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Only rather than cringing, Des laughs and steals a kiss from me. “And now I’ll walk by your side the rest of the way because I finally,finallygoaded you into being naughty and using your glamour.”

That was himgoadingme?

He gives my knuckles a kiss, then releases my hand so he can walk in front of me. The two of us are silent for a ways after that.

At some point, I begin to hear the thud of footfalls—lots and lots of footfalls. In the distance, trees shake violently, and for a moment, I’m back in Mara’s oak forest, watching the trees writhe and split open.

The memory dissolves as the Day soldiers come into view, their golden armor glinting as they storm towards us.

Des steps in front of me, his wings flaring to life behind him. They stretch wide, the razor-sharp talons looking particularly menacing.

The Day soldiers close in on us, their swords brandished.

Jesus. Their motto might as well be: Slash first, ask questions later.

Des crosses his arms. “Thisis the welcome you give your kingdom’s last remaining ally?” He clicks his tongue. “Janusdidinform you that he was expecting a visit from the Kingdom of Night?”

The soldiers’ weapons lower just a fraction, but they’re still eyeing the two of us—particularly me—with suspicion.

“Where is your retinue?” one of them demands.

“Recovering from battle,” Des says. “I thought it wise to not bring more soldiers to your doorstep, seeing as how …warmlyyour kingdom welcomed the last batch that visited.”

Even here I can catch whiffs of those blazing pyres.

The soldiers begrudgingly lower their weapons the rest of the way, and one begins to speak. “By decree of the King of Day, Lord of Passages, King of Order, Truth Teller, and Bringer of Light, Janus Soleil of the Isles of Light, you are now in this kingdom’s custody until such a time as His Majesty—”

“I don’t think so,” Des cuts in. “You’ll treat us as the royal guests we are, or we leave. It’s as simple as that.” His wings fold behind his back. “Now, you all don’t want to be responsible for derailing these talks, do you?”

When the soldier doesn’t respond, another muscles his way to the front.

“Please, Your Highness, we’re sorry for the misunderstanding. Our good king is eager to meet with you. This way please.”

And with that, we resume our trek.

It takes an annoyingly long time to get to the palace. I mean, the walk is scenic and all, the forest lush with life, the ground sprinkled with glittering pools and rippling creeks, and blah, blah, blah—lots of pretty shit. But it’s still a stupidly long walk, and now that Des and I have five billion guards hemming us in, our conversation is next to non-existent.

To be fair, Ihavebeen entertained. Des has spent most of the last hour plaiting one guard’s hair into at least fifty braids (he hasn’t yet noticed) and moving branches into another guard’s way.

“Mother fucking trees,” the fairy mutters under his breath. “I swear they’re moving in my way.”

“Lay off the spirits, Sythus,” another says.

Ahead of us the forest parts, and—

My God.

The palace rises like a golden mountain from the jungle. The Day King’s castle is brilliant, blinding gold. Just as staggering is the waterfall that cuts straight through it, plunging into a basin that’s hidden by scores of other buildings that cluster around the palace.

“Wow,” I breathe.

One of the soldiers smiles at me. “Welcome to Avalon.”

Chapter 15

For all theDay Kingdom’s opulence, Avalon is a ghost town. The city streets are all but abandoned, though there’s still the lingering, unholy scent of dark magic. But there are no bodies and no blood—the unpleasantries of battle have been moved to the outskirts of the island.

Even when we enter the castle proper seems abandoned, our footsteps echoing in the cavernous space.