“You’ve heard the plan then?” I scrubbed a hand over my face, not sure how much I should tell him.
“Could hardly not. I think the entire palace has heard.” He laughed without humor. “Come in.”
I followed him into his room and took a seat on a floral couch.
“How is the prince taking it?” I asked.
“Alaric is far more amenable than you’d think, but would you be happy?”
“Nope. But it’s a good idea, and I’m not sure we have any other option.”
“Then I nominate you to explain it to the King when we get home.”
I snorted. “Not a chance. I’m out of there the moment all of you are safely behind the palace walls.”
Kol eyed me, and I didn’t need him to open his mouth to hear everything he thought on that subject. Sure, I knew the basics of the ryder bond and knew he’d had one, so he should know better than me, but he didn’t know all there was. It had to be different for everyone. Wisely, he took note of my closed-off demeanor on the subject and didn’t go there. Had I been planning on sticking around, I could have seen us becoming friends. He was the kind of fae I liked to spend my time with.
“Where will you go?” he asked.
“Away.” Anywhere else. As far as I could get from her, and maybe that would ease the idea of leaving.
“Ah, away. Sounds lovely. Got room for one more?”
I turned to fully face him. He was teasing, but…maybe there was some truth there. It was hard to tell since I didn’t know his every expression. “Really?”
Kol shrugged, brushing it off, but something told me he wouldn’t take much convincing. A few days ago, I would have taken him up on the offer. He’d be a fun fuck, and a good traveling companion for a while, but now the thought did nothing for me. Could meeting her really have changed me so drastically overnight? Surely I had some sort of fucking choice in all of this. Freewill is a damn thing.
“You don’t seem so eager to get back. Why don’t you leave?”
“I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
“Do you need somewhere to go?” I asked, confusion showing in my tone.
“Maybe you don’t, but if I’m going to be miserable, I might as well do it where my brother knows I’m safe.”
“You know you don’t have to live for Nyx.”
Kol met my gaze. “I’m not doing it for him.”
“Aren’t you?”
He didn’t have time to answer because just then a door slammed further down the corridor, and after a few moments, we heard footsteps heading this way. Nyx didn’t knock, he entered and threw himself down on the other end of the couch, tossing his arm over his eyes and sighing.
“That went well,” Kol teased, looking easier than I’d seen him. Maybe shifting fully had lifted some barrier that was holding him back? Answered that doubt about whether he ever could again?
Nyx lifted his arm enough to shoot Kol a glare and then set it back across his eyes.
“Tell me you found a ship,” he said, his words directed at me.
“Ship is perhaps over-generous,” I stated. “But yes, and it’s bound for the River Kingdom.”
“Isn’t that in the wrong direction?” Kol frowned.
“Goddess, give me strength,” he muttered. “That’s the entire point, brother. It’s misdirection.”
Kol held up his hands in submission.
“They’ll take us?” Nyx directed at me.
