"The flare," she insisted, her voice trembling with a terrifying realization. "The magic I felt in the woods. It was brutal, unnatural. Narcisse doesn't have magic."
"Damn it to hell, it's not even full moon," Tenebrys snarled under his breath.
Silence fell between them, thick and heavy. The peace of the afternoon was shattered, replaced by the chilling certainty of converging threats. Her father and that fool lordling were on their way to her door. Those idiots she knew and could handle.
But this other presence lurking in the shadows of the Mistwood? It wasn't like the normal fae that had tried to breach the gates before. It was something far more powerful.
They were caught between the monsters she knew and the ones she didn't.
There was only one thing she knew for certain: she would burn the Mistwood to ash before she let herself be taken away from Tenebrys.
35
Tenebrys didn't hesitate for a moment. He lifted Delphi in his arms and barked orders to the shifters.
"We have humans incoming, and Delphi says there is other magic in the woods," he called.
As one, all the joking smiles faded, and they closed in, alert and ready. "Felix, run the ward line and check that no one is going to try to come in behind us. The rest of us will head to the main road in."
Eiran glanced at Delphi. "Kesari, she should go inside where she will be safer."
"No way. They are coming for me, and I need to meet them. Maybe if I tell Narcisse to fuck off, he might actually listen," Delphi argued. "They can't get through the wards anyway."
Tenebrys struggled internally for a long moment before relenting. "Very well, but you will not leave my side for any reason, and you will do as I say."
"I promise," Delphi said and touched his cheek. "We are in this together, love."
Tenebrys moved, a shadow of coiled fury, his powerful form devouring the ground between the château and the edge of the wards.
The dread that had settled in Delphi's bones since Luna's arrival was now a living thing, a serpent twisting in her gut.
She could feel Tenebrys's rage through their bond, a silent, thrumming baseline beneath her own fear—a promise of violence she was desperate to both unleash and avoid.
They broke through the last of the gardens, the stone path leading into the Mistwood before them. The evening air felt brittle, stretched thin and humming with a discordant magic that set her teeth on edge.
Where the fuck was that coming from?
On the other side of the shimmering barrier of the wards, men began to appear from the woods.
Narcisse was in new clothes and looked more sober than she had seen him in years. Beside him, Louis leered, his pretty face twisted into a mask of smug triumph. Behind them, twenty of Louis's men formed a grim line, their swords drawn and their expressions a mixture of fear and bravado.
"Delphi!" Narcisse's voice was sharp with frantic possession. He took a step forward, pressing against the unseen ward. "Come back to me. This beast has kidnapped you and twisted your mind."
A laugh, sharp and humorless, escaped Delphi's lips. "Twisted my mind? I know everything, Father, so don't bother lying to me. You're the one who cursed him and his people."
Fear and anger flickered in Narcisse's eyes. "He's a monster! A dark creature who will consume you. We are here to save you from him."
Save me.The words were so absurd, she nearly choked on her laughter. Narcisse had never saved her from a fucking thing in her life.
"No, I'm staying here," Delphi said, crossing her arms.
Narcisse's face turned red. "Are you mad? You would rather stay here with these…these beasts…than be with your own kind?"
Delphi raised her chin. "Iamwith my own kind. This is where I belong, and I refuse to go back and live amongst humans who hate and burn women just for being different. I won't live with that kind of fear anymore."
"Enough of this nonsense! Listen to your father and come along, witch." Louis stepped up, his gaze fixing on the delicate black horns rising from her hair. "This creature has deformed you with some dark magic, but I'll take great pleasure in sawing those ugly things from your head myself."
"You won't ever get to touch her while I have breath, lordling," Tenebrys snarled, a guttural growl rumbling from his chest. His hand found Delphi's, his grip a crushing anchor in the storm. She felt his intent through the bond. He was going to rip the man's throat out with his teeth.
