I stopped in front of him, heart pounding. “You know she doesn’t blame you. But she will if you don’t talk to her. She’s terrified, and she has no idea how you feel because you won’t even look at her.”
I hadn’t, either. Other than the moment in the bath when she realised we knew—had known—I’d seized up and hadn’t said anything. She hadn’t seemed all that open about discussing it, either, but that was no excuse.
Kingsley’s eyes opened, tears shining in them. “This isn’t how it was supposed to happen.”
“You’re telling me,” I snorted, crossing my arms. “That fucker must have disarmed my own protection. The agency gave me something when I was of age.”
“I forgot to do mine, and that’s on me.” The mage pressed a hand into his forehead and chuckled. “What a fucking joke. This was supposed to be a happy thing. Something we—she—should have been excited about. And now this entire experience has been tainted. There’s no way to get it back, is there?”
Slowly, I shook my head. “Probably not, but we need to follow her lead on this.”
He sighed, pushing off the tree. “Agreed. Let’s get this over with.”
I couldn’t stop myself from looking out over the dark, rolling waves. With the rain having stopped, our job searching the island became a whole lot easier. The earth was still soft,wet, and I could smell the threat of rain hanging in the air, but for now, we continued our perimeter search for Black’s secrets.
“Shack up ahead,” Kingsley muttered, taking a step towards it.
I followed his line of sight and noticed it hidden in the trees. “Looks like it might have been an old feeder room,” I replied, stalking towards it.
“Or used for fishing. We don’t know if this used to be a vamp coven,” Kingsley said as he trailed after me. “I have a feeling this was an old Fae vacation spot which is how Black found it.”
I shrugged, stopping on an old overgrown path that cut through the underbrush leading down to the beach. I followed the path with my eyes, taking in the view from between the trees. “Or it could have been a guard cabin.”
“Why do you think that?” Kingsley asked, stopping beside me.
I pointed between the trees at the water. “Look.”
Kingsley made a sound in the back of his throat as he took in the very clear path between the islands and the unobstructed view of the mainland. It looked like there used to be a dock, one that’d been recently pulled apart, the remnants of it stacked on the shore.
“We can see them,” Kingsley said, “but they can’t see us.”
I hated to admit the Fae prince was fucking brilliant, but he was. And that made the guilt over not trusting him sooner worse. Because maybe if we had, he wouldn’t be lying half-dead on a bed in a room my mate physically couldn’t make herself walk into. Maybe if we’d had his back, his father never would have gotten to him.
The manor,like always, was quiet. When we entered through a mostly unused side door, I waited for Ivy to greet us, but she never came.
Without our bonds, I felt like I was missing a crucial part ofme. A part that smelled like her, that felt like her. Even if she wasn’t physically beside me, it’d always felt like she was with me regardless.
I scrubbed a hand down my face as we both made our way into the building. I could tell Rowan, Xerxes, and Rhadamanthus were working through the pages of notes Sir Theon sent through to us. And apparently, there was a lot they needed to tell us. From recounts of their time with Dante, down to the runes on Ivy’s cell, what they overheard while in the cages, what they knew about Dante’s plans—everything.
Based on what I’d been told, it didn’t sound like Dante expected them to survive long enough to pass any of this along. He likely thought they’d die in their cage before they could be a problem.
“I’m going to give them a hand,” Kingsley said, hesitating in the hallway leading towards the unfinished wing of the manor. He looked as though he wanted to say something else, but he shook his head and started for the workroom, leaving me standing beneath the stairs.
I blew out a harsh breath. Ivy’s scent tickled my nose, just the briefest whisper of it bringing my wolf out. There was a deep ache within me, a need to reclaim her, to show her badly I wanted to protect her.
But that was something I wasn’t entirely sure she could handle. I couldn’t tell if that was something she even wanted—if I could even ask her about it, because talking about it felt selfish, especially after everything she’d already gone through. The need to claim her again had more to do with my wolf’s Primal need to be with his mate, and that wasn’t something she needed to worry about.
I stalked out from beneath the stairs and into the entryway, prepared to find her upstairs. But when I looked up, she was already making her way down, dressed in my sweats and a cardigan from Maeve. When she saw me, a smile brightened her features.
If it weren’t for the collar shining around her neck, she didn’t look like she’d spent weeks imprisoned. She looked likeher old self, the female I’d fallen in love with. But even thinking that, I couldn’t help but search for any cracks in that smile. For the darkness in her eyes from her time in the cages.
Without our bond, I couldn’t quietly check in with her, couldn’t ensure she was okay. I knew when she lied, but even then…
Ivy hit the bottom stair, smile faltering for only a moment. “Hey,” she said softly, cheeks flushed. “What happened out there?”
I shook my head, taking her hand. Even if I couldn’t give into the wolf’s desire to claim her again, I could still hold her—offer her some comfort. “Nothing,” I said, meeting her eye. “We went and reinforced the wards, but it didn’t look like we needed to. Orion had this place secure before we got here.”
Her eyes shined with tears that she tried to blink away, breath shaky as she released it. But she cleared her throat without commenting on it. “Can we talk?” she asked.
