Page 59 of First Light

“Your brother has been honest with me,” Carys said. “Well, mostly honest.”

“Forget Duncan,” Lachlan said. “I trust Cadell, but I’d still prefer you go home. Cadell and Duncan both say Seren was poisoned, and I believe them. I do. I know Cadell would never lie about that, but whoever killed Seren could be in the castle. They could see you as a threat.”

“Why? You said yourself I’m nothing like her.”

Lachlan shook his head. “We don’t know why she was killed, so I have no idea if that makes a difference. Gohome, Carys. Seeing your uncle’s face isn’t worth your life. Would your father and mother want you to put yourself in danger that way?”

Carys turned to Cadell and saw him with one eye open, watching her.

I see you, Nêrys.

She turned back to Lachlan. “I’m staying. And I may not have warrior training, but I have a brain.” She pointed at Cadell. “And now I have a dragon.”

“Carys—”

“I’ll figure out the truth. So no, I’m not leaving. I’m not going back home until I figure out who killed my sister and why.”

His face turned stormy, but he didn’t say another word. Lachlan turned on his heel and left.

Carys watched him leave, and a cool resolve settled in her mind. “Cadell?”

Nêrys.

“I’m staying.”

Of course you are, my lady. And I will stay with you.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

She was not as confident the next morning. “What was I thinking?”

They were walking to the unicorn forest the next day, and Carys was full of doubts.

She wasn’t a detective. She barely liked true-crime podcasts. Sure, she was good at puzzles—and apparently she could talk to dragons—but did that really mean anything when it came to solving a murder that had happened two years ago?

“What?” Cadell looked down at her. “Do you want to go back to the Brightlands? If you do, I will fly you to the fae gate now.”

So a giant dragon could follow her home to Humboldt County. That would go over so well with the forest service.

Carys shook her head. “I’m not going home until I meet my uncle and figure out who killed my sister.”

“You’re conflicted.”

She looked up at him and took a deep breath. “Of course I am. This is scary as hell. But life is full of conflicts. I’ll figure this one out.”

They walked through the forest, and she brushed her hands along the trees, taking comfort in the soft brown bark covered in moss.

The morning was pearl grey again, and the day was as light as it got in the Shadowlands. It was like a grey overcast sky that never cleared. Carys found herself missing the ocean fog she’d grown up with. At least that usually burned off by the afternoon and the sun peeked out.

“Why are we doing this?” Carys tugged at her collar. She was dressed in finer clothes than the day before, and they were not nearly as comfortable. The wrapped trousers were fine, but the boots that covered them were shining black leather that Elanor’s maid had delivered to her room, and while they were better than Duncan’s oversized boots, they werenotcomfortable.

Her tunic was heavier than the light wool she was quickly learning to appreciate, and her cloak felt like she was dragging a weighted blanket through the woods on her shoulders.

“Is this fur?” She glanced at her shoulders. “I think this is fur.”

“It’s warm.” Cadell remained in human form as they walked through the forest to meet Darius and Yasmin. “Your clothes are fine, Nêrys. Stop fidgeting like a child.”

“It’s fur. Animals died for these pelts. That is not okay.”

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