Page 3

Two

Jaromir

M y wolf’s claws dig into the ice with every thundering step, giving us the momentum necessary to body-slam our way through Roark’s front door. It shatters on impact, ice flying everywhere as I skid sideways down the corridor, following Rose’s panicked scent. On the other side of the apartment, her twin nephews start wailing, and the fae side of me winces in apology, but my wolf doesn’t care.

Mate. Where is she? What has Caed done?

The Call is silent. Her scent is still strong, still?—

Claws scrape loudly on the floor as we’re forced to stop by a coil of black scaly hide. The nathair’s sheer size means it fills the room beyond, covering the whole doorway, blocking us from Rose. Unacceptable. Drystan almost runs into me, but my wolf is too busy growling at the snake to care.

“Bree, let us in, now!” The dullahan is shaking with rage, smoke wafting from his shoulders, making my nose itch.

There’s a pause, punctuated by a low masculine groan. Finally, the serpent’s coils shift, allowing us into the destroyed room.

There’s precious little space, thanks to the scaled body crammed around the edges, filling every corner. Bree sits cross-legged on the shattered remains of the bed, Rose cradled in his arms. He’s wrapped her tightly in the blankets, and his catlike ears are twisted back with aggression as he glares up towards the ceiling, teeth bared.

Is she okay? Is she hurt?

I don’t dare blink until I catch the rise and fall of her chest. Knees weak with relief, I send a silent prayer of thanks to the Goddess.

Rose is safe. Sleeping…

My nose twitches at the astringent herbal scent in the air.

Drugged?

I’ll kill him. My beast’s head tilts, searching for the culprit now that we know our mate is safe. The Fomorian’s blood is everywhere, glittering on the ice like liquid rubies, and his broken sword is on the floor.

Caed’s motionless corpse is caught in the jaws of the nathair, whose fangs are still plunged deep into his abdomen. The creature’s head is practically on the ceiling, and his blue limbs hang limply.

The snake isn’t letting go of its prey any time soon. If anything, it clamps down harder when Caed releases a bloody gurgle, black foam spilling from his lips.

A nathair’s kiss is more painful than anything my wolf or I could do to punish him. Even the redcap would struggle to make Caed suffer more, if he were here and not searching for Florian amongst the refugees in Orvendel.

“He tried to trick me,” Bree murmurs, his voice raw and quiet. “He tried to take Rose.”

“You didn’t fall for it?” Drystan strides into the room, crouching a few paces away to examine our Nicnevin while giving Bree the respectful distance he prefers.

“I gave him a chance.” Bree sighs long and low. “I waited down the hall with a glamour to see if he’d do anything. When I heard a struggle, I returned and found him about to crush one of those.” He points at a glass leaf on the floor to our left. “He probably stole it from one of us while we weren’t looking.”

I cringe. The shame distracts my wolf enough that I finally manage to force him to shift back.

“Actually, that was me,” I admit, shivering without my fur. “I wanted him to have it in case she died and we were incapacitated again.”

“Your heart was in the right place, Jaromir.” Kitarni finally catches up with us, panting. She kneels on Bree’s other side, examining Rose carefully. “He used the sleeping draught I left for you. Luckily, I have an antidote.”

She reaches into her robes and draws out a small roll-up pouch. Her twig-like fingers unfurl it, flicking over the dozens of tiny vials strapped within before she finds the one she needs.

Bree shifts just enough for the dryad to lean in and tip three drops of vibrant green liquid between Rose’s parted lips. She’s so calm and collected, even with the tension leaking from the pores of every male around her.

Rose’s eyes scrunch as she yawns… but doesn’t wake.

Why isn’t she waking?

My wolf shoves forward, his anxiety matching my own. Fur brushes against the inside of my skin in warning.

“Give her a minute,” the dryad says, holding up a hand when I lean forward, desperate to snatch Rose from Bree’s arms.

Staying still right now is physically impossible. I make a beeline for the remains of the wardrobe in the corner, searching until I find a too-tight shirt that smells faintly of Drystan and a pair of my own leathers. I’m still cold without anything on my feet, but it’s something.

“What do we do with him?” I ask, jerking a thumb at Caed, as if there could be any doubt who I mean.

