Page 61 of An Honored Vow

“Now, Damien,” I said in my best imitation of his condescending tone. “You are too smart to think that’s true.” I waved my arm out to the room in front of us. “I pulled you into this dream for a reason. And it wasn’t just to see that scar on your face.”

Damien traced a finger down the scar Gwyn had given him. “Tell Gwyn I send my regards. I’m looking forward to seeing her again.”

My bones turned to ice. I took a deep breath and reminded myself that Gwyn was safe in theFaelinthwith me. Damien couldn’t reach her. I lifted my chin in his direction, toying with my knife. “She certainly has improved from the horrific state you left her in.” Bile coated my tongue as I remembered Gwyn’s gaping wounds, but I didn’t let my disgust show.

The amber pupil of Damien’s black eye flared at my lack of a reaction. “I’ll make sure to enjoy her death even more the second time.” Damien’s lip quivered in anticipation. “Perhaps, I’ll have you watch.”

I flung the knife into Damien’s shoulder. He lurched from the force, but there was no pain. It was his dream as much as it was mine.

“We will give you Kairn and his precious pendant in exchange for Nikolai.” I gritted my teeth as Damien yanked out the knife and stanched the bleeding with a handkerchief from his breast pocket.

“Who?” Damien fluttered his lashes like a lady at court.

I rolled my eyes. “The Elf you stole from us. Do we have a deal or not?”

Damien took a step forward and shrugged. “I hung an Elf along the wall by that name. We do not let traitors live long in the capital, especially not ones who are trying to kill me.”

I kept my face still. Damien was trying to bait me, to see if I would reveal how much information I knew. The truth was I didn’t know anything about Nikolai. I only knew Damien. And he would have made sure that Nikolai’s death had been whispered about in the farthest reaches of the kingdom. It would have been brutal and public, as much a punishment for me and Riven as it was for Nik.

“We have ways of knowing when one of our soldiers is killed.” I shot Damien a hard look, rising from the molten throne to stand over him. “You know Nikolai is alive just as well as we do.”

Damien’s jaw fettered from side to side. “How do I know you will return the pendant?”

“You don’t.” Damien was too clever to assume that we would give the pendant over so easily, but I knew he might be desperate enough to try anyway. And that was all I needed.

Damien’s lips thinned but he nodded. “When?”

“Full moon,” I answered. It was three days away but with theshirakaround, I preferred to work under as much moonlight as possible.

Damien pulled at his sleeves. “Or I could extend a peace treaty for the night and you can send your rebels to the palace to make the trade.”

“Absolutely not.”

I flicked my ring finger with my thumb. The location had to be a place that didn’t give Damien a heavy advantage but one he would still agree to.

“The edge of the Dead Wood outside Koratha.” I stepped from the dais and the chair turned to ash behind me. “Let me make myself clear.” I took another step. I was standing so close to Damien, the heat of his breath landed on my chin. “If Nikolai or any of my people are injured during this transaction, I will wreak havoc on your city until I find you quivering in the palace, and then I will fillet you alive.”

Damien rolled his eyes. “No need for dramatics. Give me my pendant and you can have your precious Elf back. With nootherinjuries than the ones he’s already sustained.” Damien took the knife I had embedded in his shoulder and slowly grazed it down his throat to the middle of his chest. I didn’t know if it was a threat or a reenactment of what he had done to Nikolai, but he plunged the hilt of the knife through his chest and the dream ended.

CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE

“THIS ISN’T WORKING.”Vrail sank to the ground, wiping the sweat from her brow. Feron used a root to pass her a waterskin. “We’ve been at this for days it isn’t going to happen.”

Feron turned to Gwyn. “Do you remember what it felt like when you drew that first rune?” He glanced down at her ankle where the tether was marked.

Gwyn shook her head. “I wasn’t thinking at all. I was too exhausted.”

“They’re never going to let us leave,” Crison wheezed, snatching the waterskin from Vrail’s hand.

Feron’s eyes narrowed. “Perhaps it was not the exhaustion but the clear mind.” He gestured for the two new Fae to sit up straight along the grass.

Crison groaned but did it. Feron reached for both their hands and sat with them on a bench made from his roots. His eyes started to glow and his voice went deep. “Let the warmth fill your body and your mind. Concentrate on that warmth, let it overwhelm you until it is all you can feel.”

I stilled beside Gwyn, waiting for something to happen. I crossed my arms in frustration but Gwyn pointed at Crison’s relaxed shoulders. Her eyes glowed behind her eyelids. A small songbird flew from a nearby tree and perched on her shoulder.

Something jumped out of the lake. I turned and my jaw dropped. All across the glassy water were animals of every kind. Birds, turtles, otters. All of them were swimming closer to shore, closer to Crison.

The tree line was full of animals too. Mostly small rodents, but there were a few foxes sitting curiously. Their presence didn’t scare the small animals away—I wasn’t even sure they noticed the predators beside them. All the animals were focused on Crison.

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