He said nothing.
“The books I’ve read made it seem like a beautiful place. Glittering towers in the clouds. Fae floating down on white wings with bows and arrows. Like that one myth, Lysander.”
Kairos snorted. “He’s real.”
“You’re serious?”
He kept walking. “Yes. He’s an asshole.”
“You know him?” I asked carefully.
“He created a rune so potent, it mimics a mating bond. Then he engraved it onto arrowheads. He’s used it to wreak havoc between courts.”
My steps slowed. “A rune that forces fae to feel mated?”
“Temporarily, but some courts tattoo their heirs to make it permanent. To ensure alliances…control consorts.” Disgust seeped into his voice. “Royalty likes pretending it’s fate, but a real bond can’t be faked.”
“Forcing people together is barbaric.”
“It is, and once it’s tattooed, it’s forever. It cannot be undone.”
“So what happens if they find their real mate?”
Kairos paused, his hand on a tree trunk. “Mating bonds are very rare. But when they happen, any other…ties a fae has become insignificant.”
How many had lived their whole lives loving a lie?
“Damn it,” he swore, staring at something on the forest floor.
I peeked around him. “What kind is that?”
A rune throbbed over a jagged slab of rock.
Kairos unsheathed his sword. “Attack rune. Get back.”
“Why’s it here?”
His jaw tightened. “Invading armies leave them to maim the enemy.”
“Can’t you destroy it?”
“Runes don’t break,” he said flatly. “They last until their magic is spent. This one’s still strong.”
I studied its trembling lines and the blackened vegetation surrounding it. Everything within a few feet of the stone was dead or dying. A low hum filled the clearing, growing louder, vibrating through my chest.
The rune hissed, and a shadowy wisp shot out. The fern beside me split in half.
Kairos shoved me back. I stumbled, bark scraping my palms as I caught myself against a tree.
The rune thrashed, blackness seeping into the soil like spilled ink. That earthy smell sharpened into acid.
A tendril lashed toward me.
Kairos blocked it, his blade cutting through the air. The tentacle wrapped around the steel, coiling tight. It jerked hard enough to make him stagger forward, teeth gritted as he fought to keep his footing.
“Fuck,” he growled.
He extended his free hand. Fire burst from his palm in a violent rush of heat.
