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He might not truly care about my well-being, but that didn’t matter when I knew he’d do whatever it took to keep me safe in this place.

The woods swallowed the noise of hooves on dirt. When we’d gone several yards into the forest, the fae pulled to a stop and hopped to the ground. The Mist King swung off behind me first and held out a hand. Ignoring him, I dismounted with the gracefulness of a toddler.

“What are we doing?” I asked in a hush. This forest set my teeth on edge, and there was no telling what kind of monsters lurked nearby. More pookas, most likely. And whatever else lived in the mists.

“There are some hostile fae who have invaded a village just ahead,” the Mist King said, a dark look in his sapphire eyes. “We need to take care of it.”

I blew out a breath. “You think my mother and Val are there?”

“They’re unlikely to have made it this far away from Albyria.” He reached into the pack he’d strapped to the horse and dug out a pale gray gemstone. Its light glowed in the swirling mists as he tucked it into his pocket. “If they’ve taken shelter in one of the cities, my guess is it’ll be Itchen or Endir.”

I took a small step toward him and tapped the center of his chest, frowning. “Then, let’s keep moving. You can’t go against our vow unless I say it’s all right.”

“We have innocent people who live in Vere. Civilians,” Niamh explained as she plucked an arrow from her quiver and flipped it in her hands. “They need our help. Are you really going to insist we keep moving, Tessa?”

Something my chest stirred.Damn them.Of course I wouldn’t insist, not if innocents were in danger.

“All right. Do what you must,” I said, turning back to the Mist King. “This is why you were in such a hurry to leave the cave, isn’t it?”

He nodded and took my shoulders in his firm hands. A moment later, I stood in the center of the four horses, their inky bodies boxing me in. That was when I realized the fae were going to leave me here.

“Absolutely not.” I folded my arms. “You can’t leave me here alone.”

“We can, and we will.” He arched a brow. “Are you going to try to run? Because you know the vow won’t let you.”

I narrowed my eyes and shoved through the horses, taking off through the forest. Almost instantaneously, a force wound an invisible rope around my waist and hauled me back. My body hit the ground as the force dragged me toward the horses, dirt and sand spraying into my face.

I skidded to a stop, right where I’d just been, trapped in the middle of the horses.

Alastair guffawed.

I glared at them all. “You can’t leave me here like this. What if some pookas attack?”

The thought terrified me more than I wanted to admit. Those things were monstrous. They could throw full-grown fae a mile. And while the Mist King had taken down eight of them at once, he’d seemed drained and tired when he was done. Not to mention the only weapon I had was my little wooden dagger. One blow from that would do nothing more than annoy a pooka.

“These beasts will protect you just fine, and Boudica is in the sky keeping watch,” the Mist King said. “We’re walking into a fight. These fae are archers. You need to stay here.”

“What fae?” I asked, climbing to my feet. “Is something going on with your kingdom? You have rebels or something? Is that why your castle is so empty?”

“That is none of your concern.”

“Might as well tell her, Kal,” Alastair said with a shrug as he tightened his ponytail. “She’s involved in this shit now, whether you like it or not.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

The Mist King’s lips flattened. “Fine. The fae are invaders from the Kingdom of Storms. They’ve taken the people of Vere as prisoners and are using the village as an outpost while they plan an attack against my castle. The fae we found traveling in the mountains were scouts. Now, there’s your answer. We need to go now.”

Toryn shot me an apologetic smile but turned to go as the others did. My heart thundered in my chest as the Mist King’s words echoed in my ears. I hadn’t thought much about the Kingdom of Storms in years. According to our history books, there wasn’t much to them anymore. Was that just another lie? Why did they want to take the Mist King’s throne?

I clearly wouldn’t get those answers right now. The fae had left me alone in these woods with nothing but a few horses to keep me company. Breath hissing between my teeth, I pulled the dagger from my tunic and pointed it toward the vanishing forest path, waiting.

Every now and again, one of the horses would flick his ears or stomp his hooves, as if hearing something from the distance. Sounds that I couldn’t hear myself. What was happening out there? Were they winning? With the Mist King’s powers, how could they not?

As the moments stretched on, the silence and stillness of the forest became unbearable. A small twig cracked in the distance, and I jerked so hard that the horse behind me shoved his long snout into my back. The force knocked me to my knees where tiny purple flowers glowed in the night.

Scowling, I didn’t bother to stand back up. Instead, I crossed my legs and settled in for a wait. The horses snorted, as if speaking their approval.

“This is annoying,” I said to them. “Don’t you want to go help them?”