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Brought that up sooner than I intended.

“Two centuries ago,” Des says. “Do you expect me to give you a formal apology for every person I’ve slept with? Because if so, I damn well better receive the same from you.”

“You are insane.”

The Night King disappears from my side only to reappear in front of me, his body blocking the way and forcing me to stop.

“Yougoadedhim,” he growls. “You goaded the Thief of Souls to find you.” He runs an agitated hand through his hair, the movement exposing one of his pointed ears. “Can you not see, this is the same reason I stopped taking you on my bargains when you attended Peel Academy.”

I’d glamoured a man back then too … a man who, ironically enough, knew information on the Thief of Souls. He’d been willing to die rather than share his knowledge, and still I made him talk.

I still flush at the memory. And now the Bargainer is essentially saying that in all that time, I haven’t changed.

I takeissuewith that. “I’m already in the Thief’s line of sight. I willnotlet that monster provoke me without provoking him back.”

A muscle in the Bargainer’s face ticks. He steps in close. “You want to know a secret, cherub?” he asks, his voice dropping low. “Earlier this evening, when I tried to stop all those sleeping soldiers back in our chambers—it didn’t work.”

There was that moment in his bedroom when I thought he’d bleed into the darkness and end those sleeping soldiers just as he had Karnon and his men. But he hadn’t been able to.

“Do you want to know why that wouldn’t work?” Des asks. He doesn’t wait for me to answer. “The darkness is loyal to its own—it won’t hurt another fairy that wields its power.”

I feel the first thread of unease at his words.

“That means the Thief is one of my kind—he’s a Night fae.”

My knees goa little weak. A Night fae? One who is impervious to Des’s magic?

He is not impervious to ours, my siren whispers, her voice seductive.

The King of the Night cups my face. “I ammadwith fear for you,” he says, his voice pitched low. “It feels like the wheels of fate are pushing you closer and closer to the Thief, and nothing I do can prevent it. Thatterrifiesme.”

To hear Des admit to being afraid … it’s like that moment as a child when you see an adult cry for the first time. Like the person you depended on to have their shit together really doesn’t. It’s the kind of thing that shakes your world.

“Iamsorry you had to hear about my … past … the way you did,” he says hoarsely.

I think this is an apology.

He leans in close, his lips a hair’s breadth from mine. “But I will admit, I greedily drank up your reaction.” With that confession, his lips press against mine.

It’s stupid how fast his kiss can banish my frayed nerves. He kisses away our discussion, his taste and touch consuming my thoughts. And even though the day is a mess, and I’m a mess, and the Otherworld has gone to crap, for a few blissful seconds, everything is as it should be.

All I wantright now is a shower, coffee, and bed—preferably all at the same time. Don’t tell me it can’t happen; I’m in the Otherworld,impossibleis this place’s middle name.

But am I going to get what I want?

Nope.

Instead I have to freaking adult it, which means hauling my butt into some random room in the castle and making sense of the clusterfuck that is the present state of affairs.

“Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in.” Temperance Darling, my best friend, colleague and fellow troublemaker, calls out as soon as we enter.

She sits alongside Malaki and several fae officials, her ankles propped on the table in front of her. Her eyes move over me. “And damn girl, looks like the cat didn’t just drag you in, it had a little fun with you too.”

My relief at seeing Temper alive is quickly eclipsed by her words. I spare my bloody battle leathers a glance before I take in Temper. She wears a white jumpsuit, and that outfit ispristine.

Next to her Malaki looks stern, his scar especially stark beneath his eyepatch. He keeps opening and closing his hands, and I get the distinct impression that he wants to hurt something.

As soon as he sees Des, he stands and crosses the room in a few quick strides. He brings his friend in close, slapping him on the back.