I pressed my forehead to his. "Thank you for coming for me."
"Always." One of his hands stroked my cheek. "To hell and back if necessary. If you hadn't come out, I was going in."
His words resonated with promise. I believed him.
I let my lips quirk up. "Good thing that wasn't necessary then."
Liam was powerful enough that he might have forced his way past the veil, but it would have cost him.
"Cute as this reunion is, we should probably get going before they realize we've rescued the fair princess," Nathan quipped.
I raised an eyebrow at him.
He lifted his shoulders. "What? We did rescue you."
"That's debatable."
The real threat had always been what was beyond the veil. I liked to think this was a team effort.
"He's right. We need to get out of here." Liam helped me stand.
"Too late." Inara darted in from the hallway.
Travis followed, a naked blade in his hand. His gaze dropped to my hand and what I only just now realized I held.
"The crown," he breathed.
A crown, more delicate and intricate than any I'd ever seen on a human monarch's head, rested in my grip. It was topped with three gems. The one in the middle a deep onyx and dark as night. Flanking it on either side were two diamonds that twinkled like they'd caught starfire in their depth.
Despite the swirls and swoops of thinly braided metal, it had a solid weight.
"You found the king's prison."
I fixed a stare on him. "Now, how would you know about that?"
According to him, the king abdicated his crown to his son. He'd mentioned nothing about a prison during story time.
His expression froze before it was wiped clean. "I guess if you spoke with him, there's no reason to hide the truth anymore."
I was getting a bad feeling about this.
Liam hovered protectively at my side, Nathan beside him.
"You see, I helped the other high kings imprison him. Unfortunately, he'd already passed his crown to the weakest of his offspring."
"Let me guess. You'd planned to take the crown for yourself," I said.
His lips twisted and he shrugged. "If Brin hadn't cast it aside and closed the realm, I would have succeeded."
That was what I was afraid he'd say.
"You have no intention of letting the others live when this is through," I said flatly.
He shook his head. "No. The summer lands High King already has soldiers waiting to invade and slaughter everyone when I get that crown."
Too bad for him that even if he managed to kill me and take the crown, it wouldn't stay with him. It needed someone to choose. I'd cast it aside again before I let him have it.
"I hope you have an exit strategy," I said to Liam.
