Page 32 of Shadow's Heart

All pity morphed into rage.

Lothaire shrugged away Ellie’s points. “If Nïx has undercut my aims on occasion, it’s only because I veered off course. Each of those setbacks was for my ultimate benefit, leading me to you. And you know I would withstand them repeatedly to find you.” Lothaire couldn’t lie. He would go back to his bloodroot nightmare in order to share a life with his Bride.

Will I ever feel the same about Furie?

Ellie’s expression softened. “Do you really believe Nïx wants you in Nightside?”

“She might as well have decreed it. And she knew I’d take my brother with me, so he’s been marked by fate as well.”

Debatable. Andhalfbrother.

“Nïx’s foresight is exquisite, is it not?” Lothaire mused with excitement. “We are all leaves carried in a stream, and a mad Valkyrie directs the currents.”

“Emphasis onmad, Leo. I care for Nïx, but she is fritzing in the head.” And Ellie didn’t even know that the Valkyrie carted around organs of unknown origin. “What if she got this wrong, and I lose you forever? If you have to do this, then take Mirceo, Caspion, and the entire Dacian army with you.”

“No. Only Kristoff and I will go. The others would just get in the way of The Incursion.”

Kristoff scoffed. “The incursion?”

Lothaire turned to him. “Any incursion that I lead isThe.”

Ellie gazed at Kristoff with sympathy. She had been trying to influence Lothaire on his behalf. Her king seemed to give her everything she could ever desire, spoiling her human family withriches and protection, but he held firm on the secret of Furie’s location.

Kristoff pointed out, “Mirceo will be furious that you are leaving him behind.”

Ellie crossed her arms over her chest and nodded. “Madder than a rooster with its tailfeathers on fire.”

“Exactly. He’s too emotional,” Lothaire said. “He attacked me, remember? Just because I lost his sister one measly time.”

And Mirceo had paid utterly for that attack.

Balery finally spoke: “The other houses of Dacia suffer without the heart of the kingdom in the castle. Viktor is more warmongering than usual. Stelian is imploding. Trehan and Bettina are ready to level all the worlds to get Mina back. They each need to help.”

“If Kristoff and I fail, then the others can try to salvage. Divulge this information to them only if you think we have no shot.”

Ellie was wavering. “At least let Balery roll the bones to see if this is a good idea.” Though the fey oracle and potions master could foretell much, she possessed only a fraction of Nïx’s vision.

Lothaire said, “We stopped in Hag’s laboratory before we came here. The becroned one rolled them there.”

Balery had once been cursed to resemble a crone, dubbed the Hag in the Basement by the Sorceri who’d enslaved her. Lothaire refused to call her anything else.

He added, “Yes. I’m surprised you didn’t smell the boiled eye of newt and sautéed spider web clinging to me. Not to mention the pungent scent of a fey’s dreams gone to die.”

Balery and Ellie glared at Lothaire’s casual callousness.

Kristoff frowned. “Why do you stay in his service, fey? You were trapped by Sorceri before, but you’re free to leave now.”As I long to do.

She raised her palms, her hands glittering from some potion or another. “My lab here is state-of-the-dark-arts. And I like most of the castle’s inhabitants. Besides, Lothaire is old enough to know the root ofhagishagios. Holy. Andcronecomes fromcorona, orcrown—as in, crowned with knowledge. He’s aware of this. He delights in trolling others. Not to be mistaken fortroll-ing, because that involves a troll’s brute force and club accessories. Not to be mistaken fordance-clubaccessories?—”

“We get it, we get it.” Lothaire’s lips curled as if a light prank had been revealed.

Kristoff was yet again struck that he didn’t know his half brother at all.

“Back to the subject at hand,” Lothaire said. “Hagrolled her bones and advised us never to cross Nïx.”

Balery canted her head. That hadn’t been her exact wording. She’d gazed at the bones and murmured, “Nïx is not just an agent of fate; she’s an agent of chaos. For whom does the Valkyrie act now? If you thwart the former, you invite the latter.”

Ellie asked, “Did Nïx say anything about Mina’s health? I can’t see her getting nabbed because she broke the law. She must have the plague.”

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