“Are you okay?” She grabbed my cheeks and tears threatened.
“I just killed a bunch of people,” I said.
Anise sighed. “And you did an excellent job at it.”
I didn’t know how her praise made it better, but it did. I wanted to bury myself at the bottom of a wolf pile and cry about it. Declan put a hand on my shoulder but I avoided his embrace. I suddenly needed to leave right this moment before I would never leave these people again.
Declan had been breathtaking as King. It would be so easy to just submit and be his Queen, if I didn’t already sense a flare of the Fever for pushing my magic so hard. This could be the worst yet and I didn’t want him to see it. If I had to experience his pity through the bond I couldn’t deny, Imight die.
The princess and the King were walking toward another glittering portal. Or more like he was half dragging her uncooperative ass.
“Can I catch a ride with you? Just drop me back at Evie’s.”
Declan cried, “Honey!”
I was a coward when all he had given me was acceptance. Surely, I could at least say goodbye like a normal human.
My hand met Declan’s, while I ignored the way it battled back some of the pain, just like it had the night of Evie’s state dinner. We had come so far together, but I would only hold him back from becoming the King he needed to be. “They’re already going that way and I won’t waste any more of your time.”
His grip turned to iron. “Let me at least get you another cloak. Your nightgowns. Your knives!” Declan’s voice cracked and I broke with it.
Like Declan called it, the Old Magic provided his list at his feet. I put on the pack he had stuffed and stood there as he adjusted the straps. I could feel ice stealing over me. Physically, emotionally.
“You don’t have to fuss.” I tried not to choke on the words.
“Just let me, Honey. One last time.” He didn’t look me in the eye. He didn’t fight for me. But that had never been Declan’s way. He would dash himself against the rocks of Fate before he would stand in my path.
Severin cleared his throat, all harsh planes and haughty grandeur. “If you’re ready.” He bent over his princess, whispering, “Where am I taking her?”
“Maggie’s sister,” the princess sniffled.
I didn’t know Dolly well, but she and Maggie had grown inseparable. Just another way our small trio had broken apart. I wasn’t sure I was ready to face them again either, but with Declan’s heart in his eyes, here was definitely the more heartbreaking option.
“I would be a terrible Queen,” I reminded him.
Declan nodded with his head down. I was just making this worse by delaying. I squeezed his hand one last time.
Severin stood in the waiting portal, holding his hand out to me.
I didn’t let myself think. I gathered my confidence and stepped into the dark.
Chapter 25
Fallon
Severin shoved me out of the gold-dusted portal and back into my kitchen at Evie’s Keep. I went to ask Declan if anything with pointy ears could be civil when I realized I might never ask him anything again. The well of despair that opened up beneath my feet consumed me whole. I didn't really know why Anise saying I loved her son hit me like a cannonball just when I could do nothing about it. My mind hadn’t caught up with everything that had happened in such a breathless number of moments and now that I was alone to think, I started shaking.
A rustling followed by a groan had me on my feet, brandishing the one kitchen knife I had strapped to my thigh. A moon whale breached the kitchen door and then Evie screamed.
I screamed at her scream, my nerves completely shot with all the new information, the fighting, the near-crying and dying over the past couple of days.
“What the seven hells are you doing in my kitchen? Are you mated? Let me see the mark.”
The word ‘mate’ was the last thing I wanted to hear and her crestfallen look was the last thing I wanted to see. Leaving Declan would be so much easier if I just focused on the work and my friends, even if I left half of them in Nightfell. The one before me was so huge, I had no idea how she was getting around. She had to lift her own stomach just to walk.
“Do… do you need a chair?” I asked.
“Oh Godds, yes. I was trying to be stealthy and grab a snack. I’m always hungry.”
