“Lady Sarhin, what a pleasure to see you.” I smiled at her, probably with a touch too much sarcasm to be believable.
She snorted. “You used to be a much better liar, Dathal. The human realm has made you soft.”
Nick would disagree.
I wisely kept that to myself.
“I’ve been in touch with the paranormal police. It seems Yates worked with the witches for years before they were sent to our jail. Small spells and potions. Made him the obvious choice when they found something more lucrative to get involved with.”
“Fascinating.” I probably should feign more interest, but I just didn’t care.
But there was one subject I cared very much about. “What about Melhak? Do we know why he helped Vai Zh’alek escape?”
Her expression turned furious. “No. The witch traded information on the whereabouts of Blue Alhuirn for spells to help Melhak facilitate the escape, but we can’t find the connection between Melhak and Zh’alek, and we’ve exhausted all options. Melhak won’t talk, and Axel cannot see anything useful in his memories.”
“Any news on Zh’alek’s whereabouts?”
She perched on the very foot of my bed. “No. But we’re monitoring the gateways at all times. He won’t slip through.”
“Unless he’s already there.” I hadn’t thought it possible when Axel mentioned it, but the thought kept creeping back in.
“Then Axel is in one of the safest places. Rys Calder will keep him safe.”
I didn’t doubt Rys’s ability or his loyalty to Axel, but it wasn’t enough for me. “I want to go back.” For more than one reason. “I want to protect Axel until Zh’alek is found.”
Lady Sarhin regarded me with her usual cool expression. “Is that the only reason you want to return through the gateway?”
“No.” Lying would get me nowhere except to piss her off.
“A relationship with a witch is frowned upon by the high court, as you knew it would be. Especially one with such a dark past.”
Anger swirled inside me, threatening to burst forth if I didn’t keep it in check. “He made a mistake when he was young. It’s not like he’s the first to do so, or the last.”
“That is irrelevant. You are a member of the fae guard, Dathal. Your place is here, not through the gateway, and I’m sorry to say that your witch is not welcome.”
My witch.
Whether she intended them to or not, her words hardened my resolve.
When she stood and turned to leave, I called after her. “What would you have done if the high court had refused to let you bring Nathan Calder through the gateway? If they’d forbid you from seeing him again?”
She froze, shoulders rigid, and for a split second, I wondered if I’d gone too far. But this was my life they were casting away as if my feelings didn’t matter. It was more than worth risking her wrath.
Just when I thought she wasn’t going to grace me with a reply, her shoulders loosened and she turned around. Her smirk took me by surprise. “What makes you think they didn’t try everything in their power to keep us apart?”
I opened my mouth, but no words came out.
Walking back over to the bed, she once again perched on the end of it. “I was an esteemed member of the Fae High Court and Nathan Calder was alpha to a pack of shifters. They were furious.” She shrugged as if the ire of the high court was nothing special.
I sat up, desperate to know more. “What did you do?”
“I threatened to leave. If they wouldn’t let him come live with me, then I’d go live through the gateway with his pack.”
I had to stifle inappropriate laughter, because no one was more ill-suited to pack life than a member of the high court.
She raised a delicate eyebrow. “I know what you’re thinking, Dathal. But you’re wrong. I would’ve done it in a heartbeat.” She waved a hand at our surroundings. “Left all this behind to go live in that forest of his, because I loved him.” Her sudden soft expression wasn’t one I was used to seeing on her. “He was like no one I’d ever encountered before. And I would’ve done anything to keep him. Even leaving my home.”
“That’s how I feel about Nick.”
