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I wave the question off. “I’ll be right back.”

The Thief of Souls has been hunting during Solstice, and now I know just where to find him.

Chapter 46

I walk through the Flora Queen’s sacred oak forest, frowning at the soldiers shadowing me.

“It’s not safe for any of you to be here.”

Had I taken a moment when I left the ballroom to consider the fact a handful of Night soldiers would be guarding me, I’d have tried to slip past them. At the very least, I’d have requested all women, considering the Thief of Souls isn’t trying to capture them these days. Of the six soldiers surrounding me, only one is a woman.

“King’s ordered that we guard you,” one of them says.

It’s the same answer they’ve given me the last several times I’ve tried to shake them off.

I turn back to the forest ahead of me. Other than a few warm droplets of blood on my skin, I haven’t found anything suspicious or unsettling about this place.

Fairy lights hover between the boughs of the trees, casting the woods in an ethereal glow.

“You could always return to the dance,” another soldier suggests.

Ugh. Back to those schmoozing, scheming fairies? Back to Mara, with her cloaked insults and brittle smiles, or the Green Man and his leers?

“Give me a few more minutes.”

Just thinking about the Flora rulers has me rubbing my skin. There’s something off about those two.

“Callypso…”

I pause. “Did you hear that?” I ask the soldiers.

Two of them nod, their faces grim. One of them grabs my upper arm. “Time to get back to the ball, my lady.”

Of course they’re right, but I still hesitate. Finally, something slightly spooky happens out here, and now I’m about to be whisked away to safety.

I let them steer me back toward the gardens anyway, which I can just barely make out in the distance.

“Enchantress…”

My spine goes stiff. I glance back, toward the origin of the voice. For a split second, I catch sight of a shock of white-blond hair in the darkness.

“Des?” I whisper, before I can help it.

As soon as I breathe his name, my guards hesitate, looking back to the woods for their king. But where he once was is now dark as ever.

One of my guards yelps.

I whip around. “What happened?”

They glance at each other, each one as perplexed as the last. It takes a few seconds for all of us to put together what exactly is off about the situation.

A second ago there were six soldiers at my side.

Now there are only five.

“Move, move, move!” one of them shouts.

The soldiers don’t stop to search for their comrade. They grab me and begin hustling toward the gardens.