“Sorry,” I said, trying not to fidget. “It’s just, the leathers fit me like a second skin. I can barely feel them when I move. And?—”
“Nyleeria, still yourself at once.”
Giving her an apologetic smile, I sat on my hands and shut up before she cuffed me upside the head. I watched as she split my hair in two, starting each braid at the middle part and braiding them down in long, straight lines until she tied them off at the bottom, their length just above the small of my back. I went to stand, knowing she was done—which I abruptly stopped myself from doing as she raised an admonishing brow at me through the mirror.
Pulling out pins, she wrapped the braids around my head like a double crown, then went to tuck my ears beneath them at the sides.
I slipped out of her grasp. “What are you doing?”
Smirking at me, she said, “I remember a time, not so long ago, when you were loath to have these ears.”
“Well, now I’m at a time when I know how sore they’ll get if you tuck them away,” I snipped back.
“Nyleeria, do you really think it best to go into enemy territory announcing that you’re fae because the tips of your ears are oh so fragile?”
“Well, when you put it that way…” I grumbled, folding my arms and scowling at her reflection.
I winced as she popped one under, then the other.
Done, she placed her bony hands on my shoulders. “You come back to us, you hear?” she said, her voice thick with emotion.
Still facing the mirror, I held her gaze through it and placed my hand on hers. “I’ll do my best.”
Chapter 38
Homeward Intruder
First to our meeting spot, I took in the stars, which were at their brightest. There was this magical moment once in the moons’ cycle that the Summer Court called pre-dawn—the moment when all three moons had fallen over the horizon, the sun slept for another half hour, and the stars competed with no one to claim the sky.
It reminded me of the void, how it was like there were so many stars that the sky would lose its tenuous grasp on them and the glittering masses would break free at last.
I sensed Caius’ presence before he stood beside me. “The most peaceful thirty minutes in existence,” he said.
Keeping my gaze skyward, I said, “It reminds me of the void.”
“Every time since, it’s all I can see.”
Swallowing, I looked to him and said, “Thank you for the leathers, Caius. They’re beautiful.”
“They look like they fit well. And you can move in them?”
I shook my head fervently. “Are you kidding? It’s gonna feel like I’m topless when I throw.”
The side of Caius’ eyes crinkled a fraction as a wide smile bloomed on his face.
“Well, that’s a visual none of us are going to be able to get out of our heads anytime soon, Spark,” Artton quipped.
Flushing red, I turned to find the four of them walking down the wide staircase. All laughter was stolen away as we all took each other in—which had me turning scarlet for wholly different reasons.
To see the three summer fae in leathers, fully armed, powers thrumming as if continually tapping into the magical space of threads so they could pluck at will, was something to behold. Like it had when I saw Endymion in the same state, it reminded me of just how lethal the fae were.
Fighting. Battle. Killing. It’s a different side of ourselves we have to tap into. A side I hadn’t seen from them. A side I never wanted to oppose—Tarrin included.
Tarrin was lethal in his own right, having gained back his previous stature. Until then, I’d never realized just how human he looked. Even though he was relatively the same height and carried more bulk than his male counterparts, he was a warrior, but they…theywere predators.
I noted then how Tarrin looked at me like I looked at the towering fae in front of me, and I realized that it wasn’t just my fae counterparts that looked that way, but thatIwas now a predator among them, becauseIwas fae. How jarring it must have been for him to see me this way. No longer the doe-eyed girl inlovewearing skirts and playing possum for Thaddeus, but something more. Something lethal.
“Do you like them?” Kaelun broke the silence, practically brimming with excitement.
