Elise’s silver eyes flashed in my mind. My stomach turned. “No. It should be me. I’llstay.”
* * *
An old familiarnightmare haunted my dreams that night. Cloaked figures scuttled after me in the dark, arms outstretched to reveal thin, bony hands. They whispered words of terror, filling my soul with a darkness so profound that I swore I would never see lightagain.
They wrapped their hands around me and pulled me to the leafy ground. Dozens swarmed me, pinning my arms against the dirt. They launched on top of me and squatted on mychest.
Images swarmed into my mind. Blood, guts,gore.
They poured their nightmares into my mind until they drove out everything else. All that existed within me was terror. And they fed on myfear.
I screamed, but no sound cameout.
I was trapped inside the nightmare.Forever.
* * *
“You’re still here,”Saoirse observed at breakfast the next morning. I’d taken a long hot shower to rid my mind of my nightmares, scrubbing my skin until every trace of the darkness was gone. I’d dressed in my borrowed clothes and padded down to the Great Hall, hoping to find the only fae in this place who might understandme.
“You sound surprised.” I plopped into the seat next to her. The room was pretty empty. Most fae preferred to grab something to go from the kitchen for breakfast instead of dining in the formal Great Hall. I liked the arching timber beams myself. So did Saoirse, it seemed. “You didn’t see what I was going to do with your...” I made a circular motion around my head, indicating her prophecies, hervisions.
“I’m only half druid.” She buttered a slice of toast. “So, I don’t have unlimited access to visions of the future. I have to choose my questions wisely. And sometimes, my visions are hard totranslate.”
“And so you asked a question when I got here,” I said, nodding. Made sense. I would have,too.
“Nope. I’ve known you were coming for weeks. I found out when I did a read when...well, when I did a read about Tyr’s death.” She cast a glance my way. “The fae who had the room beforeyou.”
“Oh.” So that was what had happened to the previous tenant. “How did hedie?”
She nibbled on her toast. “Good question. That’s what I was trying to find out, but the problem with my power is, it really only shows the future. All we know is that it had something to do with...the other stuff going on here. My vision seemed to suggest that you’d help. That’s partly why Lugh wanted to see what you’re madeof.”
I cast a glance around me at the fae in the hall. “Can you tell me what makes you think it’s related,or...?”
“Tyr was on the warrior team. He was the one who found out about the...” She dropped her toast, glanced around, and then held her hands in the shape of a bowl. I nodded. The cauldronthen.
A picture was now forming inside my mind. Tyr, one of the warriors, had been looking into things for Lugh. He’d found out about the cauldron, most likely gaining too much interest from the culprits. In the end, they’d killed him, which probably meant he’d gotten close to finding out enough to exposethem.
So, Lugh had taken a trip down south to seek out the services of a werewolf skilled in finding magical objects, in hopes of stopping the killers before they got their hands on the cauldronthemselves.
And then I’d come along, crashing theparty.
“I want to stay and help,” I toldSaoirse.
She swivelled on her seat, turning to face me, her purple eyes searching my face. “Lugh said you were very angry with him. I’d told him he was taking the whole thing too far, but he is Lugh, and he really didn’t know what kind of honour you would have, ifany.”
“He was worried about my honour?” A new flicker of irritation went through me. “And does he really think it’s honourable to commit treason against the crown? He’s made his own secretcourt.”
She sighed. “He never meant for it to be treason. He meant for it to be a hidden place for those of us who don’t fit in anywhere else, who kind of want to hide from the outside world. Some of us have run from abusive situations. Some of us are former criminals, wanted by human authorities.” And then she pointed at herself. “Some of us have powers that others would love toexploit.”
My heart ached for her, but it pained me even more how wrong she was. About everything. “Clark is a half-shifter. She was on the run for years. If anyone understands how you feel, it’s theQueen.”
“I’m sure she does.” Saoirse dropped her eyes to the floor. “But she’s too far away to protect us. She has her own concerns down south. You don’t know what things were like here before Lugh came along and saved us. You don’t know whatAthaira—”
Her words ended in a choke, and ice went through my veins. Leaning forward, I whispered fiercely. “What are you talking about? What did Athairado?”
Her purple eyes peered deep into my soul. “I can’t talk aboutit.”
Saoirse pushed up from the table, leaving her half-eaten toast behind. I jumped up and followed her toward the exit. “Where are yougoing?”
