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S omething wasn’t quite right, but Hellebore was groggy, and she really didn’t want to confront whatever the strange feeling was that was under her skin. She would rather stay in Taiyo’s arms for a few more moments.

Except when she rolled over to shift closer and listen to his heartbeat, there was nothing there. She stretched her hand out only to come up against rough wood. That was what wasn’t right.

There was no one lying beside her. No arm around her waist. No fingers tracing words across her skin. Taiyo wasn’t there.

She ripped her eyes open and scrambled to sit up with a sharp gasp and Taiyo’s name on her lips. But when she opened her eyes, his name died in her throat. She was in the back of a wagon. That was when it all came rushing back. The fire. The Moon Elves.

The irises were gone.

Worse, so was she.

“Perfect timing, Hels, we’re almost to our camp for the night.”

Hellebore blinked and looked at the two Moon Elves driving the carriage. Except, they weren’t Moon Elves anymore. They were wearing the same clothes, but the silver of their hair was fading back to their natural colors, brown and blond respectively.

It was night, but the moon hanging overhead provided just enough light to see.

“Callahan? Emerson?”

Callahan eyed Emerson and said, “You didn’t get the mixture wrong and scramble her mind, right?”

“Of course not!”

Hellebore got her legs under her and crawled up to the front of the wagon where the two of them shifted so they could see her better. She gestured to their clothes and said, “What do the two of you think you’re doing running around pretending to be Moon Elves?”

“Hellebore, keep up; so no one traces your disappearance back to Chymes,” Emerson said with a snort.

Her mind was spinning. “Wait, so the two of you grabbed me in the garden.” Her stomach sank and the flashes of fire haunted her. Her voice lowered. “Did you two set the fire?”

Callahan and Emerson exchanged a look, and she smacked their arms. “Out with it! You drugged and kidnapped me, burned months of my work to the ground—you owe me an explanation!”

Taiyo.

Without the irises, she had no way to stop his death during the eclipse. How long had she been under? How long did she have to find a miracle to save him?

“Well…” Emerson said, reaching up and scratching the back of his head, causing even more of the silver coloring they’d used to rub off.

Callahan sighed. “Yes, we set the fire. You weren’t supposed to be there at dawn. The fire was supposed to be a distraction so then we could find you, grab you, and escape while the Sun Elves dealt with that.”

“Whose brilliant plan was that? You didn’t have a key to the garden, so how did you find the other entrance?” Hellebore’s voice rose as Callahan pulled the wagon to a stop. “Do you know what you’ve done?”

“Obviously, Hels, it was all me, and you know I never do anything without knowing exactly what I’m doing.”

Hellebore gasped as Aunt Palladia’s voice filled the air. She looked to see they were at a small camp, and her aunt was standing by the fire, arms outstretched.

Callahan and Emerson climbed down while Hellebore hurried to the back, shooting out of it before either her brother or her former beau could help her. She went running toward her aunt, but instead of running into her arms, Hellebore smacked them out of the way. “No! You don’t know what your plan has just done! As much as I want to be elated to see all of you—some of you for the first time in half a year—I can’t! You need to take me back.”

Palladia grabbed her by the arms. “Hels, you need to breathe. Sit down, and let me explain everything. Can you do that?”

Not when every second brought her husband closer to death and her family had just destroyed her hope of a solution.

“I don’t have time for this! I’m already at least a day away from the capital. By the time I get back I’ll only have four days at most to find another way to save him. I have to go now, just give me a horse.” Hellebore ripped herself out of Palladia’s grip and started back toward the wagon, ready to loose one of them, but Callahan and Emerson stepped in her way.

Callahan held his hand out. “After the trouble we went to getting you out, we can’t let you go running back in. Not to mention you’re not making any sense. Save who?”

Oh, if she had the time, she’d be tearing Cal to pieces for everything he’d done. Or asking him why on earth he was there kidnapping her when he had agreed to her marriage in the first place.

“I thought you were smarter than this, Hels,” Palladia said with a sigh, shaking her head.

“Smarter than what?” Hellebore turned back to look at her aunt.

“You fell for his lies, didn’t you?” She clicked her tongue, voice softening. “It’s not your fault, Hels. He’s very good at them.”

Emerson leaned in and whispered to Callahan, “Do you know what they’re talking about?”

Hellebore didn’t know what Palladia was talking about.

Palladia sighed, putting her hand on Hellebore’s shoulder. “Oh. He never told you, did he?”

Hellebore looked up at the moon, Taiyo’s voice whispering in her ears.

“I’m not innocent.”

Then…

“Told me what?”

Palladia gestured for her to come to the fire. “Come here, and I’ll tell you everything. He’s been keeping us from rescuing you since the day he kidnapped you and forced you to be his bride with his lies.”

Hellebore looked at Callahan, narrowing her eyes. “You agreed to the betrothal. That’s what he told me.”

Callahan stepped forward, glancing between Palladia and Hellebore before wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “Do you think I would ever truly let an elf run off with you as his bride without even speaking to you? You were supposed to be my alchemist, not some elf king’s consort.”

