Page 27 of The Court of Thorns and Wings

I shook my head as the room closed in around me. “That’s the problem. I need to go to him.” The image of the way the guard had stabbed him in the neck flashed into my mind, and my breathing became erratic. “He’s hurt. I need to be with him!”

“Hopefully, the nightfiend is dead.” Mom’s nose wrinkled as she marched to the end of the bed and stood in front of a large opening to the bathroom. “If he’s not, it’ll be my pleasure to end him myself. But don’t fret, Lira. We can’t watch him die, but we won’t allow him or anyone else to harm you again.”

“Harmme? That’s not what I’m worried about.” I searched our bond and found it muted, and I raised my left hand and saw that our fated-mate tattoo was still in place.Tavish?I connected, needing to hear his voice even if only in my mind. I had to know he was safe, but all I got was silence. I threw the emerald-green covers from my body, preparing to leave and go find him. If he couldn’t answer, I had to make sure I was by his side, especially if he was injured.

“What are you doing?” Eiric’s eyebrows rose.

“Going to check on him. He was hurt.” My chest ached uncomfortably from my worry over what Eldrin could be doing to him if Tavish was on his deathbed. “I need to be beside him.”

Mom pushed me back onto the bed. “Lira, you need rest. You were given a sedative, and it knocked you out longer than it should have. We aren’t sure what the Unseelie nightfiends did to you, but—”

I didn’t have time for this. “Stop talking about them like that. Tavish means everything to me.” I raised my hand, pointing at the magical tattoos. “He’s my fated mate.”

“Blighted abyss.” Mother shook her head as a breeze blew into the room and floated around her. “I had hoped that getting you away from him would undo the illusion, but he has stronger magic than we suspected. He located you on Earth and messed with your mind, and he has managed to keep an illusion of a fated-mate tattoo on your body.”

“What are you talking about?” My back straightened, and I tried to calm my breathing. Overreacting would make getting out of here take even longer. I needed to bide my time until I could search for him.

Mother’s wings fluttered as she perched on the bed next to me. “Fated mates are rare. So rare there are only ten known in all of fae existence. Do you really believe that the man who kidnapped you would wind up being your fated mate?”

“He didn’t want us to be fated mates.” My pulse quickened. I didn’t enjoy the way she’d downplayed my emotions. “Me being his mate has made things far more challenging for him.”

“Lira, illusions are the Unseelies’ strongest form of magic, and Tavish is the expert on creating them.” She shuddered. “More so than we expected, especially without ties to their native lands. Had we known that, we never would have hidden you on Earth. A decision that proved futile, seeing as you still wound up in his possession.”

I wanted to kick and shout, but I gritted my teeth. With my royal parents, any sign of irrationality would turn them deaf to anything I had to say. I knew what I felt for Tavish. Those emotions couldn’t be manipulated. “Mother—” I started, but the double doors to my room burst open, and Father and Dad hurried in.

At the sight of the two very striking men standing next to each other, a flashback of Tavish and me as kids surged into my brain. “Thank Fates,” Father sighed as he hurried to me.

Eiric moved from beside me, allowing Father to take her spot. He threw his large arms around me, and his earthy scent filled my nose, grounding me. My vision blurred with happy tears. I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten about him.

He held me close to his chest, where I could hear his steady heartbeat.

Then his hands froze. “What did the Unseelie wildling do to you?”

“We were just discussing that.” Mothertsked. “She’s under the illusion that the blazing Unseelie king is her fated mate.”

I stiffened and pulled away so that Father’s warm brown eyes could see the truth in mine.

“Heismy fated mate,” I said slowly and confidently so there was no question that I spoke the truth. After all, a fae couldn’t lie.

Father dropped his arms and furrowed his brows, then burst out laughing. “You’ve always been one to make the perfect joke. How I’ve missed that.”

My stomach clenched, and I looked at Dad. He knew me better than either of them now.

His amber eyes darkened in disappointment. “She’s not jesting, My King.”

Laughter cut short, Father frowned. “Either way, it doesn’t matter. The illusion will wear off, and you’ve been promised to the dragon prince. So, fated mate or not, you can’t be with him.”

Skin crawling, I inched away from him, putting me closer to Mother. Once upon a time, the three of us had been close, but that wasn’t the case anymore. “Tavish is the only man I want to be with. I won’t marry the dragon prince. Besides, I didn’t make any vow to the flamers.” I had the right to choose who I wanted to marry and be with.

Father took a few steps back from me. He glanced at Dad then Mom. “Did the Unseelie fiend bring the right person backbecause that can’t be my Lira? She’d know better than to make an asinine statement like that.”

“That’s Lira, Your Majesty.” Dad bowed his head. “She’s lived on Earth longer than Ardanos at this point and may need time to reacclimate to this realm.”

“And you know how good the Unseelie are with their illusions,” Mother added, patting my arm. “I’m sure it’ll wear off the longer she’s away from him.”

I hated how they were all speaking as if I wasn’t present. I’d opened my mouth to tell them they were all wrong when Eiric caught my eye and shook her head faintly. She mouthed,Not now.

A part of me didn’t want to listen to her, but she was good at reading the room and knowing when to push and when to back off. For Tavish, I needed to handle this situation right forus.

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