Page 42

“Just stop for one second and talk to me!” Aurora shrieked at Phirdo’s hunched back.

She was incensed. Her mate had just been dragged away by a small army who’d shot him in the back like cowards, and now this piece of shit was packing up her belongings as if doing her a favor.

Fury engulfed her better sense when he didn’t respond, and she shoved him, hard. “Answer me.”

Phirdo stumbled, then whirled around. His jaw worked, but his expression remained stony. He dragged the last of her belongings onto his back. “I’m sorry, my lady. I’ve told you everything I know.” He pushed past her, avoiding looking at the tears pouring from her eyes. It seemed her emotional state didn’t annoy him anymore—it unsettled him. “Is there anything else you need before we depart?”

“Depart for where?” she shrieked like a banshee.

His chest rose and fell quickly, nostrils flaring. She tried to calm herself. Phirdo wasn’t happy about this. She could see it in his torn expression. Swallowing, she began in a calmer tone. “He’s my mate, Phirdo.” He winced. Less than the first time she’d revealed it, but the little reaction was enough to show the words affected him.

“You shouldn’t lie about such a thing, my lady.”

Aurora had to close her eyes and beg the Goddess for control to keep from exploding. The love of her life was just gone . Vanished. And no one would tell her where he’d been taken. “I’m not lying. His eyes changed.”

Phirdo’s lips pursed. She chased him through the house, pleading at his back, until he finally spun. His gaze remained trained at the ground. “Rhaego has been brought to the palace for questioning.” Aurora’s stomach dropped out. Phirdo’s gaze rose to meet hers. “The king has requested your presence also. If what you say is true, tell him.”

Adrenaline made her skin buzz. She was suddenly impatient to leave.

“Now, is there anything else you need from the den?” Phirdo swallowed. “You will not be returning.”

“Yes,” she whispered on a breath. “M…my herbs,” she lied.

He nodded without questioning her odd choice. “I’ll drop these and return shortly.”

Aurora sped to Rhaego’s room as soon as Phirdo was out of sight and scanned the space for any sensitive items he’d left behind. But those men had taken everything. Her eyes lit on the ramshackle mess they’d abandoned on his desk, and her heart throbbed.

Her fingers closed around her offering, the broken horn, and she dropped it into her deep pocket. She might not be strong enough to stab anyone with it, but she could hit them over the head.

Aurora was going to get her mate back no matter what it took. Her gaze turned to the door as she wondered what other things she could hide in her dress, and one item came to mind.

***

“You look like shit,” Aurora cursed.

Phirdo ignored her, continuing to avoid eye contact as he guided the carriage away from their den. But he did look like shit, hair limp and eyes sunken. He knew more than he was letting on.

“Why was he ambushed like that?” she asked for the trillionth time.

The steward muffled a grunt. “Someone reported his intent to flee with you. He’s a traitor to Tuva,” he mumbled, “A blight.”

Aurora had taken three steps toward him, intent on pushing him over the edge of the boat before remembering he was driving and she had no idea how to operate this thing. Still, her palms burned with her need to slap him. She gripped the horn in her pocket instead.

“ Who reported him?”

Silence.

She squeezed the horn tighter. She knew who’d reported him, and she couldn’t think past the red coloring her vision. How could Ishara do this to her only son?

Aurora glared at the back of Phirdo’s head. She’s a paragon of Tuvastan virtue. It was clear he believed that even now.

She was a loyal bitch—Aurora would give her that. Too bad her loyalty was directed at her city and not her own flesh and blood. What had she been thinking? Was locking him up really a better option than banishment? Was she that selfish?

Aurora’s anger flared in and out of focus as the carriage neared the palace. Her heart was breaking, and the knowledge that there was likely nothing she could do to stop it threatened to suffocate her. So she fed her fury instead, needing the emotion to distract her so she didn’t crumble.

They glided past the port she was familiar with and flew between towering cascading waterfalls until they reached the private royal dock. A shimmering high-tech barrier acted as the gate between rocky bluffs. Their carriage dipped into the water and floated through toward the looming palace ahead.

Enormous stone-carved Tuvastan warriors arched over the narrow canal leading into the dock. Their horns were locked and fangs drawn, frozen in battle above. The palace had been built into the canyon as though the architects had crammed rooms into the space rather than excavating. It looked like the bottom of a medieval castle had been melted into cavities between stone while the top remained perfectly intact.

As they were led inside a damp corridor by two large soldiers, the sense of chaos persisted. Halls with dead ends, stairs spiraling downward into darkness, and round boulders jutting into the walkways turned the depths of the palace into a veritable maze. Was Rhaego being held down here somewhere? In this dark labyrinth?

The beauty of the room they emerged into gave her whiplash after plodding through the muggy bowels of the palace. Aurora stepped toward a stone balustrade and gazed into a vast atrium. Carved stone columns and archways stretched around the perimeter of the open space, each floor climbing toward the painted ceiling.

Soldiers greeted her and Phirdo. Her stomach soured.

“You can follow them now, my lady.”

“He isn’t a blight.” Eyes watering, she turned to Phirdo with a lifted chin. “He’s a gift. And your people don’t deserve him.”

Phirdo’s gaze clung to her, wide and unblinking as the two soldiers led her away. He looked stricken. Good.

She kept her breaths even, glancing between the two silent guards bracketing her. Her shoulders rose to her ears as she dipped her hands in her pockets to grip her charms.

Minutes dragged on as they guided her through the palace. Up and down stairways, under soaring arches, and finally into a small but opulent sitting room. Many things pulled at her focus: A lavish chair set on a small platform that could be nothing other than an informal throne. A light fixture comprised of thousands of curling segments of glass that resembled horns were littered across the ceiling in a dazzling display.

But the sight that made her heart stop entirely was the familiar faces of Maggie and Diana. They hovered near the windows, staring as though only mildly surprised to see her.

She shuffled toward them, feet heavy and mouth wide. “Wha…”

“Why the fuck are we here?” Maggie grinned a little maniacally, throwing her hands up. “Yeah, we have no idea either.”

Diana crossed her arms, cocking her hip.

“I know why I’m here,” Aurora disagreed. “What did they tell you?”

“That the king wished to see us,” Diana said quietly.

Anger burned like a fire in her stomach, but something about seeing her friends doused the flames. She sunk into a chair, thick strangling sobs that had been held at bay until now rose to her throat. “They took him.” She choked.

Maggie dropped to her side, and Diana let out a quiet curse.

Aurora wept as she explained what had happened. Her throat burned from the vice wrapped around it, but she pushed past the pain.

She had to be strong. She had to be smart. She had to find Rhaego.