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“You.” I smacked my palm on his back, tightening my hold. “I get a bleeding missive about dreary things, then a damn flame bursts on my tower. No other word from any of you lot. Only the knowledge that somewhere, you’re under attack. If I didn’t love you so much, Lump, I’d be hating you right now.”

“You’re all right then?” Sol pulled back to inspect me from head to foot.

“No. I’m not. I’m not all right. I’ve learned a great deal about myself. I’m rather powerful, you ought to know.”

“I already figured.”

“Well, good, because I am. Oh, and now I have a bleedinghjärtawhom I love to his soul, so I bleeding understand how you all get so bleeding mad over your lovers.” I was rambling and couldn’t stop. Panic, fear, rage, all of it collided in my chest like a torrent of emotion that could not be caged.

Sol lifted his gaze to Silas for a breath. “All right. That one’s a bit new.”

“Yes, it is new. In truth, I rather like that part,” I said, rambling. “But now that . . .creatureweakened us right under my nose. He was commanding the Rave positions and killing them with the sea fae, and I didn’t notice. I’m supposed to lead them.”

“The Rave?”

“Yes, my father’s army.” I waved my hands between us. “They’ve been here all along, but that’s not important right now.”

Sol pinched his lips and gave my shoulders a little shake. “Cal, slow down.”

I blew out a long breath and gripped his wrists from where his hands rested on my shoulders, as though he could steady the race of my pulse.

“That creature is a fae of deception,” he said firmly. “You couldn’t see the truth. We’re damn lucky to have Junie, or none of us would’ve seen him.”

True. It was true. Davorin knew how to hide in plain sight. He’d been doing it for centuries.

“We tried to twist fate,” I said. “We tried to offer protection and bring you to us, but the song wasn’t holding well. That’s why he’s here. How long has he been here?”

“He’s been tormenting all of us through illusions, or spell casts, so I don’t know. But we’re all here now. You can breathe. We have time. He cannot get through our pyre, you know that. We have a bit of time.”

I closed my eyes, nodding. “How long will the burn hold, do you think?”

“Through the night,” Sol said. “Maybe into the next day. You agree, Tor?”

“Should hold,” said Tor, glancing at the blue flames again.

“We didn’t anticipate a battle,” Sol said, a little breathless. “I know this is probably a lot for you to take in, but we have our children, Cal. My mother, she’s hurt; she was possessed by that bastard. Now, to get her back, Nik needs time with her. Now that he is here, is there anywhere we can go to get them all safe? He will be out for them, Mira most of all, I’m sure.”

All the littles. Mira. Lilianna. I knew Lilianna in such a different way now, my heart was racing at the thought of any of them being so vulnerable. Was anywhere safe?

“Hus Rose.” Silas’s soft, timid voice was the response. He kept back, no doubt, the sudden crowd unsettled him, but he’d offered us a place. His eyes were on me. “Hus Rose. It’s warded.”

“It’s perfect.” I gripped Sol’s arm. The Sun Prince was wholly intrigued by the sight of Silas. He said nothing, but I could see the way his mind spun with theories and questions as he studied my masked Whisper. “Hurry. Hus Rose is the palace here. It’s like a damn fortress with wards and rooms and protections. We can keep them safe there.”

Sol blinked and rushed back to the royals.

I was embraced briefly by Saga. Her hands shook, but she kept a steady expression.

I took her palms in mine. “He’s not going to touch you.”

“No,” she said with conviction. “He’s not. He’s not touching any of us. Never again.”

She turned toward the littles to gather her daughter. We all sensed the urgency. We’d embrace, cry, discuss everything later. Silas kept his head turned away from the others, but he shoved through them to reach the gates of Hus Rose first.

“Is anyone . . .” Ari pointed, following Silas with a befuddled expression. “No one is going to say anything about this one? Later, I suppose. By the by, I claim the right to stab Davorin no less than twenty times before Saga takes his head. Just so we are all quite clear.”

I would laugh if the whole of Raven Row wasn’t on fire and the shores were infected with enemies.

“Cuyler!” I caught sight of the blood fae in the crowd. He rushed to me and took hold of my hand. “Hells, I’m glad you’re back.”