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She paused, smiling faintly as she pulled back the covers on her side. “What of them?”

“They are gone.” He was staring at her in fascination.

She smirked, and a whorl of shadows snaked across the bed, caressing his cheek, before fading away into nothing once more.

“How?”

She had realized her shadows had disappeared while she had bathed in the mountain chalet early that morning. She could feel them hovering just beneath the surface, but they were no longer visibly swirling around her unless she commanded them to do so.

“I love my darkness, Sorin. It is beautiful, and I do not wish it away, but I only need it when I lose sight of the stars.”

“You found the light?” She could see a soft smile on his lips as she blew out the candle beside the bed.

“I learned where to look.”

“Oh?” he asked, propping himself onto an elbow to look down at her as she nestled in beside him.

“The brightest star always leads home.”

CHAPTER 48

TALWYN

Talwyn Semiria stood in her chambers in the White Halls. She hadn’t slept in days. Every time she closed her eyes, her dreams were filled with omens and terrors. Her chambers occupied the highest tower of the Halls. She had windows on all sides so she could see every direction. She looked out the northwest window now, towards the Fire Court. Things had not gone according to plan. No, things had not gone well at all.

When Talwyn had sent Sorin to the mortal lands to find his twin flame, her cousin, she had expected them to return and Scarlett to come here, to the White Halls. Then she had expected Scarlett to take up her place in the Black Halls to the south. She had expected there to be some sort of natural family kinship, some sort of immediate bond. Instead, there was fear that had turned to utter contempt.

Sorin had kept Scarlett from her. First, he’d kept her hidden, and now she resided with him. She knew they were twin flames, but she had still expected them to comehere. Scarlett was a Queen of the Fae Realm. She should be in the Black Halls, not squatting in the Fire Court.

There was a slight breeze, and Ashtine stepped into the room. Talwyn turned to her friend with a frown. “You bring news?”

Ashtine crossed the room and sat gracefully in a chair near the window. “You were right,” she replied in her mystical voice. “The mortal kings are gathering their forces to them, but where they are planning to position them I have not heard. Even the winds do not know.”

Talwyn didn’t reply, returning her attention to the window. There had been no signs of the immortals posing as humans in any of the other realms. Ashtine hadn’t discovered any at least. Then again, they hadn’t known they were in the mortal realm until Sorin made the claim at the meeting the other day. In a few weeks, if the other leaders agreed to attend, she would lead a summit, and hopefully they’d all realize the threat.

She had been shocked when Scarlett had sent word that Hazel would be attending. The High Witch had been a nightmare to work with. So much so, in fact, that she’d sent Briar or Azrael to deal with her the last few times. The soldiers she’d lost to the ruthless Witches still made her see red.

“I cannot possibly let her go back there right now, Ashtine,” Talwyn said softly. “Not with so many unknowns there. She is not ready to face those.”

Ashtine was quiet, contemplative. They had grown up together. Both young princesses, Ashtine of the Wind Court and Talwyn here. Ashtine’s mother had been killed with the other Royals by Esmeray, and their friendship had only gotten stronger when Talwyn’s mother was later killed. While Talwyn was quick-witted and fast to act in dire situations, Ashtine tended to sit back and take things in, likely because she was a Wind Walker and spent much of her time listening among the winds.

“I do not think you will be able to stop her,” Ashtine finally replied. “She seems incredibly adamant about going back.”

“Just because she is adamant does not mean it is the right move,” came a male voice from the doorway.

Talwyn turned to find Azrael, stone-faced and somber.

“Precisely. I know these realms. I know how they work. I know the histories. She has barely scratched the surface,” the queen replied.

“That may be true,” Ashtine cut in. She was one of the few people who ever dared to interrupt her, and when she did, she spoke as if she didn’t even realize she was doing it. “But she was raised in the human lands. She knows more about that realm than any of us. If she had to go to another realm, it is the one she should go to.”

“But she does nothaveto go to another realm,” Talwyn snapped.

“I cannot believe Aditya is letting her go back. You would think as her twin flame he would want to keep her from such dangers,” Azrael said sourly, crossing the room to join them near the window. He said Sorin’s name as if he were saying a vulgar word. Although to him, Sorin’s name was such a word, Talwyn supposed.

“I would venture to guess that no oneletsScarlett do anything, and it is precisely because he is her twin flame that he is going with her,” Ashtine replied simply.

“And leaving his Court behind after he just returned,” Azrael grumbled under his breath.