Kaden had told me once not to lie to the fae — that many older faeries could smell deception. I had no idea how old the female might be, so I settled on the truth. “My blade thirsts for the blood of the demon king.”
“Only a fool would hunt the Dark One, and a fool would not have felled so many.” Her expression turned cold. “Tell me the true reason you have come here.”
My mouth went dry. Whether she could smell deception or not, she’d somehow known that I hadn’t shared thewholetruth.
“I am the last witch of the Coranthe line,” I managed. “My dagger is a witchwood blade. I alone may kill the demon king, but to do so, I must venture to the Great Oak and restore the Death Bringer’s hands.”
I reached over my shoulder, fumbling with the makeshift sack attached to my bandolier. I didn’t unwrapthe hands, but something in the way the fae recoiled told me she could sense them.
“Once they are returned, I will beseech her to cut the ties of the souls bound to Semphrys. Only then can he be killed.”
“You have come for my people’s blood so that you may enter the Great Oak,” said the fae.
“Yes.”
Satisfaction blazed behind the female’s eyes. “I see. You’ve told me how you propose to slay the Dark One, though you still have not said why.”
“He —” I broke off, glancing at Adriel. The royal guard’s expression was impassive. Sorsha looked terrified. “Semphrys has my mate.”
“Ah.” The faerie clucked her tongue, and a coy smile spread across her face — the most human expression she’d worn yet. “So you wish to vanquish the Dark One for love.”
“Something like that.”
“How . . . trite.” She let out a cruel huff of laughter, but I didn’t hear what she said next.
White-hot pain sliced through my chest, and I threw myself off the rock. My knees hit the boggy ground, and suddenly, I was ripped away from the forest and the fae and the old male in the cobwebs.
Dark stone walls rose up around me, and I blinked to try to place where I was. It smelled like death and dust and blood.
I was in Dorthus, but I couldn’t see Kaden.
A demon with long black hair stood across from me, her onyx eyes gleaming with delight. A fresh burst of pain sliced through my chest, and the female smiled at the sound of my scream.
No, not my scream.Kaden’s.
Suddenly, I realized why I couldn’t see him. IwasKaden. At least, I was seeing through his eyes. Feeling what he was feeling.
Back in the clearing, I was vaguely aware of Adriel kneeling beside me, but then I was snatched back to that awful cell.
I was being torn apart. What felt like claws ripped through my chest, tearing out my very heart.
My own panicked screams mixed with Kaden’s as I dug my fingers into the moss-covered earth. I looked down at my chest, expecting to find the source of the agony, but no blood marred my baggy linen shirt.
“What is it?” Adriel growled.
I shook my head, unable to speak through the pain. Tears tracked down my cheeks, but I wasn’t wounded, which meant —
The pain didn’t belong to me.
It belonged tohim.
“They’re killing him,” I choked.
“Killingwhom?”
“Kaden,” I managed.
“He can’t be killed,” Adriel replied, his voice wavering despite his words. “At least, not easily.”
