“Shite,” he said.
Arthur nodded.
“You’re an idiot.”
Arthur nodded again.
“Okay.” Corbin touched the knife in his abdomen. “This makes what happens next even more important. Maeve, I know you think I’m just a dream. That’s fine. But dreams tell us things about ourselves, sometimes even about things we don’tthinkwe understand but actually do, deep inside. I think deep down you know I’m real in some way, otherwise you wouldn’t keep coming back here. I need to you stop resisting me. Stop thinking of me as Corbin if that will help, and start listening to yourself. Can you do that?”
I nodded.
Corbin’s shoulders sagged as he let out a breath. “Okay, then. Our first order of business. Allow me to introduce the person who’s going to help us stop Daigh.”
A figure stepped out of the swirling dust, dragging an injured leg. Green clothing hung in tatters from her body, and one arm ended in a bloody stump.
Liah.
“What’s she doing here?” I hissed.
“Greetings to you, too, witch,” Liah hissed back.
“I saved her,” Corbin said. “Daigh had her tied up in one of the torture chambers. He didn’t want the fae to run to her in case they found out about his little bargain. She wants to help us.”
I folded my arms. “Nope. This isn’t going to work, because subconscious me is an idiot. Liah isagainstus. She always was. That’s why she tried to kill me in the church and that’s why she was the one compelling the villagers to attack the castle. Blakefelther mind as she did that evil.”
“He did,” Liah said. “Because Daigh forced me to do it. Didn’t you wonder why I wasn’t on the field of battle, gloating over my victory? I was here, tied up, being poked by demons until I bent my mind to Daigh’s will. You’ll learn soon enough that even without his power he is no enemy to be trifled with.”
I threw up my hands. “Fine. I give up!” I jabbed a finger at them each in turn. “You’re Corbin, back from the dead to talk to me. Arthur’s a weird dust ghost. Liah’s a kind and trustworthy fae who’s really on our side and never tried to kill me. What’s all this in aid of? What do youwant?”
“Daigh’s going to try and take his power back,” Corbin said. “He’ll escape from his prison. He’ll wait until the Slaugh ride, and then he’ll make his move?—”
BANG BANG.
A loud rapping noise echoed through the tunnel. The floor shook beneath my feet. Dust toppled from the ceiling high above, pouring over my body and sending me crashing to the ground. My knees hit the hard stone floor and pain shot up my spine.
BANG BANG BANG.
The floor jerked again. Corbin looked up at the roof, just as another shower of dust rained down on his head. “Looks like you’ve got a wake-up call.”
“Corbin, wait?—”
“Remember Maeve, the clay steals the clay!” Corbin shouted at me as his body faded into the darkness.
I reached out to grab him, but he retreated into the shadows as more dust toppled from the roof. My body pitched forward, and the dust swallowed me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-ONE: ROWAN
“Maeve?”
I rapped my fist against the door to the bedroom. Nothing. I’d already tried the door handle and it was locked. Maeve must’ve woken up after Aline brought her sleeping body in from the car and locked it. I knew I should leave her to sleep, but I couldn’t stand her not talking to me and thinking badly of me. I wanted to tell her about my visit with Lady Pembroke. I wanted to lift this heaviness in my heart with her presence, just for a moment.
I rapped again, harder, the urgency rising in my throat. “It’s Rowan. Please talk to me.”
No sound. Panic shot through my body.First Corbin, then Arthur, what if Maeve…
I jiggled the handle between shaking fingers, but it was just as locked as before. I stepped back and threw my body at the door. My shoulder slammed into the wood, but it didn’t give an inch. Frustrated, I leaned back and kicked out with my foot, the way I’d seen Arthur do in his drills a million times.
