“I may have come straight here after the garden party.” Lukas swallowed, glancing away. “I apologise if I worried you.”
He visited the library after the party? But why? Shaking my head, I focused on what was most important and filled Lukas in with exactly what I saw in Raphael’s bedchamber.
“And you’re certain it was limpets that you saw on his face?” Lukas’s expression had paled to horror after I gave him all the awful details. “How is that even possible?”
Running my fingers through my hair, I sighed. “I think it’s some kind of curse.”
“The faeries…” His voice darkened, but I just shook my head.
“There’s no reason for them to do this. This has to be from the merfolk,” I said, shuddering as I remembered the awful gurgling sounds the prince made in his bed. “You should’ve seen him, Lukas. It was like he was drowning. How could a faery do that?”
“We’ve seen the fae do a lot of horrible things,” he muttered, his voice low.
With a sigh, I met his heavy gaze. “We have to go back to the merfolk palace. If it is a mermaid curse, your aunt might be able to help the prince recover.”
“Absolutely not.” Lukas tensed. “I’m not going back there. Ever. And neither are you.”
I stepped back at his sudden tone shift. “What do you mean? They could be his only hope.”
“I said no,” he repeated, pressing his palms into the table.“Besides, even if they were responsible, why would paying them a visit help? You’d only be putting yourself at risk.”
“But they’re your family,” I reminded him. “They’d never hurt you.”
“My mother was family too,” he muttered in a voice so low I could barely hear what he said.
“What?” I breathed.
Clearing his throat, he ran a hand through his hair. “I misspoke.” When he turned back to his books, I wanted to reach out and comfort him, but instead my gaze fell to the open pages on his desk.
My stomach plummeted.
“Faery magic,” I read out loud, my voice shaking. “Faery deals?” I heard Lukas’s breath catch as my eyes darted from page to page; the more I looked, the worse it became. “Bonds between betrothed faeries? Lukas, what is this?” Anger curled at my lips. “You promised me you wouldn’t look for a way to help. You promised!”
“I…” His words trailed off as fear wavered across his eyes. “I cannot lose you, Naria.”
“You won’t.” I scowled. “It’s been months since Arenn put these crystals on me, and I’m still here, aren’t I?” As if mocking me, the crystals tingled against my wrist, but I ignored them, keeping my arms fixed to my sides. “I’m not going anywhere with that faery. I don’t care what bond he claims to share with me. I feel nothing for him.”
“That’s perfectly alright.” My heart jolted at the sound of Arenn’s velvety voice. “I feel enough love for the both of us, human.” I turned just in time to see Arenn stepping out from behind a bookshelf, his dark tunic contrasting against hismoonlight-pale skin. Upon catching my gaze, he grinned, but before he could say another word, Lukas charged ahead of me.
“You have five seconds to walk back the way you came, faery scum,” Lukas growled.
“Are you planning on actually hurting me this time?” Arenn’s tone was teasing as he drew nearer to the desk. “Or just glaring really, really hard again?” He pouted mockingly before spitting out a laugh.
“Arenn, please, just give us a moment alone.” I gripped Lukas’s arm. “This is about Prince Raphael. It’s important.”
“Then don’t let me interrupt your meeting.” His cruel smile faded as he caught sight of my fingers on Lukas’s sleeve. “I’ll just wait here until you’re finished.” Pointedly, he leaned against the closest shelf, folding his arms and crossing his feet. “Proceed.” He flicked his wrist dismissively.
“Naria just told you to leave,” Lukas said, his arm tensing under my touch. “Did you not hear her?”
“Of course I did,” Arenn chuckled. “But the last time I let her out of my sight, I found my bride locked in a cell in the dungeons.”
“What?” Lukas choked, fury pouring over his face.
“So you’ll have to understand when I say she’s not leaving my side again until we return to Faelenna. Together,” the faery prince carried on, but Lukas had already spun away to face me.
“Who put you in the dungeons? Tell me now, Naria,” he barked, grabbing my shoulders.
“It was just a misunderstanding. I wasn’t in there for long,” I murmured, not missing Arenn’s scoff as I spoke. “The guards who arrested me blamed me for the prince’s illness.”
