Her skin was hot, and a hammer sounded in her ears. If anyone would have spoken, she would not have been able to hear their words. It had been weeks since she had laid eyes on him. He looked the same as he always did. Tall and strong and corded with muscle. His dark hair framed a face full of strong angles and a lightly-stubbled jaw. The tips of his ears barely broke through his thick locks. Even here, in the shadow lands, he wore the same armor he had back in the Air Court. Boiled leather hugged his frame. Only here, nothing covered his muscular arms. Lorcan had never been fond of the cold, but it was warm here.
His expression was the only thing about him that had changed. Instead of the self-assured, stoic set of his jaw, he wore an uncertain frown that looked as though it had been permanently etched into his face. His eyes flashed with fury, though it did not seem directed at her at all. She wet her lips and stared, her heart trembling. A rush of memories and emotions flooded her mind, feelings she had tried so hard to burn away. But they were still there. They had always been there.
That did not mean she would let him see it on her face.
Regardless of what she had learned, Reyna found that she could not forgive him. The betrayal still stung as sharply as it had the day she’d awoken trapped inside an enemy court.
Reyna swallowed hard and turned back to Nollaig. “Surely, you cannot expect me to go on a quest withhim.”
“Prince Lorcan has been assigned to this quest, as have you. I discussed it thoroughly with the High King, and he is adamant in his decision.”
Reyna scowled. “He’s trying to torture me. I made my bloody vows, and he still has every intention of making me miserable.” She whirled toward Tarrah, whose face at least Reyna could read. Her eyebrows were pinched, her lips set in a straight line. Clearly, she did not think this was a good idea either. “Did you see this in a vision?”
“I have seen you fighting for the king. You know that.”
“No, but this,” Reyna said, waving her hands at Lorcan, Nollaig, and herself. “This quest. This team. Did you see it in a vision?”
“Not all of the king’s decisions are based on my visions.”
“So, then wouldn’t it—”
“Reyna.” His growl was so familiar that it made her belly twitch with need. Her name on his lips, his face in her thoughts. It had taken every ounce of willpower to pull her focus away from him, but she could not stop it any longer. She braced herself and turned to face her former lover once again.
Desperately, stubbornly, she had avoided him until now. The High King had been oddly agreeable when she’d demanded he keep Lorcan away from her. Of course, Lorcan had been less so. He’d appeared outside her chambers on more than one occasion, shouting to be heard, but the guards had turned him away.
Her heart ached as she stared into his dark eyes. She wanted to fight him and kiss him and hate him and love him and throw anything in the world right at his face. Instead, she gave him the iciest stare she could conjure. “Yes?”
He flinched, almost as though she had hit him. Perhaps aloofness was the best defence after all. If he truly wanted fire, then she would give him ice. “I know my father well, unfortunately. It seems he’s intent on your presence on this quest. He has Eislyn. And you made vows.”
Reyna ground her teeth together. “All right. So, thenyoustay here.”
“Alas, I am in no better position than you are, I’m afraid.” He crossed his arms over his muscular chest and leaned against the wall, his eyes momentarily flashing with a hint of rage. “I am certain this is some sort of test. If we fail…”
Reyna’s heart jumped. She understood instantly. Before putting her in a real fight, the king wanted to test her, to ensure that she hadn’t found some way around the vows. She scowled. He was far more clever than he looked.
“I just need to know one thing,” she said in a harsh whisper, hating the tears that pricked the corners of her eyes. “Did you take Eislyn? When you delivered me to your father’s feet, did you do the same to my sister?Did you take her?”
Lorcan’s jaw twitched, but his face remained impassive. A blank slate. An empty canvas. The only emotion was in his eyes, but it was so chaotic that she could not tell if it was hate, pain, or fear. “No.” A beat passed. “But what is my word to you? Right, Reyna? I am a shadow fae and a liar, and I cannot be trusted. I poisoned you, stole you away on a ship, and delivered you to the enemy. An enemy who has forced you into submission. So, what does it matter if I didn’t take your sister? I’ve done enough for you to hate me for the rest of our miserable lives.”
Reyna could do no more than stare, her heart in her throat, a roar in her ears, even in the silence of the room. She had not expected him to be so brutally honest, almost casual in the way he had admitted what he’d done. What did he expect? For her to suddenly forgive it all, based on what? His ability to own up to his mistakes?
“You did do those things,” she said, her voice hoarse with raw emotion.
Lorcan’s hands clenched. “I did.”
She stared at him through blurring eyes, eyes that burned. “Is that all you have to say about it? No explanation? No apology? Nothing more than a confession is all I’ll get from you?”
“Would any explanation be good enough for what I have cursed you with?” he said in a harsh whisper. “You’re forever bound to my father. No, I agree with you for once, Reyna. Hate me. Hate me for eternity.”
His words burned. Why would he not tell her about Thane? Why wasn’t he even trying to make amends with her? Instead, it was as if he had given up. It was if he didn’t care. Not about her, not about anything.
“Ahem.” Nollaig cleared her throat, and Reyna suddenly remembered that she and Lorcan were not alone in the room. There had been an audience to their fight, and several pairs of eyes were looking anywhere but at them. Her neck flushed, and Nollaig continued as if there hadn’t been an interruption. “There are two hidden gates that the Air Court never found during their occupation of the city. The wood fae shouldn’t know their location either, so it is unlikely we will be spotted. We will leave at nightfall to be certain.”
Nollaig paused and appeared to glance around the table, waiting for questions or objections. When no one spoke, she continued. “The wood fae prefer to stick to the trees, and they know their forests well. Some are most likely camping out here.” She pointed to a spot inside the forest the began several hundred meters from the border between the realms.
Teutas frowned and peered down at the map. “If they’re that close, then we are at a great disadvantage. We’re not yet ready for a siege.”
Reyna glanced up, eyebrows lifting. That was interesting. She hadn’t known that. If the shadow fae were not yet ready for a siege, she almostwantedthe Wood Court to attack. If she could somehow find her sister and extract her from her cell while the shadow fae were distracted by an army at their gates…
