I shake my head, finding my mind oddly blank aside from flashes of images. Trees. Underground burrows. Berries. The bird.
“I don’t understand. I shifted into my unseelie form, and…”
“You got stuck,” Franco finishes for me.
“But why? I was starting to shift faster and faster between forms.”
“You must have lost touch with your seelie side.”
I suppress a shudder. Aspen warned me about the possibility of forgetting who I am in fox form, but I never thought it would be so easy to do. What would have happened if Franco hadn’t found me? Would I have stayed a fox forever? Surely, I would have remembered who I really am.
I recall one of my last coherent thoughts before I shifted forms.
Was it really me who set that fire?
Or was it the fox inside me?
Is there even a difference?
Anxiety rushes through me, but my fire is ready to burn it away. I don’t let it burn too hot; just enough to keep my mind clear. Then I recall what Franco had said before he scared me out of my fox form—something that makes my heart flip. “Aspen sent you?”
“Yes, and it’s a good thing I found you. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a fox in the woods? Luckily, you glow.”
“I…glow?” I furrow my brow, and Franco nods. I haven’t given much thought to what I look like in my firefox form. When I first glimpsed my reflection in the Twelfth Court, I noted white fur rippling with pink, purple, and aqua flame. After I killed Ustrin, I remember looking at myself in a stream and saw my flames had died down to a harmless glowing light. If that’s always the case with my fox appearance, it’s a wonder I managed to sneak up on that bird at all.
“Why didn’t Aspen come himself?” I ask, keeping my voice casual despite the way my heart tightens at the question.
“He said he made you a promise that he wouldn’t use the Bond to look for you, whatever that means.”
I snort a laugh, his answer relieving me of my momentary tension. “So he sent you to find me. A clever way to work around a promise.”
He lifts his chin with a smug grin. “I’m sure it also had to do with the fact that my power of flight has an advantage over his unwieldy hooves.”
I roll my eyes, but a more serious question drains my mirth. I bite my lip. “Did you tell him where I went?”
“How could I? It’s not like I knew myself.”
I avert my gaze to stare guiltily at the ground between us. “I’m sure it isn’t difficult to guess. You’re the one who flew to the Briar House to gather intel on the brothel at my request. Surely, you must have guessed what I was planning on doing with the information once you gave it to me.”
“When I saw for myself what went on inside that brothel, I thought you might set off on some heroic mission to rescue the enslaved fae there,” he says. “However, I never would have guessed you’d go alone or that you’d burn the entire building down once you did.”
My eyes flash to his, a spark of alarm running through me. “You know about that?”
“Where do you think I first flew to look for you?”
I turn my gaze to my skirt—the stolen human gown that serves as further evidence of my guilt. Surprisingly, the dress has held up during my travels as a fox, although the hem is coated in black. My obsidian dagger remains at my side as well.
“Thank you, by the way,” I say. “I honestly can’t remember if I said that when you gave me the information about the brothel.”
He lifts his chin. “I don’t believe you did thank me. Turned a fiery shade of scarlet, I think was your response. Not an hour later, you were gone from Selene Palace. On that note, it seems I’ve done quite a bit more for you than you’ve done for me, and I’ve yet to be repaid for thaterrand, as you called it.”
I put my hands on my hips and give him a pointed look. “I think saving your life after an iron injury should count as payment for several favors, don’t you think? Besides, I don’t recall promising you anything in return.”
“A fae never does anything for free,” he says with a teasing smirk.
“Well, asmartfae shouldn’t perform a favor without requesting a bargain beforehand.”
“And only the most ruthless fae would deny fair compensation.” He takes a step closer. “Better late than never, though. Worry not, I can think of several things you could do to pay me and none of them would take too long.” He looks at me from under his lashes.
