Page 96 of Boundless

“We will be okay, Raja. We will be back before you know it. Everything is going to be fine,” he reassured her.

Raja was disappointed. I saw it in her eyes before she composed herself and bowed her head. “Of course. Please excuse me,” she spit bitterly, and she turned and stormed for the doors just as dramatically as Jasewine.

“I will see my pack mates outside,” Maera said, stepping away from the table. The man and woman behind her eagerly followed.

“They will be safe until they leave the Midnight Court,” Rune promised her and reached his hand for mine.

“Thank you, Your Highness,” Maera said with a nod, then winked at me before she turned to leave. “I will meet you out front.”

Jasewine had found the crown somewhere, and she was standing in front of the dais with it in her hand, her lips moving like she was whispering something. Chanting—or maybe still talking to the room?

“Thank you, Seer,” Rune said, and the seer bowed her head, but her eyes never left our connected hands.

“A word of advice, if I may,” she said, and just the tone of her voice made me think I wasnotgoing to like what she said next. “You’re aware of the ways of fae royals and the rules written by the stars. I suggest you settle everything that can be settled before you see the finish line.”

What in the fuck?

She turned around and walked much faster and easier than I expected her to, and with a bow of her head at Jasewine, the Seer of Shadows walked out of the throne room.

“What the hell does that mean?” I asked Rune.

Rune was pale, paler than a moment ago. “Nothing important,” he said, making me pull at his hand until he met my eyes.

“That didn’t sound likenothing important. Whatdid she mean, Rune?” Because he looked like he’d just seen a fucking ghost, and it was most definitely important.

“Silly rules, that’s all. Nothing to worry about, Wildcat.”

“Rune, I?—”

He pulled me in, pressed his lips to my forehead, and the words died on my tongue. “I promise you, it’s nothing to worry about. I promise.”

Well, fuck.

I sighed, defeated. If he promised, I believed it.

“Chop, chop, lovelies. Clear my throne room, will you?”

Jasewine was smiling from the first stair of the dais, hands folded in front of her chest as she looked at us like she really thought we were the cutest thing she’d ever seen.

Until she added “fast,”widened her eyes, and waved us toward the door.

Pretty sure I likedthat girl already. Maybe it was her energy. Maybe because she was so…lively.

Rune didn’t mind it, either.

“Come, Wildcat. Let’s get ready,” he said, and by the time we made it to the doors, some color had returned to his cheeks. “Be nice to her, will you?” He muttered under his breath when the doors closed behind us.

And yes—he was talking to the palace, too.

twenty-eight

I’d done this before.Plenty of times. I’d prepared to potentially meet my end since the day I agreed to join Helid through the Aetherway. I’d packed my bags and made my peace with death, and I’d done all that I needed to do to survive. To gethere.

Yet thistime, something felt different.

Maybe it was the marble cube that used to be Vair. I couldn’t put it aside, couldn’t stand not being in contact with it, and I wasn’t sure if it was only because I felt like I was betraying his memory or because of whatever kind of magic had been in the marble.

Or maybe it’s because I knew for a fact that I was going to run into Lyall soon. We might be too late to save the Unseelie heir, too—and that wasn’t even the worst thing. Even if Lyall hadn’t made it to him yet, there was no guarantee that we could defeat him because wecouldn’t.Killing Lyall was out of the question, and that just made seeing a clean end to this mess in my mind impossible.