Page 32 of The Court of Thorns and Wings

I turned to head out the doorway as Eiric’s brows rose. Instead of speaking, she followed my lead and soon we were flying down the hallway back toward my room.

The guards stayed on our wings, and the hair on the nape of my neck stood on end from their attention.

Every flap I took away from Tavish made my heart clench more, and my entire being wanted to turn around and race back to him. My mate was captured and in danger, and leaving him behind was the last thing I should be doing.

The Seelie king is just threatening me,Tavish connected.I feel your struggle, and I swear to you, I’ll be fine.

But this isn’t right—My words cut off as the connection between us cooled, and my chest almost went back to the normal temperature it’d been before we completed our fated-mate connection. I froze midflap.Tavish?

Eiric stopped a little in front of me, realizing I wasn’t beside her.

I’m here, love,he replied, but the connection still felt strange.

“Why are you stopping?” the tallest guard rasped. “That isn’t what King Erdan ordered.”

I bit the inside of my cheek, needing a distraction from the terror knotted in my stomach. My desperation to be with Tavish was damn near overwhelming, yet I couldn’t do a damn thing because of my biological parents.

I wished they hadn’t discovered that I’d returned so that Tavish and I could be together, hunting down the real threat—Eldrin.

I thought you were dead. Our connection cooled.I needed to hear his voice again so I could make sure that those last words hadn’t been a figment of my imagination.

A moment passed, and just as I was about to turn around and rush back to him, he answered,They put chains on our wings, and now my magic is restrained. I feared we wouldn’t be able to speak like this anymore, but I’m blasting glad we can.

The memory of those chains and their effects popped into my head. Having my wings restrained had felt claustrophobic. I could only imagine how he and Finnian were struggling.

I hadn’t noticed that we were already back at my bedroom door. I pushed the double doors open, wanting the guards to leave me alone. Hot rage burned inside me, and I wouldn’t be able to hide it much longer.

The four guards stood at my door, glancing at each other.

“I came back to my room like a good little girl.” I crossed my arms, letting sarcasm drip from each word. “Is that all?”

The woman guard smirked. “You three, head back. I’ll keep watch on Lira a little while longer.” Her auburn hair reminded me of embers sparking, contrasting with the pink walls. As she stepped into my room and stood closer to me, I noticed that her eyes resembled flames in the dark of night.

“Should one of us remain with you, Sorcha?” the shorter man with cobalt hair asked.

“We’ll be fine.” She nodded at the door. “I’ll alert someone if anything goes awry. Go back to the king and queen to ensurenothing happens with the Unseelie. Their presence here will affect the veil eventually.”

The three of them nodded and left, and I made my way to my bed and sat, folding my wings and crossing my legs like I had all the time in the world. In fairness, as an immortal, I kind of did.

Eiric cleared her throat. “She returned here as requested.”

“Which alarms me.” Sorcha tilted her head, examining me. “How could you protect an Unseelie? Especially the king? If I were you, I’d want to kill him myself rather than remain fated to him.”

My last bit of restraint was damn close to snapping. I wanted to grab the bitch’s hair and yank.

Lira, what’s wrong?Tavish connected.

A guard is telling me that if you were her fated, she’d kill you.My breathing quickened as the anger took over.

It’s a test,he replied.She wants you to react. Stay strong and don’t fall for it.

Shit. He was right. Even though I didn’t feel completely fae, I had to remember how things were here. Fae played with words and tested each other’s intent. “Well, I’m not you. However, I understand that Father needs to be in control, so I will behave.” Until we had an escape plan.

She lifted a brow. “That’s good to hear, but I find it hard to believe after what we saw in the holding cell.”

“I don’t remember asking for your opinion, nor am I obligated to explain myself to you.” Even though this was going against what Tavish had asked of me, I would never gain respect if I didn’t stand my ground. “Even though I’ve been on Earth for the past twelve years, I’m still a princess and will not tolerate your disrespect.”

Her shoulders relaxed as if I had passed the first set of tests. “Very well. Please alert me if you need anything.”

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