“Fuck,” Artton said.
“How did they find us?” Tarrin asked.
“That doesn’t matter right now,” Artton said, his eyes cold as he processed this information, running through every possibility and eventuality in seconds before he nodded to himself as if making a decision. I wasn’t sure what he was about to say, but his eyes held an apology in them as he looked at Sidrick.
“No,” his commanding partner said in disbelief. “I’ll stay—let Kaelun go with them.”
My brows creased in confusion as I took the others in and saw that they clearly knew what had been decided.
Artton put a hand on Sidrick’s shoulder and squeezed. “I’m sorry, I need Kaelun here with me. His powers are more versatile than yours, and he can help me navigate a true threat assessment. It could just be a regular patrol. You and Tarrin take her to…” He glanced at Kaelun, who looked around us seeing something we couldn’t.
“Southwest or northeast,” Kaelun supplied.
“Our southwestern meeting spot,” Artton said.
“Understood,” Sidrick confirmed, though the word was tight as his eyes lingered on his little brother, making my heart ache.
“If we’re not there by Fenorryn’s rise, then go directly back through the Autumn-Summer border and inform Caius,” Artton ordered.
“Understood,” Sidrick said again, then turned to his brother and pulled him into his chest. “Remember your training. Don’t be a hero. And get your asses back to us by the time the second moon rises, okay?” His eyes held Artton’s over his brother’s shoulders as he said the words.
Releasing his embrace, his kid brother took a step back and held a fist to his chest in what I recognized as a summer salute. “Yes, sir.”
Sidrick’s throat bobbed with a swallow before he nodded to his brother and then his friend.
“We’re seriously just supposed to leave you?” I said, hating the idea of separating.
“Yes. And you’ll do it now,” Artton said, standing tall. “Understood?”
“But—”
“No, Spark. You promised. This is a direct order.”
“Damn it,” I said, knowing he was right. I took the briefest moment to look between the two summer fae as if committing their features to memory as Tarrin and Sidrick inched away in a silent call for me to follow. “Don’t be stupid,” I said to Artton, whose mouth pulled up just enough to show that indomitable dimple. “And you,” I said, pointing to Kaelun. “We’ve got a centennial to celebrate; I’ll be pissed if you take that away from me.”
“Who says you’re invited?” He winked, and for the briefest moment I felt his warmth before the situation sucked it away.
“Come on, Ny, we don’t know how long we’ll have to slip through their perimeter,” Tarrin said.
Hating that he was right, I turned away and slipped between him and Sidrick, who led us away. Before we got too far, I turned around to find them still staring after us.
Be safe,I mouthed to Kaelun.
I will,he mouthed back.
Without another silent word, Kaelun and Artton turned their backs on us and walked away. Just like that, I was reminded—while beautiful—this court is home to all different manners of death. As Endymion had said, the na’li was just one of death’s creatures.
Focusing forward, I nearly walked into Sidrick’s back.
“What is it?” I hissed.
“We’re too late,” Sidrick said, and raised his hands in front of him, readying to conjure.
A heartbeat later, the undeniable sensation of someone about to valen hit me. Tarrin turned to see what caught our attention, his brows furrowing as Artton and Kaelun looked to us with wide eyes from where we’d just tried to part ways.
One moment I was looking into Artton’s panicked eyes; the next, three large figures blocked my view of the summer commander, but it was the gray-blue eyes of the one in the middle that had my veins fill with ice.
“I wondered when you’d be returned to me,” Thaddeus said, and then, all hells broke loose.
