I genuinely didn’t understand and it was frustrating me. Of everybody, Inara was probably the most aware of what I was capable of.
“There are things I can’t tell you.”
I narrowed my eyes as she avoided my gaze. “Does this have anything to do with Brin sending you to keep an eye on me?”
Inara froze, her gaze locked somewhere in the vicinity of my chin.
From the emotions that raced across her tiny features, I didn’t have to wonder if what I’d been told was true.
She and Lowen had been Brin’s agents all along.
Though it was something I’d suspected for a while now, the confirmation caused a weird clench in the vicinity of my stomach.
“People keep telling me to forget about you. That you’re untrustworthy and were only at my side because of someone else’s orders. Are you telling me I should listen to them?” I asked in an even tone.
Say no, Inara. Please.
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you to do.” Her voice was flat and emotionless as she met my gaze with a blank look that mademy heart sink. “Playing your roommate and quasi friend was fun and all, but this is serious business now. I don’t have time to entertain the would-be princess anymore.”
Her wings buzzed behind her, moving so fast that they were a blur. Despite how much damage they’d sustained, they still managed to lift Inara off my chest.
Her midair hover was a little shakier than usual but she managed to remain airborne. “If I were you, I’d be more concerned about yourself. After your last incursion, the custodian strengthened the spells around this place. Your realm guardian can no longer use the shadows to gain entrance. Also, those cute little marks that allow the vampires to track you like a stray pet are useless. This is the realm’s heart. Like I told you before, there is no escape once you’ve entered.”
Inara shot into the canopy of the tree, disappearing behind its leaves.
I breathed out in disappointment. “The hard way it is then.”
Too bad for her, I didn’t believe any of that bullshit she’d just spouted. Something had scared my diminutive friend. For whatever reason, she wasn’t prepared to confide in me.
Fine then.
I’d just do things my way.
Whether she liked it or not, I was going to save her and Lowen. But now, they didn’t get a choice in how I did it.
The silence after Inara’s departure was eerie. In the human world, there was always ambient sound in a forest. Either the wind stirring the trees. Insects making their songs. Or forest animals going about their lives. Never this unnerving quiet.
It was particularly disturbing when you took into account the cheerful sunniness of the meadow. Like two incongruous images that hinted at something darker beneath the surface.
I never got this feeling when I was in Noctessa. That realm felt soothing and deep. Mysterious, yes. It was built fromnightmares and blood. Such a thing was bound to earn a reputation. Deserved or not.
The Summer Lands, though.
There was something evil here. Buried under the surface. The land’s brilliance and beauty blinding most to reality.
But it was there if you looked hard enough.
Like a meadow of graves and cages in the very heart of its most sacred land.
I drew myself up to sitting, maneuvering until the oak’s trunk supported my back.
I didn’t believe Inara when she said there was no escape from Summer’s Heart. There was always a way.
Unfortunately, I discovered moments later why no one had bothered to imprison me in a cage of my own. The red cap had dumped me in the sole spot of shade in the otherwise sunny meadow. Right at the base of the tree whose roots were imprisoning all these Fae.
I might as well have been marooned on an island. From the prickling of my skin even while sitting in the shade, I knew I wouldn’t make it far before succumbing to the power of this realm’s sun.
“That’s just great,” I muttered to myself.
