“I feel something,” he says, and even without opening my eyes, I hear the smile in his words. “Like … like something beside my heart that isn’t my own.”
“That’s her,” I whisper, a silent tear running down my cheek.
I feel a flame in my own heart spark, one that doesn’t feel like Kel, or Ez, or Farron. But I’d believed so vividly that Dayton was my mate before, I won’t be fooled by this phantom flame again.
“Thank you, Rosalina,” he mumbles, words slurred as if drunk. It’s like he’s in some sort of daze. He leans down, his mouth gliding across my temple, salt-crusted lips caressing my cheek.
“Dayton,” I say, my heart beating like a war drum in my chest. My whole body is a moth drawn to the flame of his lips.
“Just a thank you,” he rasps, the edge of his mouth touching mine.
“Dayton, we can’t.” I shove him in the chest and stagger back into the jungle.
I hear him swearing behind me. I don’t slow, needing to get some space between me and the Summer Prince. Stupid. I was so stupid to let him touch me. Stupid to let him get so close.
“Rosalina, I’m sorry. I got carried away.” Dayton catches up and grabs my arm. “Will you just listen to me?”
There’s a snap of rope. Dayton looks down, then up at me. “Oh fuck.”
The grass and dirt beneath our feet shifts, revealing a rope net. It draws upward, whipping us up into the air and then dangling us from a tree high above the ground. My arms and legs tangle with Dayton’s. Before I can summon my thorns, before I can even scream, a silhouette emerges from the edge of the treeline. A fae, holding a huge trident in one hand.
We’re not alone on this island.
CHAPTER 49
Ezryn
“Delphia!” My voice cracks as I watch in horror as the harpy tightens its talons into her shoulders and whips back up into the sky. Delphia screams, the sound not of a steward or a princess, but a terrified little girl.
I push Eleanor back against one of the pillars and run out into the sand, tracking the winged monster’s movements. The creature laughs, its hypnotic song replaced by a half-human, half-animal cackle. The harpy is a twisted amalgamation of woman and bird. She cuts through the air with an eerie grace before landing atop one of the rock formations.
I know these creatures. I’ve seen them only once before, but not here. It was down in the Below during one of my visits to Keldarion when he lived there. I remember the traitor Caspian speaking to me of them, how they were a creation of Sira’s. His words from decades ago filter through my mind:The Queen of the Below has always been jealous of the Queen of the Vale. Aurelia made fae into birds, so Mother wanted to make fae into birds. You can see, Mother wasn’t quite so talented.
Have these monsters escaped from the depths and found salvation here?
Whatever the reason, they need to die. Now.
My heart rails against my ribs. I can get up there. I just have to figure out—
“Ezryn?” Eleanor says quietly.
I ignore her; I need to concentrate. The formations are about one hundred feet high. I could scale them, but it would take too long—
“Ezryn?” Eleanor says again, louder.
I don’t have time for her questions. “Not now, Eleanor.”
“EZRYN!” her voice ascends into a shriek.
I spin just in time to watch a second harpy fold in its wings and dive toward her. It spreads its gray-black wings at the last second and seizes Eleanor’s arms in its talons.
“Eleanor!” I lunge for the monster, but it’s too late. It jerks her up into the air, shrieking in delight, an old crone’s voice mixed with a bird’s screech.
No, no, no, no. They’re gone. They’re both gone. IpromisedDayton, and through Dayton I promised Farron, I would keep their family safe. I can’t lose them, not like this.
I grit my teeth. Iwon’tlose them. These abominations will die before they steal another drop of fae blood.
I move without thinking now. Grabbing the grappling hook off my pack, I swing the rope in huge circles for momentum. I fling the hook forward. It lodges into one of the rock formations, but nowhere near high enough. It will still take me too long to get up there. The monsters’ cackles are louder now, and one of the girls is screaming.
