Page 72 of Ruthless Fae King

I wouldn’t do it. I wouldn’t hurt Hazel, no matter what happened. If Cyrene forced me into killing anyone at all…I would kill myself.

I turned around to go back to the hovercraft. I took one step forward before darkness slammed into me and drowned everything out until I knew no more.

27

HAZEL

“Nylah!” I cried out when the High Priestess of Jasfin stepped out of the hovercraft. Her white robes and long hair blew in the wind from the craft’s engines as it took off again.

I threw my arms around my friend and let out a shuddering breath of relief.

“I can’t tell you how good it is to see you.”

“You’ve been having a hard time,” Nylah said. A statement, not a question. When I pulled back, she looked at me with her golden, shimmering eyes. She hooked her hair behind one pointed Fae ear. “Come, let’s talk.”

“Don’t you want to rest after your journey?” I asked.

Nylah shook her head. “There are more pressing matters.”

We walked into the castle, and my mom and Zita waited for Nylah there. After they hugged her, Nylah put her hands on my mom’s shoulders.

“I’m so happy for you,” she said with a warm smile.

My mom blushed and glanced toward Zita, who looked shy, too.

“Both of you,” Nylah said, putting her hand on Zita’s shoulder. “A noble woman deserves a fine reward, and finding true happiness is the most divine reward known to Fae kind.”

The two women blushed again, and Nylah smiled before letting go of them both.

She turned to me. I felt left out in her congratulations. Of course I wished my mom and Zita every happiness. They deserved to find love—my mom more than anyone I knew. I wanted this for her.

I just felt that I’d been robbed of my own happiness. I’d done everything right. I’d sacrificed a lot and stood by what was right for as long as I could remember. It was how my mom had raised me. But now…

“How is Ellie?” Mom asked.

I felt bad that I hadn’t thought of Ellie and her pregnancy.

Nylah beamed. “She’s doing well. The child is strong, and the power they wield is like nothing this earth has seen. Terra has a great destiny for that child, and Ellie and Ren will be blessed beyond measure.”

It all sounded wonderful, and I was glad for Ellie and Ren, that they were happy and their family would grow.

Nylah and I walked to my room. After ordering herbal tea from a servant, we sat on the couches, arranged around bookcases. The large window overlooked a private garden that was ugly and dead.

“It’s so much harder to save the Conjurites than we thought it would be,” I sighed. “I’m starting to think it’s impossible.”

“It’s never impossible. Remember, the light always wins over the darkness.”

“Does it?” I asked dully. “It doesn’t feel that way. It feels like we’re buried at the heart of darkness, and it will never end.”

“Have you struggled to reach the Conjurites, to break through the darkness?”

I relayed everything that had happened with the Conjurites we’d saved, how hard it had been, how slow-going, and the deaths from the process. I told Nylah that it was easier when my mom and I worked together, and better to do it in a group so that it was one stretch of power, and by the time we were drained, it was all over.

“It’s worrisome that it’s taking so long,” Nylah said, her brow furrowed. “I’d hoped Terra would have shown us a way to do it faster, but I’ve heard nothing from her on the topic.”

“Neither has my mom,” I admitted. “It’s been trial and error, so far. More error, in fact.” I took a deep breath and finally told Nylah about what had happened when we’d tried to help Erol.

Nylah listened, a concerned expression in her face.

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