“Chuck him in one of the cells,” Drystan grates. “No clothes. No blankets. If he falls…”

“Even better,” I finish.

I was actually starting to like the blue bastard. That was a mistake. Goddess, this is going to crush Rose.

My wolf whines softly, his aggression momentarily tempered by the thought.

“She won’t like it,” Bree says, looking up.

“We can’t trust him,” Drystan glowers. “This proves that. Even Rose can’t argue?—”

He cuts off as the púca’s breath catches, and my wolf drags my head down without warning.

Our little mate has woken up.

“What happened?” she asks, blinking dazedly.

Then, inevitably, she catches sight of Caed, and her breath leaves her in a rush. One delicate hand rises to cover her mouth, and her eyes fill with tears.

Shit. Not good.

Stupid, idiotic Fomorian. He must have known how this would hurt her.

My fingers shift to claws before I can wrench myself back under control this time.

“Are you hurt?” Drystan demands, mistaking her tears for something else. “Did he do anything to you?”

Rose ignores him. She’s too focused on Caed as the nathair drops his body to the ground. Abandoning its prey, the beast makes a crooning hiss and butts its nose against her, seeking her affection.

She pets it automatically, and the Call in my chest throbs as her heart crumples silently.

“I caught him trying to drug you,” Bree explains, when she doesn’t speak. “He seemed… Out of it.”

His tone is full of remorse, and he flinches as her tears finally start to fall in earnest, only to be licked away by his nathair’s forked tongue.

I start pacing again.

“He apologised,” Rose says quietly, still stroking the insistent serpent, which can’t be as soothing as cuddling a wolf. “He didn’t act like someone who?—”

“A last-minute attack of conscience can’t make this right.” Drystan remains about as emotionally intelligent as a pebble, and I have to resist the urge to cuff him.

The smug bastard is probably one step away from saying ‘I told you so.’

Rose looks so small and lost right now. The last thing she needs is a dose of unseelie callousness on top of it all. Bree squeezes her tighter and purses his lips, shooting a warning look at the dullahan.

My wolf grumbles quietly, sending me images of our mate wearing his mark on her neck, but I force him back again. Goddess, dealing with him is becoming exhausting. As easy as it would be to soothe her with a true bond, the same obstacles remain. Chief among them, the blue piece of shit on the floor.

Bree’s snake disappears in a cloud of ink as Roark, Rowena, and Gryffin rush into the room, weapons drawn. They lower them when they see Caed is incapacitated, and Kitarni stands, moving over to them like she’s about to shoo them away.

“This doesn’t go anywhere.” Rose pushes to her feet, wobbly but determined, and I automatically offer my arm to steady her. “No one else can know about this.”

“As you wish, Nicnevin.” Her high priestess bows.

“Rhoswyn…” Drystan begins, but she cuts him off.

“This wasn’t him. I’d stake my life on it.” Her shoulders sag, and she presses a kiss to Bree’s cheek. “Thank you for stopping him. Without you, I’d probably be facing down Elatha again right now.”

“Stop. Thanking. Fae.” The dullahan’s ears catch fire, but we ignore him.

“Any time, dragonfly.” Bree follows her to his feet, brushing off the debris from his coat. “But… if we’re keeping this a secret, what would you have us do with him?”

Rose heaves out a breath, looking up at me hopefully, as if I have an answer.

Honestly, I’m still not sure what she means when she says this wasn’t Caed’s fault. Even Kitarni, who seems to always have a plan, is staying out of this one.

“If you’re safe, I need to return to my mate,” Gryffin says, sheathing his sword.

“I’m already here.” Prae stumbles into the room, her skin grey.

Her war paint is gone, and the lack of it makes her bad eye stand out starkly. She clutches at her bandaged side as she dodges her mate’s attempts to steady her.

“You look awful,” Rose comments, and Prae rolls her eyes.

“You’re not looking great yourself,” she retorts, as she waves Gryffin away a second time. “Oh, piss off, I’m fine.”

“You were stabbed and pushed through a window!”

Rose’s concerned little gasp cuts through the room, raising my hackles again.

