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I hadn't stopped him from moving. I’d stopped him fromthinking.

‘Oh,’ I said numbly.

Even Creon’s chuckle was laced with bewilderment. But he swerved around in mid-air without another glance at Iorgas’s wine-red wings drifting on the indigo ocean surface, pressed a kiss to the crown of my head, and carried me back to the ravaged ship from which I’d been abducted mere minutes ago with slow, steady wingbeats.

Chapter 24

Verylittlewasleftof the Mother’s proud Sun fleet. Even though Creon flew me directly to the undamaged bow of the ship, from where the remaining sails obscured most of the carnage, the passing glimpses of severed limbs and torn wings didn’t allow for any illusions about the fate of our opponents. The ship’s bronze figurehead – a flying lion roaring triumphantly at the waves below – looked like a wry joke in comparison.

We landed on the forecastle deck in silence. Creon grabbed my arm as soon as he’d set me back on my feet, healed the cut left by Iorgas’s magic, then checked every other limb for wounds twice. Only after he’d finished that quick but thorough investigation did he throw a tight-lipped glance at the ocean and sign,Did he touch you?

My stomach turned as the human woman and her unregistered child returned to my thoughts. ‘Not like that.’

Creon’s nod was slow, ominous, and nothing even close to reassuring.

‘He had alf steel.’ I peeled off the wet coat from my body and sank down on the rough wood of the deck, knees suddenly no longer able to support my weight. The world was oddly silent around us, the sunlight soothing as a hot bath for my icy skin. ‘Must have figured out it would be the only way to stop me. I broke his nose when he tried to fly off with me.’

That elicited a joyless chuckle from him.Proud of you.

My heart gave a little jump, then pounded on, still prepared for danger and fight. Wiping salty strands of hair from my face, I nodded at the rest of the ship and muttered, ‘They’re all dead?’

Yes.His blood-streaked face could have been hewn from stone.Turns out I could get more unpleasant than I thought.

I swallowed. ‘When you realised I’d disappeared?’

They were trying to stop me from going after you, he signed curtly, the small twitch at his jaw a menacing indication of the fate that had befallen those unwise fae.So I made haste. The last few of them fled when their numbers were down to a dozen or so. Didn’t bother to go after them.

Which meant the Mother would likely hear about our little stunt before the day was over. I suppressed a curse and nodded, trying not to think about what the bitch might do as soon as she heard I had been back above the earth. Threaten more islands for my location, perhaps. Tell more people not to trust a powerless fae puppet in her son’s hands. Whatever she decided, I doubted I’d have time for a few weeks off.

Gods, I needed a few weeks off.

Creon sank down next to me, so gracefully not even the swaying wooden boards creaked under his muscular weight. Tucking in his wings, he unbound his hair, then began loosening his torn shirt with nimble fingers. The skin below was marred by a macabre spider web of old inked scars and brand new cuts, none of them deep or dangerous, but plenty of them looking painful.

I abruptly forgot about vacations. ‘Do you need help?’

He sighed, shrugged, and continued to strip off his clothes with the heaviness of a battle-weary warrior taking off his armour.

Of course he did not need my assistance. He’d dealt with worse, and done it often enough to make this a matter of unpleasant routine at most. I gave myself a mental kick and corrected, ‘Do youwanthelp, then?’

A flicker of surprise broke through that stony battle composure. Flinging his shirt aside, he signed,You’re exhausted.

‘So are you.’

Yes, but …

He faltered there, fingers stiffening between the two of us. Our gazes met, our bodies less than a foot apart, and in that one quiet moment, the full course of this discussion unfolded between us: I’d argue he deserved a little care as much as I did, he’d counter that he had more experience with these things, I’d object that I wasn’t going to gain that experience by being pampered by pretty fae princes. At which point he’d smirk and ask if I was trying to flatter him, and I’d just climb into his lap, damn the blood on his trousers and my own soaked dress.

He dropped his hand without finishing his signs, grimacing in surrender.

‘At least you learn,’ I said and scrambled up to straddle his thighs. He was tense as a coiled spring beneath me, muscles straining against my cold skin – a sensation that made me abruptly aware of just how long it had been since I’d been so close to him. His chest burned hot under my touch, his bronze skin slick with sweat. As I cautiously brushed along a shallow cut just below his right shoulder, I quickly added, ‘I don’t need a lot of blue for these, do I?’

Less than you think you need. His lips quirked into an exhausted smile, eyes following the cautious movements of my fingers.As usual.

I chuckled and drew a soft, eggshell blue from my formerly black, currently drab green dress. The cut grew shut under my touch, leaving no scars behind but turning overly smooth and oddly pale – quite like the skin of a newborn child.

‘Right,’ I said, pulling a face. ‘Less than that.’

Creon’s smile had a little more life to it this time.Just a tad less.