Page 43

Forty-Two

Lorcan

T he black sand of the beach is already in my boots. I take one off to shake it out as the others stare at the horizon in stunned disbelief.

“I fucking told you so,” Caed snarls, pacing away from the group, uncaring of the rain. “Give him enough time, and I knew he’d do it.”

A knife falls out of my boot, and I pause. Maybe that was what was uncomfortable? No. Definitely the sand.

“I’ve never seen clouds that dark,” Bree whispers, his wing wrapped around my pet as they ignore my suffering in favour of continuing to stare at the pitch-dark clouds that have turned the usually blurry horizon into a helpfully defined line.

“I never liked not knowing where the sky ended and the sea began, anyway,” I offer helpfully, but they ignore me.

At least now I can pretend the dullahan appreciates my good humour. He stands apart from the others, surveying the auras of the fae running around behind us from beneath that deep hood. He really should try red headwear, but when I tried to fix the problem, he set my hair on fire.

Grumpy guts.

The soldiers he’s so focused on are trying to load rowboats with equipment and supplies while shooting distrustful glances at the Fomorians doing the same. The air is thick with the promise of violence, and I wonder if Rose would really hate it if I played with them just a little bit.

A dagger to the ribs here… a tiny shove into the ocean there… Nothing like a pre-battle warm up to raise morale.

“So you really did survive Beltaine,” Prae says, rushing up from the left to punch her cousin in the arm before dragging him into a hug.

“You knew that already,” he retorts but offers her a wink as she pulls away. “Turns out, even the dour knight can’t live in a world without me.”

“Where’s Florian?” Rose asks.

Prae rolls both eyes. It’s still strange to see the left one unclouded. Maybe she can get a glamour charm made so she looks badass again. “Already on your ship, arguing with the Fomorian navigators. They want to wait for a good wind.”

“Even the Endless Sea is part of Faerie,” Kitarni says. “A good wind will come if the Nicnevin requires it.”

The high priestess is accompanying us, which is exciting. I’m going to try to get into her luggage. There’s got to be some more of those fun exploding potions in there.

“Boom,” I whisper, cap rising in excitement at the thought.

The púca shoots me a questioning look, but it’s forgotten as Rose disentangles herself from his arms and walks towards the sea, Wraith close at her heels like the good boy he is.

I’m so glad my Nicnevin has so many lingering enemies in the ranks of the Temple and the Summer Court after Mervyn’s little stunt. Even better, Kitarni actually asked me to take care of the apostates. Wraith and I will be hunting them together for decades.

Sighing in anticipation of returning and gathering even more confetti for our mating ceremony, I roll to my feet and blink forward as I realise they’re leaving me behind.

“Hey! Wait for me.”

“You can just blink to the ship,” Jaro points out, grabbing an oar. “And bring Wraith with you.”

Oh. But I wanted to capsize the rowboat and see if the dullahan can swim headless.

Oh well. I can always push him in later.

Wraith’s tongue lolls out of his mouth as he pants, pacing the shore, and I roll my eyes, blinking his fluffy ass to the deck. Our position puts us directly behind the withering prince and Rose’s brother.

“This is a bad idea,” Florian stresses, running hands through his hair in a gesture that makes his armour clink. “If Caedmon dies?—”

“That sounds awfully close to questioning the Nicnevin’s decisions.” I poke his perky ass with a dagger.

Gryffin flicks the blade away casually. “He’s merely concerned for our mate. She cares about her cousin. We need to come up with a plan for his protection.”

“Eh, he has six swords for protection.”

Can I play with them now? I really, really need to know if they’re sharp or just stabby—it’s an important distinction.

“And a habit of getting himself imprisoned or tortured on a regular basis,” Florian grunts.

“Weren’t you responsible for a good number of those imprisonments?” I point out, unbothered. “Besides, he’s a quarter redcap. We’re hard to kill.”

