I pry my gaze off the pyre, scrolling it over the grove in which Sewell lost his life, toward the stables.
The horses have been freed. No harm will come to them.
Relief warms my rain-soaked skin and grows when I catch a herd of them racing down the streets of Tarespagia. Lore must give the order to depart for we take off over the dunes of Selvati as one.
As we fly, my mind returns to Lore and his apology.If you’d eliminated Dante, the Faeries would’ve fought your dominion, which would’ve resulted in a terrible amount of casualties, Lore.
The sand is dark and wet, pockmarked by puddles through which splash gaggles of bald children, attempting to keep up with the Crows’ almighty wingbeats.I cannot see their expressions, but I imagine their small faces are full of wonder since normally-constituted people don’t run toward their fears.
At leastyouwouldn’t have been amongst the victims.
Perhaps—I press my lips into the soft feathers of his neck—but I’d have hated you, mo khrà . . . I’d have fought against you.To defuse Lore’s lingering unrest, and my own, I add,What if I’d won?
Obviously, the magicless girl that I was didn’t stand a chance against talon-tipped beasts who could morph into smoke, but I sense it will lighten the mood to suggest I could’ve offered him a fair battle.
I’m wrong, though. Lorcan’s mood only sours. With a sigh, I kiss his neck again, then burrow my face against his feathers, and although it doesn’t ease his pulse, it does ease his temper.
As minutes turn into hours, the rain thins and sunbeams manage to cleave through the wooly cover to glaze the pale gray peaks of the Sky Kingdom.
Home.
I’m finally home.
Forty
When I catch my father landing on the esplanade, I ask Lore to land there as well.You need to rest.
I’ve still got a thousand and one questions for the general.What Ineedare answers, and Justus has most of them.
The second we reach the slick pale stone, Lore disintegrates into his shadows, which he enfolds me with to buttress my body. When he senses I’m steady on my feet, he shapes himself into the man I know and adore, and reaches for my hand.
I assume he wants to hold it until he flips it over and traces the inked circles with his eyes.Tell me about thisthingon your hand now.
Only if you swear to keep the growling and murdering-Justus to a minimum.
I solemnly swear to you, Fallon Báeinach, that I will keep my growling to a minimum.
I jerk as a prickling sensation seizes my right bicep and another glowing band settles beneath Justus’s two. I’m now the proud owner of three oaths, from twoveryinfluential males to boot. I already felt powerful, but now I feel downright invincible.
I grin, mentally rubbing my palms together because a bargain from Lorcan is priceless.
I’m still waiting for you to solemnly swear not to delimb Justus, Lore.
With a dark smile, he murmurs,You’ll have to wait an eternity to hear me swear the latter, Behach Éan.
Good thing I’ve an eternity to wait. Did I mention that I was immortal? Well . . . fairly immortal.
There is no fairly about your immortality, Fallon, for I dare anyone to spill a drop of your blood and live to speak of it.
I sigh because it isn’t my blood I fear spilled.
More Crows land and shift, while others circle the esplanade in feathers. Imogen is amongst the Crows in skin, and so is Aoife. Both are naturally pale, made even more so by their black hair, but at the moment, their skin tone is alabaster.
My father unhands Justus and turns, shaggy black hair flopping around his haggard face in the strong wind that batters the mountain. He grumbles something in Crow, I imagine to Lore since he tacksMórrgahtto the tail end of his comment. If only Meriam had had time to awaken my Crow side . . . I’d have really loved to be magically fluent in my father tongue.
“Where’s my son?” Justus’s blue eyes run over every Crow soaring over us, and there are many.
My father jerks his chin toward the Sky Kingdom. “Erwin carried him to Lazarus.”
