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“I thought you might want to talk about why you’re here.”

“I know why I’m here. You captured me.”

“To save you from the mists.”

For a moment, all I could do was glare at him. The last thing I wanted to do was speak to him ever again. I didn’t want to hear his voice or see his face, not even in my dreams.

At least he was masked.

“Fine.” I folded my arms and lifted my chin. “Let’s say that’s the truth, though I’m not convinced. You still lied to me about the gemstones. You still pretended to be a rebel.”

He nodded, and then pulled off his mask. The muscles in his strong, angular jaw clenched. Those icy eyes were even more piercing than they’d been a moment before. “I didn’t pretend to be a rebel, Tessa. I am one. We all are. That’s who the shadow fae are to your king.”

My eyes narrowed. “The rebels are light fae who live near Teine. In Endir, just on the other side of the chasm. A few of our villagers even left to join them once, after my father’s death.”

I thought back to Rock and Jon, their youthful faces and determined eyes. They’d done everything I’d wanted to do. Leave and fight back. Little did they know the group they’d hoped to join was led by the very fae who had destroyed the world.

“If you’re the rebels, what happened tothem?” I whispered. “Where did they go? Did you burn them?”

“I don’t burn people, Tessa, and I don’t know what happened to them. Fae and humans do live in Endir. Perhaps they made it that far. Perhaps not. The mists are dangerous.”

“Youcaused the mists,” I argued.

His face tensed. “I did, but while I canusethe mists, I cannot make them go away. And I cannot stop them from pushing forward into new lands. Not anymore.”

Shaking my head, I turned away, unable to look at him even a second longer. “I don’t know why I’m having this conversation with you. How can I believe anything you say?”

“Because you know how cruel your king can be. And I’m trying to stop him.”

I whirled back toward him. He stood there watching me with hawkish eyes, like I might kick him and run at any moment. And I damn well might if it could actually do me any good. But if I ran, I wouldn’t be going anywhere. I’d still be stuck in my dream with him. “You poisoned me, just like he did, and then you threw me into a dungeon cell.”

“How much do you know about the magic of the wedding ceremony?”

I frowned. “All I know is that the vows are binding.”

“Exactly,” he said. “You would have been bound to him for the rest of your life. For the mortal queens, that is eternity.”

“Oh, I see what you’re doing now.” I shook my head and took a step back. “You want me to…to thank you for saving me from him? You do realize how ridiculous that sounds, right? You lied to me. You’ve trapped me.”

“I just hit Oberon with a very powerful blow,” he said, his voicing dropping into a low growl. “He no longer has a queen. His old bride will soon be off to the Tower of Crones, and his new one has escaped. This will hurt him.”

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. “Please. He doesn’t care about her, and he definitely doesn’t care about me.”

“He needs a mortal to produce more heirs.”

“Unfortunately, there are still plenty of human women in my village. He’ll just take someone else. He’ll force another to become his queen.” My voice hushed. It was something I hadn’t thought about until now. Yes, I’d escaped, but at what cost? Mother and Val were out of reach, but the rest of the villagers were still there. He needed a bride. It was essential to his reign. Who would he take? Would he treat them the way he’d treated me?

Of course he would. Fear shuddered through me.

The Mist King lifted one thick brow. “That remains to be seen, but…wouldn’t you like to stop him, just in case he does? Wouldn’t you like to save your people from his reign? Because you could do that, Tessa.”

My heart twisted in on itself. Holding my body perfectly still, I asked, “What do you mean?”

Saving Teine from King Oberon was one of the main reasons I’d gotten involved with the “rebels” in the first place. It had been a little slice of defiance in a world where independent thought rarely existed, at least when it came to the important things. And then, when I’d had the chance, I’d slammed my dagger into Oberon’s chest.

A much bigger defiance. One I wished I could take back.

Pain flared in my heart at the thought of my sister.