Callahan hadn’t agreed? He’d wanted her to be his alchemist?

In a daze, she let her brother lead her over to their aunt, who pulled her to sit beside her and by the fire. Callahan and Emerson took seats around her, so she was fully encircled by them. She whispered, “I don’t understand. Father sent a letter through Taiyo—”

“Hels, we’ve been trying to rescue you from him since the beginning,” Callahan said. “Emerson and I rode as fast as we could, trying to beat King Taiyo to the academy so we could find you first and get you out of there before he found you.”

Oh. She’d assumed they’d been riding ahead with a warning for her to prepare herself, but this whole time they’d been riding so hard to help her escape.

“But… the negotiations. Why didn’t you protest then?”

Callahan squeezed her shoulder. “I wanted to. I tried to reason with Father in private, knowing I’d only make things worse if I tried to defy him publicly, but he would not listen to me. You weren’t there. The Sun Elf king… he was ruthless. He swore that if we didn’t give him your hand in marriage, there would be war, and he would not be anywhere near as merciful as his predecessors had been. That first day, he looked right at our father and told Father that he owed him your hand. I couldn’t make any sense of it, but it was all set into motion before I could stop it.”

Was that what Taiyo had meant? He’d been bluffing, obviously—given their bigger concern was the Moon Elves, he wouldn’t start a war with the alchemists.

Callahan shifted so he was facing her, and she steeled her heart even though it had only been a few months ago she’d been sobbing, desperate to see her brother again. Now all she could think about was Taiyo.

“I didn’t stop there. We received word he’d found you and was taking you to Auror for the wedding, and I set off before the messenger could take even a step to carry the news to Father. I rode as fast as I could and I made it to Auror the night before, but I was foolish. I thought my standing as crown prince would at least get me inside the gates and a chance to see you where we’d find some way to escape. I was taken by the guards the second I gave my name and brought to a holding cell. At dawn, the Sun Elf king finally deigned to see me, but he refused to let me see you. He wouldn’t even let me attend the wedding. He kept me there until the next morning when his guards threw me out of the city.”

Taiyo hadn’t… No. It couldn’t be true, but…

Haruko, the morning of the wedding… “My brother has been unexpectedly occupied this morning…”

It fit. Taiyo… Taiyo had known her brother had come for her. And he’d never said a word.

“Let me guess, Hels, you never once received a letter from me, did you?”

Hellebore’s voice cracked. “You wrote?”

Callahan’s expression darkened. “I knew it. If he wouldn’t even let me see you from a distance, of course he wouldn’t give you any of my letters, no matter how innocent I made them sound on the surface.”

He’d known. This whole time, Taiyo had known her brother hadn’t abandoned her and he’d lied to her face. He’d taken the letters. He’d let her believe that her brother thought she was worthless.

Hellebore squeezed her eyes shut, throat tightening painfully. She’d cried more the last six months than she had the last ten years.

“Hels?” Callahan whispered.

“Is she crying?” Emerson whispered with a panic she’d never heard in his voice before.

She covered her mouth with her hand. She was among her people again. Crying was a waste of time and energy, but she couldn’t make herself stop. Her voice broke into a sob. “Cal—I’m so sorry—I thought—”

Then her brother pulled her into his arms and she clutched at his shirt, crying into his shoulder. Her brother held her tightly, nearly crushing her in his grip as Hellebore’s world went up in flames a second time not even a full day later.

How could Taiyo have done this? How could he claim to love her when he lied to her? Why had he lied to her? Why would he have hidden her brother’s letters one hour and then the next been encouraging her to write to him?

Would he have even sent it if she had? Was it just to try and raise her estimation of his character in her eyes so she would want to save his life?

Did she know Taiyo at all? Or just what he wanted her to know?

Hellebore was still shaking, trying to stop her sobs, when Callahan pulled back, bracing his hands on her shoulders and locking eyes with her. “You have nothing to be sorry about. That elf is the monster here. He lied to you. He took advantage of you. That’s not your fault.”

Hellebore nodded, taking one last breath before managing to finally win against her tears. Callahan squeezed her shoulders. “Chin up. You’re safe with us now.”

Aunt Palladia cleared her throat, and Hellebore instantly reached up, wiping away her tears. She straightened back up, pulling out of Callahan’s grip. Emerson had averted his gaze, and Hellebore almost laughed at the absurdity of it all. Six months ago, she wouldn’t have known what to do either. Or worse, she would have been rolling her eyes at the excessive display of useless emotion.

“Your brother is right.” Palladia waved her hand as she came closer. “Do not waste a moment blaming yourself for that creature’s deception. I knew the second that creature arrived at my academy what was happening. He was finally coming to finish what he’d started twenty-five years ago. The best way to make me suffer would be to take you from me and make me helpless as he used you.”

If Taiyo had been hiding her brother’s letters, what else hadn’t he told her? Had he been afraid she’d take her aunt’s side because he’d been the one to wrong her all along?

Hellebore was starting to believe anything was possible now. She didn’t know him. She never had, had she?