“No. I fell when I tried to dodge his attack,” Prae grumbles, her cheeks darkening with embarrassment. “Caed got one lucky hit because of my bad eye, but he didn’t push me, I just… tripped. Anyway, the snow cushioned my fall, and the healer fixed the rest.”

“Then why are you bleeding through that bandage, you stubborn female?” The autumn prince wraps his arm around her waist despite her protest and looks pleadingly at Rose. “Nicnevin, would you…?”

Rose grins sheepishly, and I realise Nicnevin Titania is already here, waiting patiently beside her granddaughter. Prae scoffs, but doesn’t move as the two of them heal her. The moment her wounds are dealt with, she heads straight for her cousin.

“What the fuck happened to you?” she demands of his paralysed body.

“Nathair bite,” I grunt. “He tried to kidnap Rose.”

“He wouldn’t do that,” Prae objects, putting herself purposefully between us and Caed. “Have you seen him? He’s been mooning over her since before that stupid lantern festival.” She growls under her breath, searching for allies among the gathered fae before she rounds on me. “I thought you trusted him.”

I can’t hold her stare, because the truth is, I did. He never once lied during our sparring matches, and he stuck to Drystan’s rules so carefully. During those rare moments when he was around Rose, he acted honourably.

“Then why did he drug her and stab you?” Drystan snaps. “Trying to defend someone caught in the act is?—”

“He would never do that if he were in control of himself,” Prae insists. “That’s what I’m telling you. He wasn’t to blame.”

“His name.” Rose wipes her face on her sleeve as her brows furrow. “He said his father had his name. Maybe?—”

“He only snapped when he heard Elfhame had fallen,” Gryffin adds. “Lore delivered the news, and then Caed suddenly wanted to talk to Prae alone.”

“That theory assumes that he’s been alone with his father since he left Fellgotha,” Bree points out, pulling Rose back against his body when she attempts to sneak past him to Caed’s side. “He’s been under watch the entire time.”

“Except when he ran away from Reyni’s camp.” Prae pokes her cousin with her toe. “He was captured and then escaped, remember?”

“I told you that it was convenient.” Drystan somehow seems in worse spirits now that there’s a possibility Caed could be innocent.

It fits, but I blanch as another thought hits me. “He cut out their tongues.” The asshole said it was to send a message, but now that I think about it… “He was trying to tell us, and he stayed away from Rose after that. He was trying to protect her.”

For the second time in the space of an hour, relief threatens to crush me. Rose loves him, and if he’d really turned on her…

Not that this is much better, Jare. We have no idea what else he’s been ordered to do.

“It doesn’t matter.” Drystan runs a hand through his braids, and the temperature in the room rises until the ceiling starts to drip. “This just proves what I’ve been saying this whole time; he’s a security risk—no, a security nightmare. Don’t ask me to let him breathe the same air as you. I won’t do it.”

Rose’s eyes glisten again. “I can’t live without him.”

Drystan’s eyes dim with a kind of horrified realisation as Bree stiffens behind her. I’d guessed her feelings were far deeper than she let on, but I don’t think Drystan is ready to hear it. Goddess, I don’t know if he’ll ever be.

“Don’t say it,” the dullahan pleads. “Goddess damnit, Rose, I?—”

Rose can’t look away from the blue corpse on the floor. “I love him.”

Shit. I mean, I suspected she did, but to hear it confirmed… Shit .

Drystan’s expression blanks the moment the whispered confession is out there. It’s like someone walked in and stole the emotions from him between one breath and the next.

The only ones who look happy about this development are Prae and Kitarni. Roark and his mate are edging towards the door, probably still keenly aware of the squawking cries coming from the other side of their home. They disappear with apologetic looks, leaving the rest of us to watch the dullahan methodically shut down, gutting our mate in the process.

I don’t think any of us are really surprised when he stalks from the room, fleeing the apartment like his ass is on fire.

“I shouldn’t have said that,” Rose whispers, burying her face in Bree’s chest.

“You didn’t tell him anything he didn’t already know, Rosie,” I promise, dropping to my haunches beside her. “He’ll get over himself.”

If he doesn’t do it soon, my wolf and I will hunt him down and make sure he gets the point.

I hope that was the kick up the ass he needed, because right now? The only one breaking Rose’s heart is him.