“Fine, then. I will go with you,” she said after he worked her over with a story of the sun and moon, a fable he’d twisted around to his benefit.
I bared my teeth at the wall. He was good, I’d give him that.
After the shadows swallowed him, Redmond stepped behind me. “He’s gone. We should do this now.”
Fin cut Redmond off with a harsh shush, and I tilted my head. “He’s not gone. Just wait.”
As predicted, the monster waited for her to fall asleep before stepping from the darkened edge of the room, and then he pulled out that dagger and approached. Another lock of hair lost to his hands.
Instead of placing it directly in his pocket, as he did the last time, he held it up to his nose and inhaled her scent with a groan.
“Soon, my light,” he whispered, bending down to ghost his lips over hers. This time, when he disappeared, he remained gone.
“You see why we have to do this now?” Fin asked Redmond.
Redmond stilled, a sliver of candlelight breaking through the wall, displaying his look of complete disgust. “Yes. I see,” he muttered.
We were running short on time. A new day would begin within the next hour, and we needed to whisk her away to safety whilst the palace still slept. “Redmond, go collect the seer and a few small belongings you would miss, then meet us in the courtyard.”
He nodded, then disappeared around the bend in the passageway. Once Redmond left Cambriel with Dahlia in tow, every bridge he’d ever built would be burnt. Every kingdom on the continent would be out for his head, as he was neither royalty nor fae. Redmond would not be able to return to Cambriel ever again.
Fin inhaled slowly, his fists clenched. A large part of him felt horrible about lying to his mate, but even he knew she had overstepped her bounds. A fae male would never be expected to roll over and let their mate be stolen out from beneath their grasp.
“Fin, do you still have the map I drew?”
A single nod.
“Good. Go to Aiden’s room and collect the key to the rune cuffs. There is a false wall behind his bed where he stashes his valuables. Break the lock and find the key.”
“What if it’s not there?” Fin asked.
“Then you find it anyways,” I snapped. Those cuffs would not remain on her wrists for one moment longer.
Fin disappeared, and I made my way to the hidden door behind her mirror, pulling it open and pushing the glass to the side. She slept soundly, despite all that had taken place, her breaths heavy and deep. Her pupils twitched beneath her lids, and I smiled—she must be in that golden place she often dreamt of.
I propped myself on the edge of her bed and dug into the satchel Redmond had packed, filled with a small supply of sleeping potion and a rag—for if she proved difficult. I twisted the top of the vial and dropped a bit of liquid onto the rag, placing the fabric behind me. It would only be used as a last resort.
With a deep inhale, I placed my hand on Dahlia’s shoulder and nudged her awake. Her eyes opened into small slits, slowly widening as she tried to make out who had disturbed her rest. With a shake of her head, her eyes fully opened, pupils dilating as she tried to make sense of my presence.
“Ryken.” Her voice was soft and low, sounding of confusion.
“Hello, little crow,” I answered.
Her eyebrows furrowed as she pushed herself into a sitting position. I only inched closer, one hand behind my back gripping the fabric, poised to strike.
“You left,” she said. “You left for Faerie and left me behind. I don’t understand.”
The sound of her broken voice stabbed my chest, and my voice lowered. “Fear not, mate. I’m back and have come to retrieve you.”
She shook her head again, and this time, that jagged clipped strand fell in her eyes, but she didn’t notice. “I’m not your mate, Ryken. You made sure of that.”
“A mistake that will be rectified once we get to Faerie.”
She scoffed. “No. I’m not going to Faerie. If you haven’t noticed, the fate of the world rests on my ability to decide for myself, and you know what I’ve decided?”
“I do,” I stated. “I overheard, and over my dead body are you going to the Otherworld with that demon.”
Her hands flew in the air, and her face flushed. “He knows things about me, Ryken. He says I’m not a shade, and it makes sense. If I go with him, I’ll discover what I really am, who my father is. My history…I’ve been an orphan all my life, and this is my chance to discover the truth—the complete truth.”