Page 117 of Kingdom of the Two Moons

I suck in my lower lip. “Lyrian said that this portal where we—” I struggle with the wordlived, because it sure as hell didn’t feel like living so I just say “—where wewere, he said that it was the last portal to your world.”

“It is. Once there were no boundaries between the human world and the fae world. All the portals were open for every fae to cross freely.”

“What happened?”

“They became too powerful in the human world, and we intervened. We closed all the portals save for this one. There are a few who can still open one to jump from world to world, but this requires a lot of magic and skill, and they are only temporary openings.”

“We?” I ask quietly, sensing that there’s more.

Shadows flicker in his already night-veiled eyes. “We angels,” he says, but it seems to cost him some effort. “They called us wanderers of the worlds. It’s what we were made for—to tear the veil of the worlds to pass through it, to rip it open or shut it down if need be, taking our power with us wherever we went.”

I still at that, not wanting to imagine the aftermath should Caryan unleash his power on the human world.

Instead, I ask, “Called?”

“My kind has been hunted down to extinction,” he explains darkly. “Well, almost. I am the last.”

“Why?”

He frowns at the compassion in my voice, as if he doesn’t know what to do with it. But his eyes flash in a warning.

“Because we are cruel beyond redemption.”

36

Melody

“Is that another threat?”

“I do not need to resort to threats,” Caryan answers too calmly, his eyes never leaving mine as he gets up. I can see him frown, not at me, but like he heard something. He briefly glances away, as if something has caught his attention.

“May I go?” I ask quietly, slowly sliding off the stool.

Caryan’s eyes dart back to me, refocused with new intensity. “I’m afraid you can’t.”

A shiver runs between my shoulder blades, and I stop dead in motion. For a moment, we look at each other, his eyes flickering with something unspoken.

Finally, he says, “I have to see about something. You’ll remain here until I return.”

My heart pounds at what that means. What that might imply. “No! Wait!”

He stops in his tracks, turning his face half to me, offering me his profile.

“Do not—please don’t lock me in.” The words tumble out of me, more desperate than I wish. “Please let me at least go to my room.”

“I cannot, after what happened.”

“I won’t run away again.”For now. Not tonight.

He retorts in a way that tells me he knows too well what I’m thinking, “I’ve not yet found who’s behind the incident. Until then, you’ll remain either in my presence or in one of the high lords’s.”

I startle at that. “So I’m downgraded from slave to prisoner?” I can’t help it, the scorn in my voice. Fuck that he just saved me. Fuck that I almost died. Fuck that I’m so drained and tired I can barely keep standing.

“As I said, it’s for your protection,” he answers coolly.

“Why am I so important that you seal the whole Fortress for me?” I ask his back, because he’s already turned away.

He pauses again, annoyance shining too clearly in his aura. I don’t care. “Do not flatter yourself. Maybe it’s not only for you,” he throws over a shoulder.

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