That at last makes Bane and Jessina recover. Giving their heads a quick shake, they draw themselves up to their full height while those customary expressions of arrogant power return to their features.
“Let’s go,” Draven says in a low voice as we reach the portal.
Then one by one, we walk through it.
Relief crashes over me when we appear in Orion’s throne room in the Unseelie Court.
The moment we’re all through, Grey lets the portal collapse.
I watch it sink into the ground, leaving the Icehearts, Hana, and Severin Godblessed behind on the shores of a red-streaked sea.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
For a moment, the six of us just stand there in the middle of Orion’s throne room. My heart is still pounding in my ears and my mind is still in survival mode, so for a while, I can barely even process that we’re safe now. That we’re free.
Then Draven wraps his arms around me and pulls me into a tight hug.
“Are you okay?” he whispers into my hair.
And everything just comes crashing back over me. Because, no, I’m really not okay. My thigh and shoulder still ache from where Jessina stabbed me, my brain has barely processed that I didn’t die a few minutes ago from Bane’s ice spikes, and my entire soul is screaming at me to use my magic now that the iron collar is off.
But I don’t want to tell Draven that. Especially not when there are other people here. So I just nod against his chest and reply, “I am now.”
His arms tighten around me, and he kisses the top of my head. Then he raises his gaze and looks towards the left. There is a light hint of teasing in his voice when he says, “Took you long enough.”
“Easy for you to say, dragon shifter,” the Dryad Queen replies. “As opposed to you, we can’t fly. We might be able to take certain shortcuts underground, but we still need to actually move across the ground.”
“Stop,” Lavendera hisses.
Pulling back from Draven’s embrace, I find her shaking her head hard and blinking.
“It’s too crowded,” she growls, still whipping her head back and forth. “Stop it, stop it, stop it.”
That makes Grey leap into motion. Since he is the only member of the Unseelie Court currently present, he takes it upon himself to offer them rooms to stay in if they need privacy, which they accept.
While Draven slides a comforting hand down my arm, I turn to Isera, who is still staring at the space where the portal used to be.
“You chose to save us instead of killing Bane,” I say.
A jolt goes through her, and she snaps her gaze to me, looking as if I have just caught her doing something she shouldn’t.
Cocking my head, I study her. “I thought you hated them more than you cared about us.”
“I do,” she replies, but red flushes her cheeks and she glances away awkwardly.
I smile. “Thank you.”
She clears her throat self-consciously.
Since I’m pretty sure that she will combust if I keep this up, I give her an easy way out and tell her, “You should probably head down to Haldia too and get those cuts healed.”
Her gaze darts in the direction of the healer’s house, even though she can’t see it from all the way in here, and an expression that I can’t read settles on her face. Orion is no doubt down there right now. Hopefully, his eye can still be saved.
“Yeah,” Isera replies.
After one more glance at me and Draven, she starts towards the door.
I turn back to my mate, and a soft smile spreads across my lips. “I knew you would find me.”
