The bell chimed again.
“Time to go.” Gideon grabbed my arm, and I ripped out of his hold.
“What's happening? What are those chimes?”
“I wasn’t lying when I told you the Lich King wants you. He gave an order that you were to be turned over to him within one week. That little escapade into the Dryad Realm cost you days. And now, well, the twisted are here.”
“We have to stay and help! There are innocent lives here.”
“No, we need to leave.”
“But your family’s here!”
“My family is gone. I sent them away.”
“That’s why you said it had to be tonight…”
Gideon dragged Kane closer to the tree.
“Stop, Gideon, we can’t leave them. We have to help!”
“Then what? The moment Kane can move, he will kill you for what you've done.”
“You don’t know that.”
But even as he said it, doubt crept into my throat. Only moments ago, Kane had reminded me of how he couldn’t trust humans. The image of him broken, furious on my bed, would forever haunt me.
How would he respond with an active betrayal? I had allied with Gideon, even if at some point I had changed my mind.
“He's never trusted humans,” Gideon reminded me. “That's why he never wanted to marry you. And after today, he will never let you live. If you don’t believe me, believe this.”
When he held out his palm, a blurry image of a village formed between us.
As the picture came into view, I recognized the female priestess.
“Madeline. But how do you know her?”
“Just watch,” Gideon said.
Madeline walked down an alley somewhere in the market. She clutched a bag to her chest, gaze darting around her as she moved in hurried steps.
Shadows crept into the alley, and she turned around just as a shadow blade pierced her chest.
“No!” I clamped a hand over my mouth in horror.
We never knew who killed Madeline, and there was only one fae who wielded such a weapon.
“Now you know how Kane truly feels about humans.”
This couldn’t be an illusion. Gideon didn’t know who Madeline was, which meant he must have been there the moment Kane killed her.
“Why would he kill her? She was nothing but kind.”
“The reason doesn’t matter.” Gideon took Kane's hand and pressed it against the bark, waiting for it to become malleable. “Say the phrase, and you will never have to fear the Deathless One again.”
Kane’s head lolled to the side. His dark hair covered his face.
I can’t leave him like this. Not when his people need him.
