Page 70 of A Trial of the Heart

“Happy to oblige,” the nymph said as he handed me to Daxton. “I wouldn’t want my waters to freeze over.”

“What happened?” The question was not proposed to me, so I tucked myself into his arms and pursed my lips together, for once not uttering a word.

“Forgive my young ones,” the nymph said.

“Why are you here, Malek?” Daxton snarled. I was surprised by his aggressiveness, but then again, this creature’s young ones were about to pull me into the depths of the lake and eat me.

“A mistake, High Prince. And one that is now corrected.”

“That is yet to be determined,” Daxton said in an even hushed tone that sent a chill of fear through me.

“The champion …”

“Skylar. Skylar Cathal.” I shifted in Daxton’s hold, placing my feet firmly on the sands to stand of my own accord. As I found my footing, a black slip of fabric magically appeared around me, interlacing behind my neck and flowing out and down my body until the hem of the skirt reached my shins.

“Cathal.” Malek spoke my surname with a familiarity that made me pause. “That is a name I havenot heard in centuries, but one I remember.” I swallowed, unaware that my surname had any reverence. “Your sire’s line, they were alphas.”

“You … You knew my ancestors?” I asked, my heart thrumming like the wings of a hummingbird. I had always been curious about my family history, and I couldn’t help but yearn for him to say more, to share anything he knew about my past.

“I did.” His coy smile stretched wide across his face. “Water nymphs and shifters were friends before this wilt and the war.”

“You recognizemysurname,why?” Daxton shifted beside me, lightly brushing his hand against the small of my back. He stared Malek down with a stone-cold expression that dripped with menacing violence. I didn’t always appreciate the firm hand he dealt, but right now, I think it was working in my favor.

“Because I value self-preservation, I’ll make this quick.”

“Wise,” Daxton growled. I pursed my lips and glared at him, but it made no difference.

“Cathal shifters were a dominant generation of the alphas here in the Inner kingdom, living centuries before you were even a thought, I believe, High Prince.” Malek said moving gracefully in the water. “Their bloodline is old and powerful, laced with the magic of the first shifters ever created. The Cathal bloodline was the first to receive the gift from the Mother and Father and granted the animal spirits with the magic of the heart to create your species. I find it most intriguing that she is now our champion.”

“Wait, how old are you?” I asked. “And why does no one else seem to remember this about my kind?”

“I’m old enough to remember … yet still young enough to endure the future.” Malek folded over in a laugh as he stepped backward into the lake. “We do not freely speak of the time before the wilt, young shifter. Not yet, I’m afraid. Perhaps you truly are the one to free us all.”

“That makes no sense,” I said as Malek slipped back into the waters. With a flick of his vibrant red tail across the surface, he disappeared without a trace into the watery abyss.

“Which part?” Daxton asked. “I think he wisely chose to leave as quickly as he did.”

“The part about him beingthatold, Daxton. Or how he knows so much. What is he, their king or something?”

Daxton raised his brows. “Yes.”

My eyes widened, and my jaw practically fell onto the sands of the beach. “Well, sure. Yep. That sounds about right, then.”Gods, I groaned and crossed my arms.

“You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for,” Daxton said in amusement. “There are creatures older than the High Fae courts in the Inner Kingdom, but none are more powerful.”

I simply met his stare and rolled my eyes, shaking my head. “Yet, when we first arrived, you warned me about them.”

“Dangerous, yes. More powerful, no.”

Gah, egotistical High Fae, I muttered.

“Well,” Castor said as he meandered to join Dax and me in the surf, “your story just keeps getting better and better now, doesn’t it?” He looked to Daxton and gently nudged his brother’s shoulder. “You all right, Daxton?”

“I’ll manage.” Hearing the duress in his voice, I gently brushed my fingers against Daxton’s clenchedfists, his grip loosening to greet mine. His eyes were still as hard as stone, but at least he wasn’t completely closed off.

Castor nodded and looked over his shoulder toward Aelius. “We need to head back.”

I understood why Daxton was still uneasy—hell, I was too. “Do we have to?” I asked grimly.

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