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Isak grinned, eavesdropping. See, this was why he liked Sainsa.

“Oh come on, beauti—”

Isak snorted when the raven-haired fae punched the guy in the stomach, dropped him to the ground, and left him there.

“I was going to ask if you needed assistance but I see that’s not the case,” Isak remarked with a half-smile.

“Oh, don’t you start,” the fae snarled, stomping past Isak. “I’m not fucking you, either.”

“I’m not asking.” He should have been. Usually would have been. He’d have already made a suggestive comment and brought out his charm offensive. The thought made him a little sick. “Just complimenting on a punch well done.”

“Thanks,” she said dryly, casting him a wary look. “Let me put this very clearly. You’re lacking tits and a pussy and I’m not interested.”

Isak raised one palm, gripping the handle of his walking stick with the other. “Really, truly not asking. Well. I wasgoingto ask if you know much about this checkpoint since it’s my first time visiting and you seem to know where you’re going.”

“Great,” she muttered, stalking past him along the well-trodden dirt road that wound between fields of lush, verdant grasses up to the crystal walls. “A fucking tourist.”

“Ah, but a tourist with a gallant mission to save a pretty woman.” No. Nope. To save hisbrother.This had nothing to do with Maia, who’d smirked and snapped and taunted in the way he loved. It had nothing to do with the spark he felt deep in his core when she glared at him, or the way she made magic fizz in his veins when it had only ever been poison.

I resent that remark, you ungrateful dick,Viskae muttered.I blessed you with glorious power and you call it poison?

“I don’t need saving,” the raven-haired fae snarled, clearly thinking he spoke of her.

“My mate does,” Isak replied in a plain voice before he could stop himself. Saints fucking dammit, he hadn’t meant to claim her. He’d only teased Maia with the truth because she so clearly despised it, and he was safe from her womanly wiles and advances. She wouldn’t get close to him, wouldn’tseehim,because she had no interest in him. What the fuck was he doing using the M word?

The fae woman ground to a halt and whipped around to stare at him with wide green eyes. “Your mate needs saving? From who?”

“Ah. That’s a bit complicated,” he said, regretting starting a conversation. But fuck, he was lonely. And going mad from his own company—and Viskae’s, which usually hindered rather than helped keep his sanity straight. Sleeping around in Eosantha had staved off the worst of the memories and lonesomeness, but something in his soul soured at the thought of finding someone to lose himself in now.Fucking mate bond.“She’s in immediate mortal peril, and so is my brother. I’m in Sainsa on a fool’s errand to find a mysterious relic to save them. It’s their only hope of survival. If they’re not already dead.”

It was the fear that haunted him in the silence of night. He hadn’t meant to confess it to this random woman.

She sighed. Heavily. “You can tag along with me, but you’re not staying with us. You can find your own fucking lodgings on the other side of the gate.”

“Us?” he asked, peering around for a companion. But he knew she was alone; the man had been nattering her ear off for hours.

“Me and my wife,” she huffed, giving him a sharp sidelong glance as they strode down the path, Isak ignoring the irritating voice in his head. “My mate. You seem pathetic, and no doubt you’ll need help to find this mystery item to save your mate. I’m Anzhelika.”

“Not to be a total cynic, and don’t get me wrong I’m grateful, but why would you help me?”

Her mouth pressed thin. “I know what it’s like to fear for the life of your mate. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”

He decided not to tell her that he and Maia weren’t an item, and she didn’t even like him. In fact, she might find him abhorrent. He’dleftthem there, on that island. Viskae had kept him weak and trapped in the mud but… he left them there. Let them be taken. Watched as they were dragged through the crack in the saints stone. Isak ran a rough hand through his hair, tangling his fingers on knots. He ripped them free and didn’t care that it hurt.

“You’d better get your papers out,” Anzkelika sighed, retrieving a folded wad of paper from inside her beaten up coat. “The gatekeepers are suspicious of newcomers for obvious reasons.”

“The ominous wave of Vassalian soldiers creeping its way closer?”

“Not to mention the darkness.”

Isak jolted. “The darkness?”

Anzhelika made a distracted noise of confirmation, her eyes on the tall, crystal gate rising above them. It had a large archway for carts and wagons and a smaller checkpoint where two guards stood checking the papers of everyone who’d got off the omnibus. The whole thing looked like the grand front of a cathedral or temple, rising above their heads in towers, tiny windows clearly made for arrows or bolts. An intimidating sight, especially for a dumbass who didn’t have papers.

You better have a plan,he warned Viskae.

You have magic; we don’t need a plan.

“The darkness,” the raven-haired fae repeated, craning her neck to see over the heads of the crowd gathered in front of the pedestrian gate. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed there are no stars out at night anymore, and you can’t even see the moon. In some places it’s pitch black from three in the afternoon.”