“Taran?” I reach out blindly as bits of conversation fade away. Finding his hand, I squeeze it tight. “I’m missing something. What is she talking about?”
His arm jerks back, wresting his hand free. “Princess Owena can break your curse, but she doesn’t think she should.”
“I fully intend to release her from the curse, but right now, she’s functioning. We don’t have time to break her down and sort through this mess—we need to leave.”
My head nods in time with my racing heart. “That makes sense, right? The queen will send someone after us. We don’t have time to waste.” Taran and Emlyn are in no shape to fight, and after what happened when I incanted… Dread clutches my insides at the idea of doing it again.
“It’s not a waste!” another voice cries. Seconds later, someone pulls my hands from my face, gripping them tight.
“Ellie, open your eyes, please.”
“Caeo?”
I open my eyes to Caeo’s face. Blue eyes, swollen and red, with the tips of fae ears peeking out of his midnight hair. My heart folds in on itself, forming a lump in my throat.
My words burst out with a sob. “I’m so sorry, Caeo. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
His thumb rubs against my fingers. “Owena can break the curse. We can figure this out.”
I look between him and Taran, unsure what to say. Then the fae woman, Owena, catches my gaze. Her eyes, dark as night, widen as she subtly shakes her head.
I swallow. “I don’t—”
Owena interrupts. “Please trust me. We should wait until we’re somewhere safe, so Ellie can have the time she needs to process everything.”
Is that really what’s best? This woman’s a stranger to me; why should I trust her?
Caeo drops my hands, standing to face her. “No. You need to break it.”
She draws herself up as she meets him head-on, unflinching. Firelight flickers hauntingly across her face.
“Not now. Remember how you reacted when I broke yours? We don’t have time for Ellie to go through that.”
Caeo clenches his fists, his jaw tightening. His words burst out of him.
“Just do it!”
His voice slams into me. Like when Taran bent Merfyn.
A pit opens in my stomach.
Owena spasms, her body going stiff. Her mouth slowly opens, twitching, as if trying to speak, but nothing comes out.
In less than a heartbeat, Taran’s on Caeo, tearing him away by his shirt. His words hit even harder than Caeo’s.
“Stop it. Release her. Now.”
Owena gasps as she tumbles forward. She catches herself on the grassy earth, panting.
My heart pounds. I don’t understand—she didn’t follow his command. “What just happened?”
Taran flings Caeo’s shirt from his grip. “He tried to bend her.”
Caeo scowls at him. “What are you talking about? I can’t willbend.” Half a second later, he grimaces in pain.
His face goes white.
“Yes, you can,” Taran says. “But you don’t know what you’re doing and her will is too strong. You’ll only end up hurting her.”
