Page 148 of Atop the Faerie Throne
Then I’d hug the bastard, because his expression when he heard his father call his name was pure misery. It shouldn’t have happened. If Bree hadn’t taken a blow to the head during the chaos of Lore’s arrival, it wouldn’t have.
But it did.
And here we are.
I give it fifty-fifty odds that we’re summoned to the Goddess’s cave within the week, Rose having chosen to follow him to the Otherworld.
“We have shit to do,” Prae grinds out, her eyes suspiciously shiny as she releases Florian. “Starting with melting that thing down and turning it into my fucking crown.”
She holds her hand out for the still-warm medallion I’m clutching, and I relinquish it gladly. Turning it into her crown is a good idea. Something new forged from a powerful symbol of the past will serve as a reminder to those who would oppose her.
Hopefully, it robs the thing of any lingering bàsron magic it might hold.
“Get yourselves fixed up and head back to your mate, knight commander,” Florian tells me. “We’ll handle things here.”
“The newest court in the queendom might even be ready to host the Nicnevin in… ooh, say about a century?” Gryffin mutters, kicking a rock as he rolls his eyes. “That’s how long it will take to get rid of all of this fucking iron.”
Silently, I wish them luck as I turn my back on them, leading Wraith and Bree back to the lifts and the ships beyond. If we’re lucky, the redcap will decide to collect us. Unless he decides he’d rather have Rose’s attention to himself, in which case, it’ll be a long trip home.
Forty-Nine
Rhoswyn
The healers working on my wings are kind.
I’m lying on my front to allow them to work on the stubby remains of my wings with their fleeting touches and warm humming energy. They apologise endlessly for the torment I can’t feel as they funnel me full of magic, keeping their words soft as they glide around my garden room.
Sickbed voices, full of unsaid things and soothing platitudes. Goddess. How I loathe them. Occasionally, I catch a meaningful glance sent in Lore’s oblivious direction. I hate it, but I don’t have the energy to protest.
It’s easier to just sleep, falling into oblivion rather than deal with what’s going on around me.
I hide in dreams where Caed and Drystan are whole and healthy, and my bonds are vibrant in my chest.
In that strange space between waking and sleeping, Danu is there, promising me peace, thanking me for the sacrifices I’ve made, feeding me her energy when I’m too tired to take it for myself. I don’t know how long passes. Days? Hours?
All I can focus on is the haunting echo of the pure adoration Caed sent down the bond before he?—
My drifting comes to an abrupt, jarring halt when my chest cracks open.
I bolt up from my bed without even fully opening my eyes, blindly reaching out as I stumble in the direction of the tug. My wings flutter weakly on my back, trying to propel me forward, but only one side responds as it should, and they just end up forcing me off balance.
“Dragonfly, what…?” Bree asks, and I belatedly realise I’ve fallen into him, where he was curled up on a chair. I’m completely naked, slathered in a pungent herbal mixture, and trembling.
Still, I have to go. “I have to—Caed is?—”
“Caed’s gone, pretty pet.” Lore blinks in front of me with sympathetic eyes, but a strong pair of arms shoves him aside.
Drystan’s headless body crouches before me, the pale morning light trying its hardest to erase the shadows gathered above his neck and failing. His glowing golden eyes are the first thing I manage to really focus on, and I cling to him with desperate hands.
“Something is happening,” I whisper, though he won’t hear me. “I need to go.”
I don’t know what it is, or how I know, but Danu is urging me north, and the pain…
What was once a void, a numb place where my mating bond should be, is lit up and scalding like lava.
As crazy as it is, the dullahan seems to understand, because he hands me to my redcap and points in the direction I was heading.
“You want me to blink her?” Lore cocks his head to one side. “Eh, why not?”
