"Don't pretend ignorance, fairy." I move closer, shadows coiling dangerously. "You're her closest confidante. If she planned to leave, you would know."
"I—" Ivy's usual bravado crumbles, and for once, she looks genuinely distressed. "Okay, fine. She told me she needed space. Yesterday. But she said she'd be back! She specifically said 'just a day or two to clear my head.”
"And you didn't think to inform me?"
"She asked me to cover for her!" Ivy's voice rises, defensive. "She said she just needed time to think without you hovering—which, by the way, you haven't been doing anyway since the whole garden incident?—"
"What did she need to think about?" I cut her off, darkness pulsing dangerously. "What made her run?"
Ivy hesitates, her wings beating faster—nervous energy that she can't quite mask with sarcasm.
"Tell me," I command, my voice dropping dangerously low. "Now."
"Julia's journal," Ivy finally says, the words tumbling out. "We read Julia's journal. Well, Sera read it. I might have... helped her acquire it from your very locked, very private study."
Ice spreads across the floor. "You broke into my chambers."
"To protect her!" Ivy's hair flashes defensive red. "Look, one of your ancient servants told her about Julia—the whole tragic pregnant-mate-dies-mysteriously story. Sera was terrified she'd end up the same way. What was I supposed to do, just let her spiral?"
"So you helped her steal my dead mate's journal." My voice is deathly quiet now.
"When you put it like that, it sounds bad," Ivy mutters, then winces at my expression. "Okay, it is bad. But we needed to know what really happened! The journal talked about your shadows attacking Julia, about you losing control, about how scared she was. Combined with what happened in the garden, with Sera's arm—" She stops, seeing my face. "She was terrified, Malakai. Can you blame her?"
No. I can't. Because she's right.
I hurt my Omega. Lost control just like I lost control with Julia. Gave Seraphina every reason to fear me.
"Where?" I force the word through gritted teeth. "Where did she go?"
"I don't know exactly," Ivy admits, her voice small now, the playfulness completely gone. "She didn't tell me her plans. She just said she needed space to think—away from the palace, away from the bond. I thought she meant a day trip to clear her head. I didn't think she'd actually leave for real."
"But you have suspicions." I sense her hesitation. "Tell me."
Ivy swallows visibly. "She mentioned once... during her training days, she had a place she'd go. A clearing in the boundary territories with silver-barked trees. She said it helped her think when things got overwhelming."
I turn to Emmett. "The Twilight Forest."
He nods grimly. "Four hours' ride at normal pace. Three if we push hard."
"We leave immediately." I'm already moving toward the door. My Omega is out there alone—vulnerable to my enemies, to the prophecy hunters, to anyone who would use her against me. "Every guard, every tracker. I want her found."
"My lord," Ivy says hesitantly. "I should come with you."
I turn on her, shadows writhing. "You've done enough."
"I know fairy tracking magic," she insists, flying to block my path despite her obvious terror. "And she'll trust me when we find her. She needs to know you're not—that you didn't come to hurt her."
The words cut deeper than any blade, but I force myself to nod curtly. She's right. Seraphina might run from me, but she won't run from Ivy.
"If anything happens to her," I tell the fairy quietly, my voice carrying more menace than any roar, "there will not be a realm in existence where you can hide from me."
Ivy's wings tremble, but she nods. "I understand."
We ride through what remains of morning and into afternoon, a procession of shadow beasts carrying us across the boundary territories at punishing speed. I lead, following the thinning thread of our mate bond. Behind me, Emmett and a dozen shadow guards maintain formation, while Ivy streaks overhead, her fairy light cutting through the grey sky.
The guilt rides with me, heavier than any armor.
I should have gone to her immediately after the garden. Should have explained about Julia—the truth, not whatever lies and confusion her journal contained. Should have told her about the curse, about Erlik, about how desperately I'm fighting to maintain control.
