My eyes flicked across thescreen.
They’re going for the spear.Now.
My heart skipped a beat, and instantly, I was on my feet. I didn’t recognise the number, so it was likely a message from Nero or Warin, whose numbers I didn’t have programmed into my phone. Frowning, I shot off a quick message inresponse.
Who is this? Where are you? Where’sLugh?
Noresponse.
Gritting my teeth, I shoved my phone into my back pocket and slid my feet into my thick boots that had been left by the door. Pain flickered through me, a reminder that I still wasn’t fully healed. But I couldn’t huddle in this bed when Lugh’s spear—and soul—could be moments away from beingstolen.
I knew where Lugh kept his spear hidden. While the others were out of the castle doing who knew what, I would stand guard against any attackers. And, this time, I wouldn’t have to hide mysword.
Jogging out of the healing ward, I passed one of the nurses who had been tending to my wounds. She frowned and stood in the center of the corridor, blocking my escape. Crossing her arms, she shook her head. “I’m under strict orders to keep you confined here until you’ve fully recovered, Moira. King’scommands.”
“The King is in trouble,” I said, breath huffing as I slid to a stop in front of her. “If I don’t go now, Castle Wraith couldfall.”
Another understatement of the century. The castle wouldn’t just fall if Lugh lost his soul. The entire realm could descend into chaos. If he called the nightmare wraiths out of Faerie, humans and fae alike would spend the rest of their lives terrorised by fear. Those who survivedanyway.
The nurse’s eyes widened, but she didn’t budge. “How do I know you’re telling thetruth?”
“You just have to trust me. I’m the King’smate.”
Her eyes flickered with doubt, but she stepped aside. Giving her a smile of thanks, I rushed past her and out of the building. My feet pounded on the uneven cobblestones as I twisted around the corner and aimed for the Royal Palace that loomed large in the darkness. No lights were on inside this night. Lugh still hadn’t returned from hismission.
I tried not to jump to conclusions about what that mightmean.
When I pushed inside the building, silence and darkness greeted me like familiar enemies that lurked in the night. My footsteps were loud on the hardwood, but my heartbeat drowned them out. Palms slick with sweat, I made a detour into Lugh’s quarters and grabbed two swords from his personal collection, trying my best not to knock over the towering stacks of books strewn across theroom.
Armed and ready, I minced back into the corridor and found the hidden wall. It groaned as it opened before me, revealing a pitch black tunnel. I wet my lips, focusing on my enhanced fae hearing. In the distance, I heard the drip of water splatting onto the floor, but nothing else. No sign that anyone lurked in these tunnels, ready for afight.
I pressed inside, fully closing the door behind me and flicking on my eyesight. The floor came into view before me, but only enough for me to see where I was going. Slowly, I crept around the bend and entered the secret room that Lugh kept hidden from the rest of the world. Inside, there was a desk, a bed, and his gleaming golden case where his spear sat, safe andsound.
Immediately, I could feel the hum of power in my bones, emanating from the weapon. I ached to reach out and touch it, to feel its golden sheath between my fingers. When I’d first seen the spear, I hadn’t understood the pull I felt, I hadn’t understood how it seemed to call to my very bones. But now I did. Lugh was my mate, and his soul was encased in thespear.
It meant I would always feel an inexplicable connection with the weapon, as though it were just as much a part of me as it was a part ofLugh.
With a deep breath, I turned my back on the spear and strapped one sword to my back, holding the other tight in my hands. I would stand here on watch for as long asnecessary.
It didn’t take long for something tohappen.
Something flickered in front of me, almost as though the very shadows themselves shifted in the darkness. Frowning, I tightened my grip on my sword and squinted at the flicker. Maybe I was just imagining things. Down here in the dark with my heartbeat banging in my ears, it was easy to start to think the very walls themselves were closingin.
But no…there, it happened again. The shadows pulsed. They shifted. They became a tall, rippling form that solidified with every beat thatpassed.
Gasping, I took a step back, terror charging throughme.
Blinking, I tried not to scream. It wasn’t one form at all. The floor dropped out from beneath me, and it was all I could do to stay steady on my feet. It was two forms. A tall, muscular male fae—Quentin and a terror-eyed hobgoblin. The fae held Uisnech tight in his grip, the end of a very sharp dagger pointing right at the hobgoblin’s greenhead.
“Don’t move,” the fae warned in a deep, growly voice as I lifted my sword higher in the air. “If you even so much as flinch toward me or in the direction of that door there, I will kill thishobgoblin.”
Gritting my teeth, I held my ground. “What the hell are youdoing?”
He smiled. “Coming to meet you, of course. I am glad to see that you answered my text as I suspected you would. Some fae are sopredictable.”
“The text message.” I narrowed my eyes. “So, that wasyou.”
“Oh, yes.” His arm tightened around Uisnech’s neck. The hobgoblin merely stared at me with his big yellow eyes, his lips pressed together. The poor thing looked like he might die fromfright.
