“You’ve been walking in a circle. Boudica and I searched every chamber, and I’ve been using my hearing this whole time. No one is here. The whole place isempty.”
My stomach dropped into the floor. “What? But this is where they told me tocome.”
He shook his head. “I know they did, but they must haveleft.”
“Is there another way out of here?” I asked, voice going high-pitched.
“Not that we couldsee.”
“But you would have heard if someone else had been in here and left?” Iprodded.
He pressed his lips into a grim line. “Yep. I had my hearing tuned in the entire time, and the only other fae I heard down here besides Boudica and me wasyou.”
“Bollocks.” I pushed past Warin and rushed back down the tunnel, and then charged up the stairs. All the way, I poked at the mic, waiting for the crackling static toreturn.
When I reached the top of the stairs, Uisnech’s cheery voice rang in my ears. “Echo, beepedo tenfour!”
“Uisnech. No one’s here. It’s some kind of trick.” My heart hammered. “I think they’re heading straight foryou.”
17
The castle wasin chaos when we returned. Fae were streaming left and right across the courtyard, some charging into the Great Hall and others pounding on the front doors of The Royal Palace. On the way back, Uisnech had kept us updated through the bluetooth mic system until he’d abruptly cut off. Now, he met us as we came up through the hidden backtunnel.
He leapt toward us as we climbed out of the car. “About twenty of them showed up. They came in this way, and we didn’t see them because the guards were watching the front gates. They swarmed the Royal Palace after setting off a bunch of fires to distract us from what they were reallydoing.”
“The palace?” Lugh’s voice went sharp. “Didthey...?”
The hobgoblin shook his head. “I had enough warning to hide thespear.”
I cut a sharp glance Lugh’s way. The damn spear again. Why would Uisnech need to hide it from the attackers? I wanted to ask, but I knew Lugh wouldn’t tell me now, not with everything else goingon.
“They trashed the palace looking for it,” Uisnech continued, “but when they realised it wasn’t there, theyran.”
Lugh stopped short. “They justleft?”
Uisnech gave an eager nod. “They came here for the spear, but they weren’t prepared to fight. When I finally got the guards charging toward them, they fled. I managed to get a few photos of some of them when their masks got ripped off during the fight. I’ll send you the images. None of them are members of the Court, not that Isaw.”
Lugh swore and dropped back his head to stare up at the sky. “I don’t know what this means. How did they know about the back gate? Have they determined how to use the cauldron? Is that why they’re after my spear? Or are they just gettingdesperate?”
“Hi. Lugh.” I tapped his arm. “I might be able to help more if I knew the deal about yourspear.”
“Not now,” he growled. “But we clearly need to keep it hidden from now on.” He turned toward the twins, who were watching the entire exchange with flashing eyes. “You two, help the rest of the team round up the fae. I’ll give a speech in the Great Hall shortly, as soon as we ensure the gates are secure. We’ll have to shut down this entrance since the enemies know where it isnow.”
The twins gave a nod and set off across the courtyard toward the scramblingfae.
Uisnech blinked up at Lugh. “What would you like for me to do,King?”
Lugh grasped the hobgoblin’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “You’ve done enough tonight, Uisnech. Recharge. Go have yourfeast.”
I cocked my head, new questions swirling through me. What the hell was the hobgoblin’s feast? And did I really want to know? Uisnech gave Lugh a brilliant smile and disappeared down the tunnel, heading toward town instead of thecastle.
Lugh strode in the direction of the Great Hall, and I fell into step beside him. “What are you going to donow?”
“Now.” He raked his hand through his midnight hair. “Now, I have to beKing.”
* * *
After Lugh gavea speech to his wide-eyed and fearful fae, they seemed to calm down, at least a little. He’d called the entire Court into the Great Hall where he’d sat on his throne of twisting vines, fielding questions. His voice had been calm and soothing, but he’d also stood his ground in such a way that they couldn’t help but listen to him. He had ordered them to return to their rooms and get some rest. There were enemies out there, he told them, but he would keep themsafe.
