“Once more, Fallon! Come on!” Queen Solana begged, and I wanted to tie something over her mouth to shut her up. The pressure she was putting on me was too much.
Yanric flew into a mad frenzy then, trying to attack left and right, which caused the Grim to zigzag in the meadow to avoid him. I used this opportunity to creep closer. Yanric melted into shadows, swirling around the Grim like a funnel of black smoke and forcing him to freeze lest he be touched.
I met his gaze and grinned.
Gotcha.
Thrusting into the funnel of shadows, careful not to strike the black and accidently kill my familiar, I slammed the tip of the sword into the Grim’s rib cage.
He winced, and I retracted the blade, watching in fascination as the wound I’d created sealed up as if it were never there, leaving only a fine scar in its wake.
Yanric solidified back into a feathered bird and landed on my shoulder.
“I went easy on you.” The Grim winked.
Relief spread through my chest. We did it—we saved the queen.
Yanric scoffed.‘We won fair and square.’
“Thank you,” I managed.
“Something’s happening!” Solana screamed, and I turned around to see her body flickering wildly and then fading away, turning to dust as her spirit was carried up into the air.
I turned back to face the Grim with a panicked expression.
“She has returned to her body as promised,” he said, looking bored as he pulled his cloak back on and up to cover his face. My body sagged with relief, and all the tension I’d been holding fled my system. I’d never have forgiven myself had I not saved theleader of The Gilded City. Ariyon and Ayden’s aunt. Even though we had a complicated relationship, she was a good queen who loved her people, and I respected that.
I was relieved to hear I had saved the queen, but I couldn’t help but think of Ariyon. I peered at the rolling hills behind the Grim. Was Ariyon somewhere out there?
“You said you’d keep him safe,” I said again, this time filled with so much sadness that my voice broke.
The Grim sighed. “There are rules here, Nightling. You brought his mortal body here, to the resting place of souls. It is an unforgivable offense that takes great sacrifice to undo. Had you brought his soul, I would have bargained with you. His arrest and transport to the Realm of Rebirth was the only way I was allowed to keep him alive.”
“What sacrifice? Ask anything of me and I will give it.” I opened my hands and held them out to him.
He placed a hand over his heart and closed his eyes for a moment, as if reliving a memory. When he opened them again, he looked at me in a way that felt like he was looking into the depths of my very soul. Literally.
“I’m an old fae, Nightling. I’ve seen countless souls come through my weigh station. Never before have I met one so selfless.”
His assessment of me was surprising. I wasn’t selfless. I just wanted to right my wrong.
“It’s my fault Ariyon died, and it’s my fault his body was brought here.”
The Grim frowned. “Yes, it is your fault his body was brought here, but the reason he died?” He pointed to a large, flat rock, and a scene suddenly burst to life across it as if playing on one of those movie projectors my dear friend Sorrel had read to me about. It played the scene of the dance.
Me standing before Marissa and then her embedding the axe in Ariyon’s chest. He collapsed, and the scene dissolved.
I squirmed. “Okay. I didn’t kill him, but…I…love him.”
I hadn’t wanted to admit it to myself. The only person in the realm who could touch me? Of course I loved him. What choice did I have? But it was more than that. I was drawn to him—his eyes, the way he tried to fight off smiling, the way he threw himself into saving people, easing their pain, even though he was so aware of what it did to his own life.
He nodded. “Do you know why he can touch you when no one else can?”
I stood up straight, startled he had read my mind but also that he seemed to have an actual answer, and I held my breath as I waited for him to continue.
“Because the world requires balance. A curse to make you feel pain when touched needed at least one person to give you pleasure. Balance. Ariyon is your balance. That you found him in your lifetime is incredible.”
My throat constricted with emotion. “Please let me have him back. I’ll fight you for him.”
