“That time has gone, since they proved themselves to be killers in the Night Lands.”
“And who was responsible for that? The Bluecaps or the Faerie? You do know most of the Bluecaps were wiped out in the wars, don’t you?”
The way she hesitates, I see she does not know.
“And what did you do in the wars?” I demand.
She pushes past me, going through to the prep room.
“Because he fought,” I call after her, “and it took his soul.”
My words ring through and I hear complete silence, as if the rest of the kitchen has been listening. I decide I’ve had more than enough for today, and given I was one of the first working this morning, the monks cannot complain if I stop now.
I dump the collection of dishes I’m carrying and pull off my apron before heading for the stairway where Linton lurks.
“Did you mean that?” he asks as I turn the corner and he pulls me into his arms. He opens and closes his wings a few times, scales falling from them as he nuzzles into my hair. “About me not being a monster?”
I pull back to look at his face. “Of course I do. You are not a monster, Linton. You are you.”
I snuggle back against his warm skin, luxuriating in his soft, biscuity scent. Linton absolutely smells the best.
“The wars were not for everyone,” he says quietly. “The reason the Faerie chose me, and the Wyrm, and the Barghest were because we were able to fight. Even if we didn’t want to.”
“I know.” I ball up a fist because anger flows through me like water. “But not everyone in the Yeavering had to let the Faerie do what they wanted. They could have stood against them. They were not helpless, and if they didn’t actively oppose the Faerie, then they consented to what they did.”
“The Faerie were powerful,” Linton says.
“And where are they now?” I growl.
He looks at me and does one of his long, slow blinks.
“You make my heart hurt, my Kaitlyn,” he says. “I don’t understand why.” His clawed hand curls under my chin, and he dips his head, his lips brushing mine. “It hurts even more when I do this.”
I feel my own heart crumble. I shouldn’t be doing this. I shouldn’t be falling for him or for anyone in the Yeavering.
“I’m in the Yeavering to complete a mission for the human resistance,” I blurt out. “I’m here to bring about the downfall of the Faerie and to stop the human lottery.”
Linton stops with his next kiss.
“Does this mean we can’t mate anymore?”
I shake my head, unable to move my jaw because it’s clenched so tightly after the admission I never thought I’d make to a single living being here in the Yeavering.
“Then your fight is my fight, Kaitlyn,” he murmurs. “And I will stay by your side until it is done.”
LINTON
Iknow about resistance. Once in the Shadow Keep, I was part of those who sought to overthrow the Reivers and to destroy the keep.
Warden was among those I worked with. He’s the only reason I was prepared to go into battle once again against Queen Mab, alongside the Barghest and the Wyrm. The reason I was prepared to abandon, just for a while, watching Kaitlyn.
I am more than prepared to fight with her as well as for her.
“Your fight is done, Linton,” she says as I get to bury my head in her hair once more. “You don’t have to be involved in mine.”
“You want rid of me?” I query, now confused as apparently she still wants to mate.
“No.” Kaitlyn laces her fingers in with mine. “I am not the Faerie. I won’t force you into a fight which isn’t yours.”
