My stomach twists and my spikes pulse. “What the fuck does that mean?” I seethe out.
When he doesn’t immediately answer, rot thrusts up from the ground and starts crawling over everyone else in his group. He whirls, watching them struggle as poisoned death invades their bodies like constricting vines, only these wrap beneath their skin.
In a flash, I’m before him, wrenching him by the collar and forcing him to look at me. “Tell me right fucking now or I will kill you all.”
“She is lost to us,” he chokes out, scrabbling at my one-handed grip. “King Carrick has her.”
My lungs constrict. “Why the fuck would the fae king want her?”
He looks at me like I’m mad. “Why would you ask that?” he spits out, jerking in panic as some of his people start to fall onto the dirt, choking on the rot that begins to fester their organs.
“Tell me!”
His fearful eyes swing back. “The Carricks hate them! They tried to kill her entire line. But she survived somehow. Auren Turley is the last-birthed heir, and she’s come back to us to finally unite Annwyn and end the Carricks’ reign.”
I drop him, and my power jerks back from the group. They cough and sputter, but my ears are drowned out with the clicks of connections that snap into place.
Turley.
I know that name.
My magical and combat training took precedence once my power manifested, but my father still ensured my schooling continued as was appropriate for the son of a noble.
I remember briefly learning about the Turleys. For a handful of centuries or so, they ruled Annwyn. As my tutor taught it, they ruled until abdication, when the favored Carricks took over. The Carricks had political connections and they were stronger and better liked by the people.
My great-grandfather became a rich man when he backed the first Carrick’s rule. My father became a famous one when King Tyminnor Carrick called for him to aid in breaking the bridge.
“I thought all the Turleys died a long time ago,” I finally say.
“That’s just what they wanted everyone to think. To forget them. But when that still didn’t work, when the Vulmin still followed them…the Carricks slaughtered them during an attack. We thought their line was ended for good when the golden girl disappeared. Most people believed she was dead. But she came back. They say she fell through the sky.”
Fell through my rip.
My emotions battle inside my chest, my heart pumping wildly. Auren is here. I knew it instinctually, but to hear it confirmed fills me with fierce hope.
“But the king has her?” I ask, my excitement cut through with the sharp edges of worry.
He nods. “That’s what we heard.”
My rot pulses with my spiking panic. If King Carrick has her, and the Carricks hate the Turleys…
“Where does your allegiance lie?” he asks pointedly.
“With her,” I answer. “My allegiance lies withher.”
Everyone from the group has gotten back to their feet, though they don’t dare move. The fae with the teeth magic keeps the cluster clutched in his fist, but his hand trembles. “Our allegiance is with her too,” he tells me, his voice raspy but full of challenge.
“Then I’ll let you live,” I reply.
Tension and wariness builds between them. “Who is Auren Turley to you?” the leader asks.
Who is she?
She’s fucking everything.
“We are a päyur. So stop fucking wasting my time and tell me where she is,” I grit out.
Another ripple of shock goes through the group. “You are fate bonded?” he breathes.
