Corey practically sang, “Oh hello, sweet cheeks.” Her round, freckled face was bright with a smile. “I’m so happy you decided to come! Hold on, I just need to put something in the oven.” She disappeared through an open doorway into what Luna assumed was the kitchen.
Luna didn’t even have time to respond before Damien took off after Corey, his arms crossed over his chest. “What the hell was that?”
Luna rocked on her heels, hesitating only a second . . . then, almost running, she hurried after him. The last thing she needed was for these green walls to come alive and give her one more thing to have nightmares about.
In the kitchen, Corey was sliding two trays with circular dough on them into the oven, the metal clattering softly against the rack.
“In all the time I’ve known you,” Damien was saying, “you’ve never greeted me that warmly. It’s always—‘Hey, Little Prince,’or ‘Oh, good, you’re here! Go get me this, did you bring that?’”
Corey spun on her heel. “Youreallythought you’d get a warm greeting after you took so long to get here. Marion was worried sick.” She might be shorter than Damien, but her energy overfilled the room, making her far more intimidating. “I had to reassure her a hundred times that you guys would be okay.” The musical notes of her voice were gone, replaced with exaggerated exhaustion.
Damien half-grinned, clearly not sympathetic to her woes. “And here I thought she would only worry about Gregory.”
Corey groaned, rolling her eyes. “Don’t even get me started. Lovesick puppy, that one.”
So Marion’s crush on Gregory was well known by others. That made Luna wonder how Gregory wasn’t aware of it . . . Or maybe he was and couldn’t bear to acknowledge it.
Sliding his beautiful behind onto the counter, Damien asked, “Have you contacted his men yet?”
“Yes, as soon as Nina healed. The trade is tomorrow.”
Luna’s blood went cold.
Tomorrow?Damien had said it was happening soon, but this was much sooner than expected. One night was hardly enough time to ask all the questions she had, let alone develop any kind of bond.
“Good, the less time Arleen is with them, the better.”
Corey grabbed a bird-like figurine and turned its head around twice. It began to sing a soft little tune. “I have to say Luna,” Corey said, drawing her attention, “I wasn’t sure if you would actually come . . .”
“Didn’t really have much choice to be honest,” Luna said curtly, curling her fingers into her palms, keeping her hands by her side to hide her nails.
Corey’s eyebrows furrowed and her lips parted slightly as she glanced towards Damien, silently seeking answers.
“The King of Grythorn imprisoned her,” Damien explained. “I busted her out of there and we took the backcountry to get here.”
It was strange that her life completely falling apart could be summed up in a single sentence or two. Thinking about what the king had done left a bitter taste in Luna’s mouth, one that she doubted even the delicious smelling goods baking right now would be able to chase away.
Corey’s face hardened, her hands forming fists at her sides. “He did what?! The audacity to do that to a unicorn . . .” Her voice trailed off, barely grounding out the last words before anger overpowered her ability to speak. Heat radiated off of her tense body, her eyes wild, looking around the room like she might find the king here and use him for target practice. “Don’t tell me he got away with it.”
“Then you’re not going to like my answer,” Damien said, a shadow crossing his face as he met her gaze.
Corey shook her head, her nose scrunching with disgust. “Your mercy is going to be your downfall.”
He didn’t say a word, but Luna knew; it hadn’t been mercy that stopped him.
He rose abruptly, hooves slamming on the ground with enough force to make her flinch. “Don’t talk to me about downfalls. We barely escaped as it was. If I went hunting for justice, we’d probably both be stuck there.”
When Corey didn’t respond, Damien pulled out a stool and gestured for Luna to sit. She shook her head, not exactly in a sitting kind of mood. He shrugged and sat down on it instead, turning his attention back to Corey. “If we are done discussing that, I’d like to know if Nina has explained how to fix the teleportation system, or given any hints on how?”
“None,” Corey answered with a solemn shake of her head, her tail swishing behind her. “I think she hopes to use it as leverage with the Darkened One. For now, it looks like the meeting is going to happen as planned.”
“Honestly, I don’t care. Let it be someone else’s problem. As long as my sister isn’t rotting in his hellhole for a minute longer than needed.”
Ahellhole. That’s where he planned to send her birth mother. Luna left the kitchen, acutely aware of the other’s hoof steps behind her as she walked over to the large circular window. She gazed out at the desolate landscape below, a pit forming in her stomach. “Will she be okay?” she interjected, breaking the flow of their conversation.
Damien and Corey both looked towards Luna, but it was Corey who answered. “Oh yes, sweet cheeks, I’m sure she’s fine.”
Damien leaned over to Corey. “I think Luna was referring to Nina—her mother.”
