“Lazarus. . .” Justus murmurs.
“Were you not aware the healer lived with us?”
Justus’s gaze returns to me. “I thought the man sailed to Shabbe.”
As though to bar me from being too near my grandfather, my mate inserts himself between us, shadows solidifying, screening me off from the water-Fae.
You do realize I was with that man for a month, Lore?
He doesn’t move a muscle—or rather, a wisp, since he’s currently all out of muscles—but he gives me a withering stare that makes me roll my eyes.
He will not snatch me from you. He wouldn’t dare. No one would.I reach up and touch his jaw that is granite in spite of being made of gossamer matter.
With a sigh, his dark form moves to my side, his edges curling around my own.
“How much do you all know about what happened in the tunnels?”
“I’ve told them only what Justus and I discussed before I brought you to him.”
I spin around at the sound of Bronwen’s voice. The milky-eyed seer glides off the back of a feathered steed, who morphs into a man—my uncle.
“My apologies for the way we parted, Fallon. I feared that if I warned you of my intent, Lorcan would interfere with Fate.” She moves toward us on Cian’s arm.
My uncle stares apologetically my way even though he’s got nothing to be apologetic about. Unless . . . unless he knew?
He didn’t, Lore says.
“I can only imagine how deeply you loathe me,” she continues.
“I doubt that, but we can discuss my displeasure with your tactics at a later date. We’ve more pressing topics to explore at the moment.”
Her purple lips thin at my reproof.
I turn back toward the others. “Where should I start, Justus? What do they know?”
Gaze on Bronwen, he says, “If Bronwen has told them everything, then they should know that Meriam unbound your magic and why you must be the one to kill Regio. They should also know about your tether to Meriam and Zendaya, and the reason for the blood-bind.”
“I’ve learned that some things are better left relatedafterthey happen.” The volume of Bronwen’s voice is so low I barely catch her words. Her lids suddenly flutter before closing. “Lorcan, stop.” Her lids squeeze, and lines appear in the rubbery skin of her temples as my mate assails her with his thoughts. “I did not tell you everything for your own good.”
With a sigh, I ask, “So whatdidyou tell them, Bronwen?”
“I told them that Meriam would unbind your magic and thus make you immortal, and that Justus would see that you were returned alive and well when it was done. I also told them about the tether in case Lorcan located you before Justus and Meriam were done preparing you.”
Preparingme? I was not prepared. I was given magic without instruction, and then I was told of a concealed dagger that Dante located first. “Well, that leaves a lot of ground to cover. Care to fill them in on the rest?”
“I think it best you tell them, Fallon, for I care to keep my head attached to my body.”
I snort. “And yet you braved coming out here . . .”
“BecauseallI did, I did for the sake of our people. Weneedthe Cauldron.”
“Weneed, oryouneed?” I clearly remember her telling me about her desire to jump inside to reverse her skin’s ruin.
She tips her head. “Don’t you want to break your mate’s obsidian curse?”
Low. Blow.
My father folds his arms so snugly that his leather vambraces squeak. “Speak, ínon, and do not leave anything out.”
