The dog’s behavior was so strange that I almost missed the glint of gold on the floor.
I glanced around for whoever had left it, but I was alone. When I knelt, the awkward hilt of my kitchen knife jammed into my ankle. I picked it up, running my thumb over the embossed gold print.
I picked up the gold coin. It was heavier than I expected, smooth except for the raised engraving I slid my thumb over. Had someone dropped this?
Rees emerged from my room, looking slightly guilty—he had definitely found my food reserves—and as if in apology, he came to me and settled down. Then he rolled onto his side, sprawling onto my feet.
Fieran emerged from the hall, yawning, his dark hair rumpled, and still pulling his tunic on. The expanse of his tanned, flat abs and a hint of dark ink caught my eye before his shirt fell the rest of the way to cover him, and I jerked my gaze away.
The Fae and the shifters were more horrible because they were so beautiful, like flowers with poisoned thorns. But none were more deceptive, lying in every line of charming face and chiseled body, than Fieran.
“Cara.” He came to a halt. He seemed surprised to see me, and even though I’d been waiting for him, my heart sped rebelliously. “I didn’t think you’d be awake yet.”
“Don’t we have training to do? If you want someone to get me ready to take a hit, Fieran, you’re going to have to do it yourself.”
“It’s early,” he said, in a long-suffering, slightly heavenward way that made me unsure if he was complaining to me or to the gods.
“Anayla told me that if I wanted to survive, I’d have to get used to early mornings.”
“And have you decided to live?” Fieran’s tone was mild as he headed for the arched door out to the stairs.
I wasn’t sure he’d meant that as an invitation, but I followed him anyway. “Long enough to make your life difficult.”
“You’ve been making my life difficult since I noticed a strange star.” He glanced back at me, the morning light gilding the cut of his jaw, the infuriating curve of his mouth.
Rees loped down the stairs beside him, nails clicking softly against the stone. Fieran’s brows lifted. “Did you commandeer my dog?”
“I don’t want him.”
Fieran looked genuinely hurt. Almost pouty, in a rare glimpse of boyishness. But he turned his back on me and kept going down the stairs.
“Did you come to my village to fight monsters or to find me?” I sounded breathless from trying to keep up.
“Finding you was an unexpected joy. I came to fight monsters. To protect you.” His words were so quick, so sure, and so untrustworthy.
“And yet you didn’t.” My voice was crisp.
He raked his hand through his hair as he jogged down the stairs ahead of me. He paused on each landing to wait for me to catch up, but he didn’t look back when he said, “You’ll find one day that I have.”
Irritated, I jogged down the stairs, cutting him off. He paused—though the amusement he projected felt more cutting than any sarcastic jab—and let me take the lead. Rees shot ahead of him, too, slinking down the stairs at my side.
When I stepped into the massive foyer, those tall walls felt as if they loomed over me, about to collapse. The space felt too large, too bright. I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear and turned to face him. “Why don’t you just tell me the truth?”
Why did the sunlight falling through the foyer have to line his powerful form with light, as if even the world was playing along with him that he was god? He wasn’t. He was just as much one of the monsters as the things he slayed.
“Why don’t you just tell me what you’re doing with Ander? Why Kiegan is skulking around you?” His gaze was sharp and knowing. Rees slipped between us, tail low, as if he sensed a gathering storm. “Why would I tell you any of my secrets when neither of us trust the other?”
“You don’t deserve my trust. You took my sister’s magic, you have my brother as hostage?—”
“I’m saving your brother’s life!”
“Those two things are not mutually exclusive!” I spat back. “What happens if I join Ander’s clan?”
“Besides your lifelong misery and regret? I would still heal your brother. I gave my word.”
“I believed you’d protect my sister too.”
“I made a hard decision.” His jaw was tense, but he projected calm. “I couldn’t let my friend die. I couldn’t let your village be destroyed by monsters. I’m sorry for Lidi, but I made the right choice.”
