Page 42

Jack

W e left the small village, traveling a well worn path that grew thinner the farther we went. It was overgrown by thorny brambles, and as any semblance of a trail disappeared, it became clear Sav knew the way.

A whistle broke through the trees and my gaze darted to a thick patch of thorns wound around massive oaks.

I had only a moment to register the sound before pain speared my chest and I stumbled backward, dropping the stretcher.

An attack. I turned lunging for Sav as the sound of another arrow whizzed overhead and we crashed to the ground.

“You’re safe,” I breathed as my vision darkened at the edges, tunneling to the small flecks of purple in her eyes before the world went dark.

Something soft tickled my nose. I rubbed it, feeling the fur lining of my coat pulled up high. I’d been hanging on to the huge polar bear, freezing cold biting into my skin as he raced over a snowy landscape and then… What?

Eyes fluttering open, my fuzzy mind puzzled over the room coming into focus.

It was dark; deep walnut and chocolate walls, interspersed with foliage in shades of chartreuse, forest green and olive surrounding me.

Tiny pink and yellow blooms burst from vines trailing the aged wood as they lazily surveyed the room.

With some effort, I turned my head to the side, and several of the blossoms jerked toward me, tracking the movement. My gaze met Hazel’s bright eyes, and I struggled to make sense of where I was and what was happening.

“I’m glad you made it.” Hazel’s ice blue lips tipped up, and she leaned down, pressing them against mine.

“Hazel,” I tried to say against her mouth. Her tail came up, wrapping around my wrist, pinning it in place. I jerked my free hand up to shove her off, but scalding pain burned my chest and I groaned, letting it fall to my side.

“Shhh,” she whispered against my mouth.

I pressed my lips firmly together, glaring at her snowy eyelashes resting against her cheeks. Fire boiled my veins as I shrugged her off, wincing as the movement sent searing pain through my middle.

Hazel sat up and the room behind her came into focus once more.

Sav. Sav was there, watching the whole thing.

I tried to sit up, but Hazel pressed me back and she gave me a look that said be silent or die.

It had been on the tip of my tongue to call Sav, to tell her it wasn’t what it looked like, again , but Hazel’s nails dug into my tender flesh and white hot pain stole my breath.

My eyes went wide as I breathed around it, truly taking Sav in. But it wasn’t Sav. She was her twin in features, but everything else about her was different, and she held herself like a woman who knew exactly where her place in life was—the top.

Her pointed ears dripped with jewels large enough to feed ten families for a year.

Her eyes, the same shape as Sav's, were bright purple and held the same luminescence as all the other creatures I’d met in Faerie.

Her gown, delicate like the petals of a flower, was the same soft shade of pink I’d seen in the field on our entrance to the spring court…

The spring court, the giant bird. Axallar. It all rushed back.

I glanced at Hazel, noting her glowing skin and bright eyes. Healed. She dipped her chin a fraction of a centimeter and I understood.

All her warnings before we left her court. They were for this woman. They looked so alike they could have been twins.

The fairy woman stepped into the room and the air shifted, every flower woven between the vines along the walls turning in her direction.

The very world around us was moved by her presence.

I couldn’t say what it was exactly, only that it was power, undiluted and intoxicating.

I had felt nothing like it when in front of the winter court regent or any of the other fairies.

“I see our invalid lives.” She cast her gaze over me, a look of disdain plain on her face. “You’ve truly attached yourself to this creature, Hazel?” Her attention shifted to the white-haired woman by my side.

Hazel trailed a nail down my bare chest, careful to avoid my injury this time. “Well look at him, Majesty. Who wouldn’t want a creature like this as my attendant?” Her fingers wrapped around my wrist, nails digging in sharply, warning me again to be silent.

“My soldiers tell me he dove in front of an arrow to save you.” The woman’s cruel smile told me she would have been fine with that arrow finding its mark.

Hazel’s gaze dipped to me once more. “He did. I’ve promised him a good life in my service in exchange.”

Sav’s doppelg?nger wrinkled her brow. “What you could expect to gain from a human I don’t pretend to comprehend, Emissary, but you can see we’ve met the demands of your court. My healer, Ivy, has given him the best possible care. You may return to Winter at once.”

Hazel snorted, pinning me down as I struggled to sit up. “My attendant was given human care. He would not survive the journey through my court in this condition. Sending us away is akin to sentencing him to death. Which is very much not in accordance with our terms.”

The other woman huffed. “Very well. Send for your healer and when he is recovered, depart. You have one week and not a moment longer.” Not waiting for a reply, she spun on her heel, gliding from the room, and Hazel let out a soft exhale.

She grinned at me. “That was close. I thought you’d say something foolish and fuck it up for all of us. Again.”

“Where’s Sav?” I sat up, wincing at the burning pain in my chest.

