“When the moment comes,” he said softly, “and the Fates offer you the trade you asked for… remember this night. Remember that it isyourchoice. Not theirs. Not mine. Not even hers.”
Then he was gone.
Night rushed back in, too loud, too real.
I took a breath. Then another. My hand shook when I touched my side; the cut had stopped bleeding, sealed over by whatever lingering warmth Ire’s presence had left in my veins.
The Emerald Forest watched as I walked back through its shadows, more awake than I’d been in days. My purpose felt like a blade newly sharpened—clear, bright, lethal. Grey Oak waited. Callan and his desperate grasp of a powerful throne. Heliconia with her cruelty and stolen magic.
Somewhere in the dark between us, Aurelia was marching toward them both. So, I picked up my sword and marched toward them all.
Chapter Forty
Aurelia
In the graying light of dawn, I stood at the base of the foothills and watched Keres, Daegel, Vanya, and Lesha until they were nothing more than a speck on the horizon. After three days, we’d finally made it to the Autumn border. This morning, we said goodbye to the others and sent them on their way back across the Broadlands to Frithhold. Lesha would be safe there. And, gods willing, Keres would find a way to heal the wounds on her body—and maybe even the wounds on her soul.
Leif stepped up next to Eirnan, jaw clenched, his hair still singed at the ends from where my furyfire had gotten too close. “We’ll bring as many as we can,” he said. “Just… don’t do anything reckless before we get there, all right?”
Slade snorted. “When have we ever been reckless?”
Leif’s mouth twitched—not quite a smile. More a grim acknowledgment that he had no doubt we would indeed be reckless before it was all over.
They weren’t happy about splitting up, but we all understood what was at stake. Slade could carry only so many with him before it drained him dry. And if we hadany hope of reaching Grey Oak before the wedding, we had no time to lose.
Eirnan leaned heavily on the crutch Daegel had made for him, but his voice was steady as he made his goodbye. “We’ll spread word along the road.”
“Carefully,” I added. “Do not bring trouble or attention to yourselves.”
“We have many friends along this route,” he assured me. “And there are still Autumn fae who will fight for their own freedom if asked.” His gaze held mine. “They’ll fight for you.”
“I’m not their queen,” I said quietly.
“No,” he agreed. “But you’re fighting for them anyway.”
I swallowed. “Thank you. Both of you.”
Leif shifted awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Just… don’t die. I’m tired of losing friends.”
Friend. The word hit harder than I expected.
I hugged them both—Eirnan stiff but accepting, Leif clumsy and bright-eyed—and then Slade set his hand on my shoulder.
Thorne pressed in, a hand on Slade’s shoulder, and murmured a low warning at me to “get ready.”
And the world vanished.
Shadow-walking wasn’t graceful. It wasn’t like slipping through darkness or drifting like mist. It felt like being yanked through a crack in the world by something with claws. A cold rush, a stomach-lurching drop, a dizziness that made me scramble to know which way was up.
Now I understood why Thorne hadn’t looked thrilled by the idea.
Slade exhaled sharply as the world blinked back into place—gray sky, tall pines, the tang of damp moss.
“Halfway,” he said, already breathing harder than he wanted me to notice.
Halfway? That was it?
Thorne steadied me. “You good?”
