Page 52

CHAPTER 52

BOWEN

I left Flynt and the rest of them to take care of Taylin as I followed Siara through the crowd of men and women armed and confused. King Tenere had almost been…too nice, given the fact his daughter was missing and she was the one who supplied his kingdom with magic. He should’ve been irate, ready to burn Deadwood to the ground in order to find her. His departure after a simple wound to Taylin’s thigh and wrecking some houses was unsettling, but I couldn’t worry about what his plans might be as we hurried toward the back of the town.

Rather than taking me to the house Auria was staying in—where I thought she’d been hiding this entire time—Siara led me toward my own residence. To where she’d found Auria’s necklace.

“Here,” Siara said, pointing to the corner of the porch. “It was dangling off the edge.”

I scanned every inch of the wood, finding nothing but more questions with no answers.

“Do you think she left it on purpose?”

She shook her head. “Don’t you think she would’ve left it in a better spot if she had?”

She was right, and it only worsened the souring of my stomach.

The ground shook as a massive, white form took shape in my peripheral. The gust of wind from Glacies’s landing sent specks of dirt twirling through the air. I turned to her, finding her teeth bared as saliva dripped from her fangs.

“ You let the girl go, ” she growled, low and menacing. I should’ve cowered, but her words sparked a question.

“I didn’t let her do anything. She was supposed to stay put,” I gritted out, straightening from where I’d been bent over the porch. “You saw her leave?”

A cloud of frosted air shot from her nostrils as they flared. Siara’s eyes narrowed in Glacies’s direction, likely guessing if she was going to end me where I stood.

“ If I had seen her, I would have stopped her. ”

Curiosity clutched me. “You finally wanted to tell her? Moments before she was to return home?”

A clawed foot stomped forward as she moved closer to me. Behind her, Vulcan landed, his back curved in a defensive manner as he watched her every move.

“ I wanted to save her life, ” Glacies snapped.

“From her father?” Did she think he’d kill her?

Teeth snapped in my direction, and Vulcan closed in on her from behind. He’d stop her if she tried anything... I hoped.

“ Fae are not as smart as we once believed, ” she chortled under her breath. “ No. ” Another puff of frozen air shot out, the cold raising goosebumps along my arms. “ Someone else wants her dead. ”

My brows furrowed as I cleared my thoughts, wondering if I’d heard her correctly. “I’m sorry. Say that again?”

“ Someone does not want her back in Amosite. Not alive, at least. They want her dead. ”

Siara froze, then asked before I had the chance, “How are you so sure of this?”

“ I hunted groups of people heading in this direction days ago. I have only put the pieces together now, after overhearing their discussion of taking out a favored target. ” Something akin to disappointment coated the last of her words.

“You killed them?” Siara asked, her voice higher in pitch.

“ I was hungry, ” Glacies stated.

My gaze dropped to the necklace dangling from my hand, more and more questions arising with each passing second. Was her father so willing to leave because he had taken Auria? Did someone have something to do with her disappearance, and she hadn’t run away like I suspected? The necklace was proof of that.

Possible scenarios flew through my mind like a whirlwind. Where the fuck was she?

Raiden approached, the rising sun reflecting off his worn leathers.

“How’s Taylin?” I asked, needing something else to think about to ground myself. I wouldn’t get anywhere if I let the spiraling thoughts win.

“King Tenere had given her a sedative for the trip, but the shock of the wound seemed to pull her out of it. Flynt carried her to the infirmary, but she’s lost a lot of blood. Quinn’s looking at her now, trying to figure out how to get the arrow out the smoothest way possible,” Raiden answered, reciting the information like he was trying to keep his emotions at bay. He, too, had no idea what was at play here.

I shook my head at the questioning look in his eye. I was unable to form the words to say that I had no clue where she was.

“We’ll find her,” Raiden assured me.

My fingers wrapped tighter around the delicate chain. “I know.”

“Why do you think he left so easily?” Siara asked, her eyes somewhere distant, like she was trying to pick apart every possible scenario.

I watched as the opal stone glistened in the rising sun, the rays shooting out in all directions. I had a suspicion, but…

“What are you thinking?” Raiden asked, studying me.

“I think he’s using Deadwood as bait to get her back. Wherever she is, he thinks she’ll show up back here if she’s avoiding going back home. He didn’t burn our town to the ground because he needs it standing to take her back.” I looked at my two friends, their curious gazes trained on me. “But we’re going to find her first.”

We had to.

“Where do we start?” Siara asked. She looked exhausted. Another glance at Raiden told me he was, too. I was sure Flynt could use some rest as well, but I doubted he would if I told him to.

Smoke snaked through me, calm and deadly all the same, mirroring how I felt with her disappearance. The sensation was like a cold blade slicing through my beating heart.

The rising sun did nothing to warm my cold skin as Glacies rose to her full height, watching my every move to determine what I might do to fix this.

But I already knew what I’d do.

From the beginning, it wouldn’t have been a question.

“With tearing apart every inch of this world until we find her.”