“Thank you,” the queen said. For a moment, Margeaux seemed to consider whether she would actually return the diadem. I half expected her to melt it in her hand. But she held it out to the queen, who took it without ceremony. And then immediately turned to me.
“I gift it to you, as a token of goodwill,” Queen Parry said. “You are a guest of Balar Shan. I am sorry you and your familiar were so ill-treated.”
She held it out into the space between us.
That thing had killed my sister. Margeaux had proudly admitted to cursing it. Touching ought to have been fatal. But they were fae.
Take it,Isanara urged.
And I was a witch.
My fingers closed around the ornate filigree of the diadem. I did not have to look to know. Margeaux was enraged and the king was pleased.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” I dipped into another bow, not quite as low as the first.
Garrick cleared his throat. “Do you still wish to speak with me, Majesty?”
“I have seen enough,” the king said, his eyes dancing. There was mirth, but also a warning. “Take your witch away before she causes any more trouble.”
I tossed the diadem to Isanara as we rounded the curve, just in time to revel in the horror on Margeaux’s face.
Eat up, I told my familiar.
CHAPTER 24
GARRICK
My heart was still lodgedin my throat as I followed Koryn through the pattern of spokes and curves that made up the central tower of Balar Shan. She stopped suddenly, and I finally managed a breath. She was going to talk to me.
“Which way?”
Wrong.
I stepped ahead of her and started to lead the way back to our bedroom. We were three turns away before she spoke again.
“How did you know?”
I kept walking, not looking at her. If I were too direct, she would fold back in on herself.
“The Lifebind burned,” I said.
Koryn’s step stuttered. Isanara was there, pressing into her hip to steady her. “It has never done that before.”
No, it hadn’t. But every pounding step between the courtyard and the corridor where Margeaux had cornered Isanara and Koryn had urged me faster. The god-made connection between us had merged somehow with my own consciousness. It knew Koryn was in danger, and because it was Margeaux, it knew just how much.
“It sensed you were in mortal danger.”
She scoffed. “I’ve been in mortal danger plenty of times since this stupid thing appeared. We were in the Seven fucking Gates.”
“I don’t know, Koryn. I knew you needed me, so I came.”
We reached the familiar door. Koryn flew through it, Isanara at her heels, spinning on me the instant she did. The echo of our first night in Balar Shan was impossible to miss.
“I did not need to be rescued,” Koryn snarled.
My control snapped. I thought I’d been a master of my own emotions, of my body. But it turned out I was wrong. All it took was Koryn, falling in love with her, to break the binds that had once felt so secure.
“Balar Shan will eat you alive. Are you really in such a hurry to join your Dark God?”
