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“I’m sorry,” she mouthed.

And then the guards closed in on me, blocking my view. They shoved the goblet up to my mouth, and the saccharine stench of the valerian-spiked wine clogged my nose. The cold edge of the goblet bit my lips.

“Take it,” the guard said roughly. “Don’t make me open your mouth and pour it down your throat.”

I shook my head.

He shoved it closer, and it clicked against my teeth. “Just drink the fucking thing, all right?”

I met his eyes. Unlike the others, he did not wear a helmet. His crimson hair and curving horns gave him away as one of Oberon’s sons, while the deep brown of his eyes exposed his human side. I couldn’t help but wonder which Mortal Queen was his mother. And did Oberon ever let him visit the Tower of Crones, now that she’d been banished there?

“You’re new,” I said through clenched teeth, stalling for time.

His face went grim. “I’m replacing the previous head guard. He asked questions he shouldn’t have. Now, drink.”

My heart pounded. Asked questions he shouldn’t have? Did that have anything to do with what I’d told him about Oberon’s lack of powers? And then, if so…did that mean Oberon didn’t want anyone to know about his missing powers, not even his guards? With the mists creeping closer to Albyria, he couldn’t afford anyone questioning his strength.

With one hand still holding tight to Kalen’s cloak, I took the goblet from the guard. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Nellie had already downed her glass. She’d settled back on her pillows, her eyelids weighed down by the intoxicating herbs coursing through her veins.

“Don’t do anything rash now, Tessa,” the guard warned.

I lifted my brow.

“You’ve earned quite the reputation around here. Your grit is impressive, but you need to learn when to kneel and when to fight. Now is not the time for the latter.”

I downed the wine, chugging the sickly liquid until the goblet was empty. When I handed it back to the guard, I said, “Which one is it for you?”

A ghost of a smile whispered across his face as dizziness washed over me. Before he could answer, shadows deeper than the mists filled my mind.

Fourteen

Kalen

“Ihaven’t been able to reach Tessa in three fucking days.” I gripped the battlement and swallowed down my roar. Ever since I’d woken from that dream, having slammed into the chasm ground, I had not heard her sweet voice calling for me. Even when I’d tried searching for her, she had not been there. It was as if she no longer existed in the world of dreams.

Niamh’s sapphire cloak rippled around her broad shoulders. “I don’t want to think the worst, Kal, but…I can’t help but remember what was going on the last time you couldn’t reach her.”

“She could be dead,” I said. “I fucking killed her. I asked her to trust me, and I killed her.”

I’d been going over that moment again and again. I shouldn’t have jumped into the chasm. We’d hit the ground so hard. It had rattled even me. And she was a mortal girl. She couldn’t stand that kind of impact. I’d thought I could protect her. I’d been wrong.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Alastair said from my other side, his dark silken hair tied back from his face. “When you woke up, you didn’t have a scratch on you. She’s probably fine. Maybe not in the best situation, but fine.”

“What kind of situation?” I demanded.

He held up his hands. “Don’t you snap at me. I’m not the one who’s got her. Oberon drugged her with valerian-spiked wine before. I bet he’s done it again, leading up to the wedding. He can’t afford for her to start acting like…well, like her.”

I breathed out and tried to calm my pounding heart. “She does tend to act rashly.”

“And Oberon knows that all too well.” Alastair’s lazy grin tried to pull me back down to solid ground, but I just kept thinking about her trapped in her wedding dress with his fucking hands all over her.

“I will rip out his heart if he touches her.”

“He won’t. Yet.”

Still, I paced. The icy wind battled against me, but I’d faced far worse cold than this. “What if you’re wrong? Have you heard from any of our spies?”

Niamh shook her head. “The king has put them to work guarding the chasm, and he hasn’t let them near the dungeons for a few days. Tessa was right. The mists are moving across that bridge.”