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No answer, but what did I expect? They were horses.

With a sigh, I wound my arms around my legs and tugged them to my chest. I was going to have to take the Mist King up on his offer to train me. Weakness could be conquered. Being left behind, so that I would be out of the way, was an aching reminder of just how little use I was out here. And if I wanted to kill Oberon, once and for all, I needed to be at my best.

A scorpion the size of my fist scuttled through the horses’ legs, crawled up my side, and perched on top of my hand. I squealed and shook my arm, knocking the scorpion to the ground. It thunked into the dirt only an inch away.

Sucking in a breath, I stared at the creature, my heart trembling like a leaf.

“What in the name of light is that?” I hissed.

The creature rolled onto its back, its stick-like legs curled inward, and its body went still. For a moment, nothing happened. I glanced around, hoping there weren’t any others creeping toward me. But the forest was silent and empty, save for the stomping of the horses’ hooves.

Was it dead? Had I knocked it off too hard? I leaned forward and poked its frozen body.

The creature sprang up with a shriek and then raced off into the darkness.

I leapt to my feet. “All right. That’s it. I really hate this forest.”

A long low wail echoed through the silence. Chills stormed across my arms. The horses snapped to attention, their heads whipping toward the direction the fae had gone. Heart thundering, I slowly turned.

Something was out there, and I didn’t think it was a scorpion.

Twenty-Three

Kalen

The screeching wail of a wraith alerted the archers hidden behind the village walls. Growling, I drew my sword and ducked low to the ground, bracing myself for the onslaught of arrows. Storm fae were excellent shots, but they wouldn’t have eyes on us from inside. They were relying on the wraiths to warn them.

Damn things. They belonged to the mists but feared even the smallest shadow. One move and they went shrieking away into the night, leaving behind a trail of poisonous sand. Even as guards, they weren’t good for much. They never knew when to be quiet, even if it meant saving their own lives.

“Fucking wraiths,” Toryn muttered from beside me, crouching low in the shadow of the tree line. “Think the storm fae tried to lure them here, expecting us to come?”

My lips flattened. “Let’s hope not.”

Wraiths loved blood and could scent it from miles away. If the storm fae had lured the wraiths here, they’d killed to do it.

“So, how do you want to do this?” Toryn whispered, jerking his head toward where Niamh and Alastair were inching around the circular wall. They’d reach the other side and wait for my signal to attack so that we could approach the enemy at the same time. It was a strategy we’d practiced many times. It hadn’t failed us yet. The only problem was, it relied on me throwing the weight of my power on the enemy fae to distract them.

There were innocents inside. Citizens of my kingdom who didn’t deserve to die. If they were in the wrong place when I loosed my power…

“My gut tells me I should hold back,” I finally said. “We’ll both go in together and take on whoever comes at us. Are you up for that?”

Toryn grinned. “I’m always up for a good battle, Kal, especially against a bunch of fae who are trying to take your throne.”

With a grim nod, I turned my gaze back to the wooden wall that had only been erected during the war. This had been a small pocket of normalcy once, back when humans and fae had lived side by side. There’d been no need for village walls. Before King Oberon had ruled these lands, Queen Bronwen had been a kind and benevolent ruler. She and my mother had been friends.

Why Oberon had ever believed my mother would marry him…

My gut twisted. I couldn’t think about that right now. In the past, I’d let my rage control me, and I needed to focus on this fight.

“You and I have faced many battles together, Toryn.” I held out a hand. He placed his palm against mine, and then we tapped the back of our knuckles together, before bringing our thumbs to our lips. We let out a low whistle that only the two of us could hear.

For so many years, we’d faced danger together. So many times, we’d sprayed blood on the ground. It did not thrill me to do it, like it did some fae. Niamh reveled in it. But it was what must be done. And I would never turn my back on my duty to my realm.

The village ahead was home to light and shadow fae alike. It was one of the only places in the world where our kind did not hate each other, where we lived together in peace. After the war, some of the people in Dubnos had wanted to explore the lands I’d taken from the Kingdom of Light. They’d ended up settling here, where there were empty homes left behind by the fae who had died fighting in the Battle of the Great Rift.

At first, I’d been surprised. Surely the light fae would hate us.

But it turned out they hated Oberon far more, and they were happy to be free of him, even if it meant they now had to live in permanent darkness.