He doesn’t so much as twitch.
I drop to my knees beside him.
“Sebastian.” I take his face in my hands. His skin is cold. His lips are bluish-tinged. His eyelids don’t move. I press my fingers to his throat and wait, my own heart hammering so loudly I’m afraid it will drown out what I’m searching for.
I sigh when I feel a pulse. It’s faint and slow, but it’s there.
I look up at the two males who brought him in. “He needs help.”
They leave without a word.
“Please help him,” I tell the shifterfae females, but they ignore me, too.
I lean over him, pushing the hair from his forehead. His breathing is so shallow that I have to put my cheek near his mouth to feel it.
“Don’t you dare die on me,” I whisper. “Not after everything. The realm needs you. I need you.”
I realize that it’s true. I haven’t known Sebastian for very long. We hardly know each other, and yet it somehow still feels like we’ve been through a lifetime in a few short days.
Footsteps at the entrance make me look up.
The hy-were female from before walks in. She looks from Sebastian to me without expression. She wears a strip of hide across her hips and nothing else. Behind her, three others follow. Two males and a female, all built in that same lean, hard way. They move to Sebastian and crouch beside him.
“Take him,” she tells them.
The males reach for him, but I move to stand in their way.
“Where are you taking him?” I demand.
The leader looks at me.
“Where are you taking him?” I repeat.
“To a healer. He is worth more to us alive than dead. Step aside, human, before it is too late for us to help him.”
“I’m going with him.”
“No, you are staying here.” The leader’s voice doesn’t rise. “You have a lot of questions to answer.”
“I’m not answering anything until I know he’s safe.”
She tilts her head, studying me. “It seems you are more important than we first thought. Your mother is the Ruler General of the shadowfae. How interesting. You’re also a powerful magicker. More powerful than we realized.”
I want to tell them that it isn’t true, but I hold my tongue. Having her believe it is in my best interest. I’m not sure how I did that out there with Snow. One thing is for sure: I would have been dead if the shifterfae hadn’t taken me and brought me here.
“You need to start talking. Who are you? Who sent you? What is your purpose?” she asks.
I don’t say anything. I keep my eyes locked with hers.
One of the males grips my shoulder, ready to tear me away if the order is given. Ready to…hurt me? I can’t be sure. I stand my ground. They can go to Hades.
“Stand down,” the leader says. “It will not go well for you to continue this, human. Cooperate, and things will be easier.”
The male lets me go.
“You can stop calling me ‘human.’ My name is Isla. It would be nice if I knew who I was arguing with.”
The female smiles. “I like you. That doesn’t happen often with humans; not that I’ve interacted much with them.” She makes a sound that I think is meant to be a laugh. “Although, I suppose you’re not really a full-blooded human, which would explain it. If you must know, my name is…” She gives a series of yips, sounding surprisingly like her animal form. “Since you will have trouble pronouncing it, you may call me Terra.”