My hat perks up in pride, becoming a Fomorian helm for a brief second before returning to a cosy knit cap that keeps my hair from being ruined by the awful sea spray.

Rose finally steps on deck after what must be a small eternity, and I make a note to stab wolfie for being such a slow rower as I blink over to her and kiss her senseless.

She doesn’t even realise I’ve stolen her away from the rest of her mates until she’s across the deck. Burying my neck in her hair, I take a deep gulp of her scent and squeeze her plush ass.

“We need to discuss what we’re facing over there,” Florian interrupts.

Don’t behead him. Rose likes him.

He doesn’t need both hands to live, though.

Rose kisses my throat, and I lose my train of thought.

“It’s a three-day journey,” Prae corrects, accepting his offered hand up onto the deck behind the others. “There’s plenty of time to argue strategy.”

But the moment is already ruined. Rose’s body, which was soft and pliant against my own, has stiffened. Shame. I had hopes she might lock me in the brig and fuck me through the bars if I asked really nicely.

I’m a simple redcap with jailbird fantasies.

“We need to know more about whatever Elatha has unleashed,” Jaro insists. “We’re going in blind.”

Caed shrugs and points at Prae. “Ask the one who actually paid attention to the elders’ lectures, not the one who kept getting flogged for falling asleep.”

His cousin narrows her eyes. “You just don’t want to break the news that we don’t know much.”

Kitarni cuts through their struggle. “You’re forgetting one thing.” She hefts a heavy tome from her bag and shoves it at Jaro. “Portal lore.”

Oh Goddess. Not reading. Anything but that.

“Sneak away with me, pet?” I ask Rose quietly. “We can have some fun while she bores them to sleep.”

“Lorcan!” Kitarni snaps her fingers, the sound of bark on bark making me grimace. “Focus.”

“I want to learn,” Rose agrees, and I groan all over again.

“Many portals take time to stabilise after they’re opened.” Kitarni flicks to a specific page. “Elatha might’ve unlocked it, but if it’s been closed for a long time, then there’s no way anyone would be able to cross for the first few days.”

Bree nods. “So we steal the pendant back and?—”

“Locking it again would require intricate knowledge of the portal that we don’t have,” Kitarni corrects. “I imagine Balor understood enough bàsron magic to create it and lock it behind him. We have no such luxury, and we can’t risk it being opened again.”

“You want me to destroy it,” Rose whispers. “Like I did the portal that brought me to Faerie.”

The dryad’s black eyes glimmer as she pushes back a branch from her face, moulting several leaves in the process. “Exactly.”

“But I don’t know how I did that.” My pretty mate’s breath hitches in panic, her lovely pulse starting to race beneath my fingers. “It was a bargain I made with my adoptive brother.”

“It was Danu’s magic, rooted in her control over the realm,” Kitarni corrects. “You forget, you are the Goddess incarnate. Her dominion over the fabric of this world extends to you also. But you must be prepared, which means you and I shall study this book on our journey.”

“And we’ll protect her while she destroys the portal.” Jaro’s mouth turns down, like he’s upset at the idea of our glorious mate in the middle of a battle.

Boring seelie.

“That means we have to go down into the Deep Caves,” Caed mutters, equally displeased. “So I suppose there are some things you ought to know about tunnel wyrms.”

I blink into his face before I can help it. “Do they have sharp teeth? They sound like they have sharp teeth.”

“And paralytic breath,” he says.

My cock, already hard from being pressed up against my pet’s round ass, turns painful at the thought. “Claws?”

Caed rolls his eyes. “And a nearly impenetrable hide.”

I blink back to Rose. “Do you fancy a new coat?” Wait. “How many do I need to kill for a coat?”

“You could make her a full wardrobe from just one,” Prae replies.

Ooh… If I kill two, we could have matching outfits! I pause as I check the small arsenal I’m wearing.

“Be right back,” I tell my mate, kissing her again just because I can. “I forgot some things.”

It sounds like I need a bigger knife.