“She’s dealing with family matters. It’s best for both of you if you don’t see each other. I may have tricked her uncle, but the princess of spring won’t be so easily fooled by my flirtation. The moment you’re in a room together, she’ll read Sav like a book.” She waggled her brows at me.

I scooted back. “I need to see her.”

Hazel laughed. “Not a chance. Looks like I’m not leaving Spring without you. The two of you would get yourselves killed, if not for me.” She stood, glancing down at my bandaged chest. “Look what happens when I’m unconscious for a few moments.”

I lifted a hand to my bandages. “What happened?”

Hazel’s tail curled up into her hand and she stroked it absently. “The spring court soldiers spotted you in the woods near the castle and thought you were Summer, sneaking in.” Her gaze flicked up. “I can see why. Your hair is black as pitch. They have orders to shoot on sight.”

She moved to the doorframe, peering into the hall, and her long, pointed ear twitched before she continued.

“I had to remove their true memories.” She shook her head.

“I swear you both have a death wish. It’s lucky I woke before we reached the castle.

With Sav’s magic bound, they would have marched straight in here and told the true story. ”

“Bound?” A memory of the night I’d overheard Sav and Kaspar talking flashed in my mind. He’d said something similar. “She has magic?”

Hazel pursed her lips, returning to my bedside.

“Sav wouldn’t want me telling her stories, but the more you know about her court, the better protected you’ll be.

” She sat. “I changed everyone’s memory, so they believed you’ve been glamoured by me.

You’re a human who found his way into Faerie through my court and per the rules of Faerie, that makes you mine. ”

She dropped her hand to my chest, running her fingers over the curve of my abs, and I batted it away.

“I had planned to kill you, but you saved me and now I can’t bear to part with you.

As the emissary to the winter court, you’re under the same protection I am. Your actions also reflect on my court.”

She lifted her fingers again, and I grabbed her wrist with my good hand before she could touch me, but she was faster pinching my nipple with the other hand.

“Ow.”

“Remember that before you go doing anything foolish here. The amity between our two courts rests on our behavior. Don’t do something that would put us at odds.”

I tore her hand away from my tender skin. “Okay, got it. What about Sav? Her magic?”

“You’re like a dog with a bone.” She sighed, rolling her eyes. “Sav’s magic was bound when she refused the engagement to Prince Kaspar. Her twin sister, the lovely lady you just met, planned the marriage for more than a decade, but Kaspar only agreed to it three years ago.”

“Her sister is the princess?” I scratched the area around the bandage that both hurt and itched simultaneously. “So she is royalty.”

“Her sister wed the Hawthorn Prince, making her a princess, but they weren’t royal by birth.

Their social climbing mother and uncle plotted advantageous alliances for both girls.

Sav and the princess spent their childhood at court, shoved into the lap of every noble who glanced their way.

It wasn’t until Sage—Princess Hawthorn—was old enough to marry that she was finally freed of their political games. ”

A bitter taste settled on my tongue as I thought of two girls treated like bargaining chips and the vile creatures I’d encountered at court. Men like Heath, who had put their hands all over her, and expected more at the end of the night.

My gut twisted. “She refused to marry him and they bound her? That’s cruel.”

“You don’t know the half of it. She was cast out of her court and Faerie, made to live with the low fae in the human realm. She hasn’t set foot here in three years. The punishment for returning without a summons is death.”

“What?” Ice slid down my spine as I pushed back the covers. Pain seared through my chest, but I ignored it as I slid my legs over the side of the bed. Why? Why would she risk coming here if it could mean her death? The fairies at Dane’s compound. She was risking her life to save them.

A cold stone settled in my stomach. She’d refused to marry for herself. But she’d sign away her freedom for them. For the fae I had failed to save. Guilt bloomed under my ribs like a second wound.

“Hold on, prince charming. She’s alive.” Hazel pressed a hand to my left peck, holding me in place. “She has accepted the betrothal. At least that’s what she claims, and has fallen on the mercy of Prince Alder, begging him to send aid to the fae trapped in your realm.”

I sat back, exhaling slowly, finally understanding what was really going on between Sav and the prince.

A spear of pain twisted in my gut. I’d been so quick to judge her in the winter court when I knew nothing of her troubles.

“She wouldn’t marry him for her own life, but she’ll do it in exchange for the fairies who are imprisoned by my… ”

Hazel arched a white eyebrow. “Your?”

“People.”

Her lips tipped up in a feline smile that told me she didn’t think I’d meant to say people at all. “She always had a soft spot for lesser creatures.” As she said it, Hazel’s gaze trailed the length of me.

My chest expanded painfully as I dragged in a breath. Alive. She was alive, but she was giving up her one chance at happiness because I had been too slow to do anything against my father. “I can’t let her do it.”

“It’s done, Sweets. She meets with the prince and princess in a few hours to sign the contract.