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We were silent for a long moment as he watched me, clearly waiting for me to speak.

‘What do you know about mate bonds?’I asked finally.

‘Well, my own brother—’

‘I know that,’ I cut in.The smile that had edged his mouth vanished.‘I don’t want propaganda on the blessings of fate and purity of love and whatever else you think you can sell me to make me believe they’re anything other than a shackle.’

Carefully, he rolled the scroll he’d been reading and sat back in his chair.‘What do you want to know, then?’

‘How are they broken?’

His whole face pulled into a frown that drew furrows of concern across his forehead.‘They can’t be broken.’

‘There has to be a way.’

‘Tarian.’He said my name like he was speaking to me as a child again.‘You know as well as I do how open star prophesies are to misinterpretation.Trying to circumvent magic that is older than the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, that makes up your very nature, over one messy interpretation, is madness.’

‘You seemed to think it was a solid enough prophesy when you were helping me track down the girl it referred to.’

‘But this changes everything.If she’s your mate—’

I slammed my hands on the desk, leaning across it.‘It changesnothing.’

He didn’t so much as flinch at the outburst, remaining immovable, impenetrable.‘Trying to break a mate bond is unnatural.’

‘What’s unnatural,’ I said, my voice low, ‘is that I should have met mine now.How many truly mated fae do you know?I could count the ones I’m aware of on one hand.Why, when the likelihood is so remote, haveIfoundmine?It’s a fucking joke.’

‘You got lucky,’ he said firmly.

‘I got swindled.’I ran a hand through my hair, reminded myself that none of this was his fault.Even if he did have some naïve, outdated opinions.‘The best thing for the both of us would be if I can find a way to break the bond.Then I can send her home.’

‘Send her home?’he asked, a hint of surprise in his voice.‘What about the prophesy?You’d break the bond only to let her live?I thought the point was to kill her?’

‘I’ll find another way to prevent it.’A hellhound howled somewhere out on the Shadowmire, the keening cry loud enough to haunt the room for a moment, stripping away hope and corralling fear.It would be stalking prey, then, trying to trick it into laying down and giving up.It made me realise just how close I’d come to losing her tonight, a thought that left an ashen taste in my mouth, along with an almost unbearable urge to go to her.‘She doesn’t want to be here.’The words slipped unbidden from my mouth, and I clenched my jaw.

‘You’ve given her no reason to want to stay,’ Arun said as though he was offering me encouragement.‘She’s a prisoner in a strange place, and all she’s seen of it are things that are trying to kill her, and the angry prince who brought her here and seems to hate her for no reason.’

‘I’m not here for advice on winning her over,’ I said through gritted teeth.‘I have no intention of even trying.What I want is to nullify this damn prophesy that’s been hanging over my head for decades so I can finally break the council restrictions on my succession.You know what that means to me.’

‘I won’t help you do this, Tarian,’ Arun said quietly, shaking his head.His face was set like stone.

‘Then I’ve clearly become too dependent on your loyalty.If you won’t help me, I’ll find someone who will.’I rose to my feet, levelled him with a weighted stare.‘I want the name of the oracle who led you to Imogen and your write up of the conversation.’I could almost feel his disappointment burning into me as I walked out of the office, but it wasn’t anywhere near as caustic as mine in him.

Chapter 14

Imogen

Sleephadbeenfarmore exhausting than if I’d simply stayed awake for the entire night.Flashes of memory mingled with fantasy, of lips and teeth, of fingers tracing across skin, of the promise of pleasure that I’d seen in his eyes.When I finally woke, my cheeks were flushed, my breathing shallow, and I felt tight and uncomfortable as well as sleep deprived.What the hell was wrong with me?

I forced myself out of bed with a sigh.The bite marks and scratches from last night were gone, as if they’d never existed at all.Not a scab or a scar remained.Those springs had certainly been something.I shook myself before my mind could wander again, and the cold floors on my feet helped to centre me in reality.

A new dress had been laid out for me on a chair, but there was no sign that anyone had been in my room.I dressed quickly, realising that the sun was already climbing in the sky and the crow would descend on me at any moment.

Except she didn’t.

Rather than look a gift horse in the mouth, I yanked open the door, only to find Sarah standing there, her fist poised to knock.She jumped back, startled, pressing that hand to her chest.‘Oh goodness, you scared me.’

‘Sorry.Were you coming to get me?’