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“I am glad to see your delightful tongue is back,” he retorted, to which she stuck that tongue out at him in return.

They both turned as Briar began speaking. “Go, Nasima,” he said, stroking the bird’s feathers again. “Tell her everything you saw.”

Nasima let loose another cry as she flapped into the air and disappeared in a flash of light.

“She will go to the Wind Princess?” Scarlett asked.

“Yes. She and her Court have libraries full of ancient books and history long forgotten by the rest of the world,” Briar said, his face grim. “And she is… You will understand when you meet her someday.”

Sorin turned back to Scarlett to find her frowning down at her still bare feet amid the broken shards of glass. “Are you ready?”

“For what?” she asked, looking up at him.

He held his hand out to her. “To go home.”

She studied him for a long moment, then her eyes darted to Briar. “You really hit him in the face?”

Briar grinned at her. “Yes, Sunshine. Hard enough he spat blood.”

“Good,” she said. Then she turned a questioning look upon Sorin. “How exactly are we getting home? I can’t bring us all back. I don’t know how I—”

“It’s okay, Love. I found a work-around to get to you.”

There were small flashes of light as Abrax and Shirina disappeared. Amaré remained on Sorin’s shoulder. He still held his hand out to her, and warmth flooded through his left hand as that Mark imperceptibly darkened when she slowly slid her fingers into his waiting palm. “Then let’s go home.”

CHAPTER 29

CALLAN

Callan shot to his feet as Sorin, Briar, and Scarlett appeared from thin air. They had all been sitting in Sorin’s great room waiting. Eliza had nearly worn a path in the carpet from her pacing. He’d never seen the general so out of sorts. Judging by Cyrus and Rayner, who stood solemnly near the fireplace whispering amongst themselves, they hadn’t either. The princes had been gone well over an hour now, and all of Callan’s questions about this Sorceress had gone unanswered. The Fire Court was apparently too preoccupied with their own worries and thoughts to bother answering him.

Callan looked Scarlett over as she pulled her hand from Sorin’s. She appeared fine. No obvious injuries, but her eyes looked haunted and hollow. Her eyes looked like they had the night of the engagement dinner at Mikale’s. What had shoved her back to that place?

Her gaze swept over them all. “A welcome home party just for me? How unexpected. Although you could have put in a bit more of an effort into the decorations,” she quipped, bringing a hand dramatically to her chest with a feline grin that didn’t quite meet her eyes.

Eliza pushed past Callan as she strode for Scarlett. “Next time please just lock yourself in my rooms,and allow me to kick his ass for you,” she snapped as she pulled Scarlett into a fierce hug.

Scarlett gripped her back just as tightly. “Deal, my friend,” she whispered.

All the Fae males looked slightly shocked at the exchange happening before them, and Callan was inclined to agree. He had never seen Eliza convey any type of sentimental emotion.

After a few more moments, the females pulled back from each other, and Eliza’s gaze went to Sorin. The violence that entered her eyes told Callan exactly why she was the general of his armies. “If you ever—”

Sorin held up his hands placatingly, cutting his general off. “I do believe you will be the first in a long line of those who will come to her defense, Eliza dear,” he sighed, glancing around at everyone in the room.

Cyrus and Rayner came up behind Eliza, their faces just as hard and full of promised bloodshed as the general’s. It still took him by surprise, the irreverence they had for the fact that he was their prince and ruler.

“Damn, Prince,” Scarlett scoffed with a smirk, a hand going to her hip. “They really do prefer me over you.” Sorin threw her an unimpressed glance, which she completely ignored to Callan’s own satisfaction. Her attention went to Cyrus as she purred, “Hello, Darling.”

Cyrus closed the space between them, and he held Sorin’s stare as he bent down and gently kissed her cheek. He whispered something in her ear that Callan couldn’t hear, but the Fae in the room clearly could. Sorin’s face went from unimpressed to displeased. The others all snickered, and Scarlett’s cheeks turned slightly pink at whatever it was he said.

Finally, her gaze settled on Callan. Surprise flitted across her features at his presence, but it was quickly replaced by a grim resolve. She strode to him and said, “I have need of you.”

He didn’t fail to notice how Sorin straightened at her address to him. She had come to him, not Sorin, for whatever it was she was needing.

“Of course,” Callan answered, eyeing her curiously.

“Are you free? Right now?”