“Three? Maybe four?” Even though the thought of venturing down and back up again makes me want to cry, for Maddox, I’d climb the canyon a hundred times.
“Then there can be no more delay.” Pushing to his feet, Everett sweeps Kerris into his arms, cradling her against him. Tears glitter in her green eyes as she chokes back a sob. “I will return as soon as I am able,” he whispers.
She caresses his cheek with such tenderness, my heart aches. “Be careful, my love.”
I twist away from their affectionate goodbye, my emotions a complete jumble inside of me as I follow the other Unseelie giants out of the castle and into the courtyard.
One of them slows to fall into step next to me. “Nia Quill,” he says in a voice as deep and rumbling as all the others. I think his name is Forest. “How many females are there in the canyon?”
Too many.“At least fifty.”
This causes an uproar, all the Unseelie speaking at once.
Everett appears on the stairs, taking them two at a time. “Enough!” he roars. “If you wish to speak to my mate’s cousin, you will do so one at a time.” With a wave of his hand, he motions for them to take their mounts.
The horse Kerris offered to let me borrow looks like a pony next to their unicorns.
“You may ride with me, if you would prefer,” Thorne says with a waggle of his brows.
The women at the bottom of the canyon are going to eat him up. “Thank you, but I’m fine on my own.”
Everett steers his unicorn over to me. “Perhaps you should stay behind with Kerris.”
“Absolutely not.” For all we know, the Chieftain might say I broke the bargain by not bringing the men down myself and insist on keeping them all. Not that I’d be able to do much if that happened. Still, I’ll not take the chance.
With a bob of his head, Everett kicks his mount forward, and the rest of the Unseelie take off after him, their leather packs bouncing on their backs as we make our way through Rosehill toward the secret path that reaches the bottom. Seelie guards ride along behind us, their inky armor swallowing the sunlight shining down upon us.
We pass the new bridge that still remains unfinished. What has been done looks wide and strong. No loose boards threatening to crack beneath a fae’s weight.
The builders there are hard at work—not that I’d expect them to dally when there’s a fearsome looking Unseelie barking orders at them.
Why isn’t he coming with us? He must already be mated.
Everett comes to a stop a short distance later and dismounts. The others join him, and when we’re all waiting along the cliff edge, the Seelie guards collect our mounts and lead them to a grassy patch to feed while they wait.
“We will continue on foot so we do not miss the entrance,” Everett announces. “Nia Quill, you will lead the way.”
No pressure, right? My legs tremble as I walk as close to the cliff’s edge as I dare, searching for something that might look familiar. A stone. A footprint. Anything.
It turns out, the entire ledge looks exactly the same.
Why didn’t I think to mark the path’s entrance somehow?
“Is it nearby?” Everett asks.
“I don’t know. It was dark when we arrived.” What if there are multiple paths and only one leads to the village? What if I choose wrong and we don’t reach them in time?
What if I can’t find it at all?
Everett pats my head the way Maddox used to pat Biscuits. “Fear not. We will find a way down.” He tells the Unseelie to fan out. They lie flat on their stomachs to peer over the ledge, then move one by one down the line, almost like a game of leapfrog.
After thirty minutes of searching, we come upon a place I recognize.
I think.
Heavens, I don’t even know. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking, but I point to a narrow gap at the ledge anyway. “It might be down there.”
One of the Unseelie lies down and peers over the canyon wall. “There is a ladder here.”
