Page 74

“What’s small death?” I ask, shouting to be heard over the gusty air.

I’ve never actually stopped to ask what the term means.

“Sleep,” Des says, his voice amplified by his magic.

I think he’s misheard me, but then he adds, “Fae consider the loss of consciousness—fainting, sleep, and so on—to be a brief taste of death. The individual is caught between worlds, and so we call thissmall death.”

Huh. I guess that’s kind of cool. Unhelpful, but cool.

“Why do you ask?”

I glance over at Des. His eyes are too keen.

Though he knows I’ve had nightmares about the Thief, I haven’t told him the specifics about my most recent dreams.

I open my mouth to explain when a dark object manifests ahead of us. I catch a blur of white hair, hear the shrill cries of the pixies as they scatter, and then, next thing I know, the fae has me by the throat.

I grab the fairy’s wrist, trying to pry their hand from my neck when I catch sight of the beautiful fae.

Those eyes … just like his son’s.

Galleghar Nyx grimaces at me, squeezing tighter, his upper lip curling in disgust. “I could snap your neck right now and be done with it, slave.”

I drop a bandaged hand from his wrist, groping along my waist for one of my daggers.

“To think you’ve been walking the halls ofmypalace—”

My hand wraps around the hilt of my blade.

Gotcha.

“—eating frommytable—”

I unsheathe it.

“—sleeping in—”

I slam the dagger into his side, the blade sinking to its hilt.

Galleghar howls, his hold loosening long enough for me to suck in a grateful breath. I yank my weapon from his side.

“Bitch!” He cocks his fist just as an ominous form appears over his shoulders.

The Bargainer leans in close to his father’s ear, his hands gripping Galleghar’s wings. “I was hoping to run into you.” With that, he snaps his father’s wings, the bones making a sickening crack as they break.

Now Galleghar begins to scream in earnest. He releases my throat as Des pulls back his fist and slams it into his father’s head again, and again, and again. I can feel my mate unleashing his wrath as the two men begin to plummet from the sky.

Galleghar disappears, winking into existence in front of me again. The Bargainer follows suit, his wings flared menacingly at his back. But just as soon as Des closes in on him, Galleghar vanishes once more.

It’s that night in Mara’s oak forest all over again, Des and his father bleeding away into the darkness only to reform in another location. The tyrant king is having trouble though, his mangled wings bent grotesquely behind him.

Galleghar’s form disappears yet again, only this time, I don’t see him reform—Ifeelhim. His hands brace either side of my head.

He’s going to snap my neck.I can sense his intent in his very grip, even as gravity begins to drag the two of us towards earth.

Frantically, I call on my siren. If I ever needed my glamour, it would be now.

She rises slowly, like she’s moving through molasses. My skin begins to glow … only to dim. My siren retreats, my magic too exhausted to summon her.