mentioned he’d descended either from dragons or demons. I suppose either creature could cause the mood shifts.

Her gaze slides to me. “I’ve also heard rumor that a white-haired man has been snatching soldiers from Solstice festivities.”

I groan. “Not you too.”

“So you don’t believe it?”

“That my soul mate is taking soldiers?” I say. “No, I don’t.”

And I mean it. Wicked though Des is, he’s no monster, not like the Thief of Souls is.

I step closer to Aetherial. “The truth is that since I laid eyes on your king, I’ve assumed he’s the one involved with the disappearances.”

Aetherial’s head snaps to me. “Seriously? Why?”

I frown. “When I was delivered to Karnon, I saw the man who captured me—it wasyourking.”

“Impossible,” she says.

“Why do you think Des attacked your king the night you all arrived?”

Aetherial searches my face. “You’re telling the truth,” she murmurs. She shakes her head. “But it’s impossible. I’ve seen my king’s truth too. He’s had nothing to do with these disappearances.”

I lift a shoulder, my attention moving to where we last saw the fae rulers.

We are all turning on each other—this person points the finger at that person, that person points the finger at yet another individual. The truth of the matter is that we are all being played by the Thief of Souls, whoever they are.

The Thief of Souls…

I rotate to Aetherial. “You wouldn’t happen to know the last known location of the Day soldiers who’ve gone missing during Solstice, would you?”

She shakes her head. “They disappeared all over the palace grounds—mostly just outside the royal gardens.”

Mostly just outside the royal gardens.

The reports I’ve been given corroborate this; they mentioned the men vanishing on the outskirts of the palace grounds.

The only thing beyond the gardens is the queen’s sacred oak forest, which rings the entirety of the property. I’ve been in that oak forest a time or two, but more than that, I’ve dreamed of the place, over and over.

What had the Bargainer told me weeks and weeks ago?

In the Otherworld, dreams are never just dreams. They’re another sort of reality.

My skin buzzes as if with electricity. It’s the sensation I got as a PI whenever I felt particularly close to solving a case.

“I have to go,” I say.

Aetherial gives me a quizzical look. “Didn’t you just get here?”