Page 18 of The Court of Thorns and Wings

“My people come after Lira.” Tavish turned his gaze on his friend. “I need to make that perfectly clear.”

Caelan sneered. “Don’t worry. You have.”

Wow. This was tense, and I needed to refocus on the moment. “He brought me armor so I’ll be protected. And I bet most of the guards will be out there searching with you. It’d be good for your people to see us together. Reinforce what you said yesterday and all that.” I smiled and batted my eyes, hoping my words would sway him.

“She’s right, and if you hide her, you’ll make them resent her more.” Caelan pointed at the armor. “With her by your side the entire time and with Finola and Moor protecting you, she’ll be safer out there than in here.”

Moor.

That was the guard who’d taken Torcall’s place. My chest constricted.

“I don’t—” Tavish started.

“Remember when you said I wasn’t a prisoner anymore?” I lifted a brow and rocked back on my heels. “Did you mean it?”

He huffed, and his shoulders sagged. “Of course I did, which is now working against me.”

I laughed and kissed his cheek. “Good, then we’re settled.”

You’d better love me, sprite.His eyes lightened as warmth spread between us.

Oh, I do, thorn.I winked at him and dashed over to the bed, ready to put my armor on.

My heart felt like the moment was perfect. Tavish had listened to what I wanted, to my needs, and we were going to find his cousin together. The way we’d be doing everything else from here on out.

Within an hour, Tavish and I had eaten and put on our armor.

We flew out of the castle’s massive front doors, which were rarely used except in situations where the illusion of the castle taking action needed to be had. Then we soared over ground covered in snow so thick it hid the stone path below.

The sky showed a hint of light as snowflakes hit my face, the coldness refreshing and the air crisp with a hint of salt from the breeze that blew in from the sea where the village ended.

Everyone stood outside their homes, which reminded me more of townhomes or apartments than actual cottages. A dusting of snow covered the dark slabs that the houses were made of, making the entire place look pure white except for the surrounding dirt and rocks.

The fifty guards with us separated into teams and began searching each house while Tavish and I hovered in the sky side by side, waiting for Eldrin to be found. Another fifty guards left to search the ruined lands, to be thorough, but Tavish and Caelan believed Eldrin had to be somewhere inside. He wouldn’t survive out in the lands for long. The mushrooms were nearby, in a cave with four guards keeping watch since last night in case he showed up. He would eventually need to come for the food. Unseelie weren’t made to survive on meat alone.

The longer we stayed in place and the guards continued the search, the more disgruntled the Unseelie became.

A few women glared at me with all the hatred they could muster, and I forced myself to smile back at them, wanting them to see I didn’t feel threatened. Still, my heart ached. Would these people ever see me as more than Seelie?

Who’s upsetting you?Tavish linked, taking my hand and scanning the almost three thousand people the guards had forced from their homes so we could do this sweep.

The yellow-eyed man from the night I’d escaped spat on the ground, causing some of the snow to melt. He wasn’t even trying to hide how he felt about me.

Tavish followed my gaze and snarled, but before he could say anything, something exploded at the far end of the houses.

“What the blast—” a man screamed, but his words cut off as smoke rose from the windows.

Someone down on the other end yelled, “Fire!”

The guards had made it almost to the halfway point, and they all came flying out of the houses with tense frowns on their faces.

Finola pointed at Tavish and me and said, “I need two guards to take them back to the castle until we find out what happened. This could be a threat from Eldrin.”

“We’ll take them,” a woman guard with frosty-blue-tipped hair answered and pointed to the male guard beside her. “Everyone else, go.”

Finola nodded, and she and the others flew toward the threat.

My heart raced.I can use my water—

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