Stars, I couldn’t handle any more. I just stood there, waiting for another truth to shatter my world.
He heaved a sigh and ran both hands through his hair, it slipping neatly back into place. “Wymond knows you’re the spark incarnate. He figured it out during the summer solstice. When you returned to the human realm, he paid Thaddeus a visit and threatened your life.”
“Is that all?”
He tilted his head, brows furrowed.
“No,” he said cautiously after a moment. “They made a bargain—Wymond would allow you to live with Thaddeus if the king gave the high lord access to your powers as he sees fit. As leverage for your complicity, Wymond took possession of the twins.”
Cold, heavy dread filled me. I already knew Wymond had the twins, but with a high lord at the table, Thaddeus was that much closer to getting what he wanted, and I doubted Wymond was aware of the king’s genocidal intent.
“What doesstasismean?” I asked, needing but afraid to know what it meant for the twins.
Sadness for me flickered in his eyes. “It’s a form of perpetual sleep. The twins have no idea what’s happening and have not been physically harmed.”
“How do you know?” I pressed.
He hesitated before saying, “Because I’ve seen them Nyleeria. And as the stars are my witness, I promise nothing has happened to them.”
“Oh gods.” The quivering words slipped out of me when an immense relief stole my breath. I bent over, hands on my knees, and forced myself to breathe.
My siblings hadn’t suffered. They weren’t suffering.
“Oh gods,” I sobbed. Unable to catch my breath, I began hyperventilating. Endymion took a step toward me and put a hand on my back, comforting me.
“Don’t touch me,” I yelped, jerking back violently as if his touch were acid.
Eyes wide, he pulled his hand away and stepped back, wary.
I continued to struggle for breath as my mind reeled. Ragged half-sobs, half-gups of air came in as blackness tugged at the sides of my vision. I wasn’t getting enough oxygen.
Endymion took another step back and raised his hands, palms facing forward. I was like a faun, ready to bolt at any sudden movement, and he knew it.
He waited, not moving an inch, allowing me to sort through it myself, to catch my breath. Space and time were the only things he could offer me in lieu of words and a comforting touch. Stars, why had I reacted to him like that? He’d placed a hand on me many times before, and I was fine with it, enjoyed it even.
Slowly calming, I thought through the options, what he’d told me. Yes, I was in the Autumn Court. No, given what I now knew, this probably wasn’t the best place for me. Yes, understanding the mercy of stasis diminished the urgency to blindly attempt to free Cassy and Leighton—risking all our lives. Yes, I’d believed the Summer Court to be safe—but I had no reason to trust anyone right now. Then again, I couldn’t afford not to. So, with only bad options available, the Summer Court was the lesser evil, at least for now.
Finally righting myself, I looked to Endymion as if hoping a different option would magically present itself; alas, it didn’t.
“What do you want to do, Nyleeria? The choice is yours.”
I turned over the scenarios again before squaring myself and holding his gaze. “You swear you won’t take me to Wymond?”
“On my life, and my honor.”
“Okay, then let’s go to the Summer Court.”
To our surprise, we found Luca at the campsite. What wasn’t surprising was that he’d gotten into the food. I couldn’t even bring myself to be mad as I stepped over the mess and wrapped my arms around him.
“Thank you for coming back,” I whispered.
He placed his head on my shoulder and nuzzled me in a little closer.
Wiping tears from my face, I retrieved a set of clean clothes from my rucksack, along with my toiletries. Autumn leaves crunched underfoot as I followed a heavily trod path upstream to shield me from prying eyes while I freshened up.
Even seeing the evidence of the changing season in full swing, no amount of coin would have forced me to admit that swaths of green hadn’t clad the forest the night before. I wondered if it was glamor or if the borders overlapped.
Thoroughly scrubbed, I walked back to where Endymion and Luca patiently waited.
