Her earl had returned.
Beaming at Amos, she cast out a mirage of haughtiness to mask her show of emotion from prying eyes. Her pulse sped from sheer excitement with every upward step she took.
Once George reached the all-but-deserted upper floors, she made a break for it, miraging her appearance to match the walls as best as she could while jogging. If spotted, someone might think they were seeing a ghost. That was fine. There were enough of them walking the palace halls.
“Where’s Ean?” George asked, concerned, when she found Ruairi, another of Eanraig’s friends, positioned outside her door.
“Within, Princess,” he replied calmly, bronze wings beating behind him as he slid sideways, clearing the doorway.
She rushed into her dining chamber to nothing but a disconcerting silence. George tried to keep the warmth pulsing through her from cooling to something unpleasant. But it couldn’t be helped. Icy needles of fear pricked her arms and the back of her neck as she shoved her way into the sitting room. Empty.
Low murmurs slipped through the door to her right.Isahn’s room.
She pushed in and stumbled back a step when she processed the scene before her. Her arm shot out of its own volition, reaching for Isahn, who lay limp and lifeless in the middle of the bed. Half her friends knelt on the mattress around his head. Adda and Burke stood on the far side of the bed, and Dunstan was closest to George, leaning in and reaching around Wynnie to place his hand on Isahn’s hair. All of them were touching her earl.
Ean popped up from his position, somewhere in the middle of the group, and zipped over to George.
“What happened!?” she hissed, recognizing that mind magic was underway and trying to remain quiet, in spite of her panic.
“They’re almost done, P Georgie.”
“What happened? Was it the veil again?”
“Ach, no.” He waved away her concerns with a small hand. “They’re repairing the damage. Yer earl refused to wait any longer. He wanted to be whole for you.”
“You’re giving me palpitations, Georgie,” Wynnie whispered, not looking back as she spoke. “Please,” she begged.
“We’re nearly finished,” Hildy promised.
“It’ll be easier if ye wait in the sitting room.”
George huffed. Clearly, she was only getting in the way. “Fine. Get me the moment you’re done.”
She paced, back and forth between the door to her chamber and Isahn’s. In an attempt to calm her racing heart, she set her focus on taking measured steps, moving slower and slower with each pass of the room.
Finally, the door opened while her back was to it. George pivoted, herstolaswishing around her ankles as Hildy emerged with Ean following close behind.
“Well?”
The faerie popped up above Hildy’s head just long enough to say, “We’re done.” Before disappearing behind her short curls.
Hil offered her a smile, brimming with hope, and George found it was difficult to remain frustrated with her friends for acting without her approval, for mindmolding Isahn without her there.
“He wanted us to get it over with,” Hildy reiterated what Ean said inside the bedroom, “demanded it, really. You’ve changed him.”
That placated her further.
“I need to see him.”
“Let’s go back in. He’s still fast asleep.” Hildy moved to the side, and Ean buzzed backward into the bedroom, clear across to where Dunstan and Adda sat on the settee tucked beneath thewindow. Burke had claimed the desk chair, and Wynnie perched on the edge of the dressing table, foregoing the stool.
George climbed on the bed beside Isahn and ran her fingers through his shaggy hair, noticeably longer than when she’d last seen him bound in the cell at Villa Senone, a complete stranger.
“How long will he sleep?”
Adda answered the question directed at him, “Maybe another three hours, tops. It was a strong dose, but he didn’t finish the cup.”
“Do you really think it worked?”
