“We need to be at the front line…all of us. As many as we can find.”
“You’ll die.”
“We’ll all die if we don’t stand against her.” My voice rises before I can rein it in. “Why do you even care? According to you, I work for Snow. So there is nothing to worry about.” Frustration and irritation bleed into my words.
His nostrils flare. A muscle tics in his jaw.
“There is a chance you don’t work for her,” he says, the admission dragged from him as though it costs him something vital. “A chance that I might have this all wrong. If I do, I don’t want you to stay. Please don’t.” His voice drops. “It’s the only thing I’m going to ask of you.”
“Relax, Sebastian. I’m not staying.”
His shoulders drop. He pulls in a long, slow breath and lets it out. “Good.” He nods.
“I’m not staying because I’m planning to go back to the Shadow Court.”
His head snaps up. “What? You can’t be serious.”
“I am very serious. I need to see my mother. I need to speak with her.”
“No.” The word leaves him in a hard rasp. “You’ll be captured. There is a bounty on your head. Don’t do this.” He steps toward me, his voice strained. “You can’t. I won’t let you.”
“You have no say in the matter.” I meet him head-on. “You washed your hands of me. You accused me of lying.” My voice cracks, and I hate it. I hate that he can still do this to me. “I’m going, whether you like it or not. I’ll risk capture. I’ll risk everything I have to look my mother in the eye and ask her why she did what she did to us.” I pull in a shaking breath. “Once I have my answers, I will come back here and help the shifterfae in their cause.”
“You won’t be able to. You’ll be behind lock and key or dead.”
“It’s a chance I’m willing to take. A chance I have to take.”
“Don’t—”
I turn and walk away. I won’t explain myself to someone who thinks I’m a liar.
“Isla, no.” Sebastian’s voice follows me down the corridor.
I grit my teeth and keep walking.
He catches up. His hand closes around my wrist. His grip is warm and firm, and the touch sends a wave through me that I resent with everything I have.
I shrug him off.
“Don’t do this.” His voice is hoarse. Stripped back to something I almost don’t recognize.
I pause. Just for a second. I feel the pull of him behind me. The heat of his body close to mine. I want to turn around. I want things I can’t have. Things he doesn’t deserve.
I keep going.
Sebastian doesn’t follow.
36
Sebastian
The morning air carries a chill as we step outside the cavern entrance. Terra is waiting for us; she is holding a small, wrapped package. The wind lifts strands of her dark hair and sends them dancing around her face.
“Safe travels.” She looks at me first, inclining her head. “I wish you well on your quest for the Lost Kings.”
“Thank you for everything.” The words are formal. But I mean them.
Then she turns to Isla.
