“Good morning!”Uisnech chirped as he hurried into the guest room, balancing a tray full of…well, pretty much everything. Croissants and scones, buttered toast, black pudding, bowls full of strawberries and kiwi, plus porridge and a steaming plate of bacon andsausage.
I sat up straight, blinking the sleep out of my eyes. “Erm, Uisnech. Is the entire Court coming to my room forbreakfast?”
He grinned broadly. “This is all for you. Noble warriors need fuel. Muchfuel!”
“Yes. Much fuel.” Rolling my eyes, I smiled and climbed out of the bed. Socked feet scuffing along the floor, I grabbed the tray from Uisnech before all the food created a kaleidoscope of mush on the floor. “Thanks, Uisnech. I appreciate you looking after me, but I could have joined everyone in the Great Hall thismorning.”
“Ah.” He twisted away and busied himself with something on the table. I frowned and peered around him. He was just picking up the remote control and putting it right back down again. “Yes, well. You see. Lugh thought it might be best if you dined in your room while you’re here at CastleWraith.”
“Oh.” I swallowed the lump that suddenly formed in my throat. “He doesn’t want to seeme.”
“It is very painful, you see,” Uisnech said quickly, “for him to see you and know that you do not wish to fulfil your bond withhim.”
I sighed and grabbed a slice of toast, nibbling on the end. “You know that isn’t true. It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s that I can’t. I’ve spent every waking moment of my life for the past month trying to find a way to reverse theprophecy.”
Uisnech scurried a little closer and dropped his voice to a whisper. “I have an idea for breaking theprophecy.”
I widened my eyes. “What?”
“Stay here. Be with Lugh. And simply do not killhim.”
Disappointed, I turned back to my toast. For a brief moment, I’d had hope again. “I wish it were as easy asthat.”
“And why isn’t it, my noblefriend?”
“Because what if something happens that changes everything?” I pointed out. “What if it’s an accident? What if, I don’t know, something possesses my mind and makes me do it? There is magic out there that can do that. I’ve seen it happen before. It’s rare, but it exists. Trust me, Uisnech. I’ve thought of a million different ways it couldhappen.”
He patted my hand. “Such is the same for all of life. There are a million terrible things that can happen to all off us every day. And yet we still keep living, trying and hoping and making our way through this messy mortal realm. That is all you can do, Moira. And it is your choice whether you face it head on or if yourun.”
I blinked down at the little creature. Had the hobgoblin just waxed poetic about life and happiness? I couldn’t help but smileback.
And then a banging on the door interrupted the moment. A short fae poked her head through the door, green hair curtaining a pixie face. “The King wishes for Moira to meet his guard team at half past nine. He reminds her not to belate.”
* * *
After scarfing down some breakfast—alone—Istrapped my sword to my back and headed toward the training room where Lugh’s guard team planned to have a pow wow about this mysterious mission. I’d come here all the way from London, and I still had next to no idea what I’d gotten myself into. All I knew was that someone planned to steal Lugh’sspear.
While I appreciated the danger of the situation, I didn’t quite understand why they neededme.
When I pushed inside the training room, five pairs of eyes turned my way. Lugh stood in the center of the room with his arms crossed over his chest. Beside him stood my dear friend Saoirse with her unblinking purple eyes and hollow cheeks. Saoirse was half-druid, half-fae, and she could sometimes see the future. Not always. I’d tried asking her time and time again what would happen between me and Lugh, but she couldn’t see it herself. She found nothing but murky darkness where we were concerned. That probably wasn’t a great sign, to behonest.
Out of everyone who called this castle home, she’d been the only totext.
She met my gaze and smiled. Lugh didn’t evenflinch.
The other three were warriors I’d met before. Boudica and Warin, the ginger twins who rarely spoke. And Nero, a tall, muscle-corded male about five inches taller than everyone else, saveLugh.
“Hi.” I held up a hand and half-smiled, half-winced. The whole room suddenly felt pregnant with awkwardness. Probably because every single fae here knew that Lugh and I were fated mates, and that I’d run the hell away from him when I’d found out. “Uisnech said you needed some help with the…spear thing?” I waved vaguely at the whiteboard propped up beside Saoirse. There was a drawing of Old Town scrawled across it in red marker with a circle around an intersection and the words, ‘A Knight’s End’ written next toit.
Immediately, my gaze hyper-focused on the board. I knew that place. It was a pub I’d crashed the night we’d faced off against the enemies in Mary King’s Close. The bartender there was human and not a particularly big fan ofsupernaturals.
I pointed toward the board. “A Knight’s End? What’s a shitty pub got to do with Lugh’sspear?”
“This.” Saoirse whipped some kind of long staff out from behind her back and tapped the end against the whiteboard. My eyebrows shot up, and I pressed my lips together to hold back the amused smile. Where’d she get that thing? “Is the arsehole who wants to steal Lugh’sspear.”
My brows arched even higher. “Um, I don’t thinkso.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Lugh scowl at me. Or maybe I just felt the scowl emanating from his tense body. All I knew was that he was scowling right at me, and I didn’t dare look. That scowl always had an unintended consequence. It made my heart beatfaster.
