I crouched slowly, studying it. The trembling was too perfect. The bleating too pitiful. This had to be a trap, but gods, I’d had enough death.
My hand hovered at the bars.
The warmth of its fur shocked me. It feltreal. I pressed my forehead to the iron, breathing in the sweet musk of straw, and some broken part of me wanted to believe it. I needed a reason to soften after being flayed open for days.
The fawn leaned into my touch. Shivering, needy, trusting.
Wild animals didn’t do this. They fled from humans, especially in confined spaces. They didn’t seek comfort from strangers.
This was wrong.
I pulled back, my heart racing. The fawn’s gaze tracked me—too aware. Not the glassy panic of a trapped animal, but a calculating stare.
What are you?
A cold breeze brushed my neck.
“I wouldn’t do that.”
I jolted and whirled around.
Kairos lounged in the doorway, his expression carved in stone. He wore fitted black trousers and a leather tunic that left his sculpted arms bare. His mantle, clasped over one shoulder, cast a feathery shadow on the wall.
“Step away. Now.”
I didn’t move. “What is it?”
“Not what it appears to be.”
He flicked two fingers toward the cell. Wind surged from him, slamming into the bars. The fawn let out a strangled cry, then convulsed.
Light rippled across its body and the limbs stretched with wet cracks that echoed. Fur melted, revealing tannedskin. Joints popped and reformed. The delicate legs thickened into fae limbs. Those liquid dark eyes blinked, then bled to gold. Feathery wings unfurled from his back as a fae collapsed onto his stomach where the fawn had been.
I stumbled back, my hand flying to my mouth.
His straw-like hair hung in bloody clumps. He slumped against the wall, his hands shackled. Runes flickered on his collarbone, but he seemed too weak to use magic. What bound him was probably leaching his strength.
Kairos kicked the bars. “That is a Caelir spy. A realm known for its shapeshifting runes.”
“They can turn into animals?”
He shrugged. “Into whatever you’ll pity the most.”
The male coughed, blood flecking his chin. “Please. Help me. My king—he can help you.”
White mist coiled around the fae’s throat, cutting off his words. He clawed at it, gasping. Kairos moved away from the cage, looking bored. Then his gaze settled on me and he sighed. He palmed my shoulder, making me hold in a tight breath.
“You need to be more careful. You can’t trust your senses here.”
My palm still tingled where I’d stroked the fawn’s fur.
“He was sent here to kill you. Tried to enter your room last night,” Kairos said, drawing a blade from his belt. “Had this on him.”
He held out an ornate dagger.
I took it, surprised by its weight. The beautiful, milky steel caught the light, purple gems studding the handle. “This is too fine for an assassin’s weapon.”
“Not if you’re sending a message.”
