“Oh, give me a break,” she muttered.
“It’s true.” His smile widened into a full-on grin. “You got so hot and bothered that your wound popped open.”
Her jaw dropped as a new wave of heat rushed into her cheeks. “You’re delusional.”
“Is that so? Then, prove it.” He tapped a finger against his chin. “Oh wait. That’s right. You can’t. Alchemist’s orders.”
“You’re having way too much fun with this,” Reyna said, rolling her eyes. “You get one little kiss, and you suddenly think you’re the Dagda’s gift to females.”
“Not females,” he said. “Female. This gift is purely singular.”
Her heart began to thump again, pulsing in time with the ache in her core. She wanted him fiercely, even while her wound throbbed with pain. He’d tried to lighten the mood after the embarrassment with Meredith. It had worked, but it hadn’t made her forget how they had been moments away from screaming each other’s names.
Her eyes began to drift shut as the healing potion took hold. She fought against it. There was still so much unsaid, so much more she needed to know. Abouteverything. His life. His feelings. The world he’d been forced to inhabit all these years.
“Rest, Reyna,” he said softly. “We’ll have our chance again. That I can promise you.”
23
Lorcan
Duff burst into the room, knocking the door clean off its hinges. It fell with a heavy thunk, but the wood fae scarcely even noticed. Lorcan was on his feet at once. He’d nodded off in the chair, having drifted off while watching Reyna sleep. She’d grown stronger over the past three days, so much so that Meredith had said Reyna would be ready to leave on the morrow.
“We’ve just had a scout rush in, wounded from an arrow in the knee.” Duff growled. “Damn wood king. He’s on his way. He’ll be here within the hour.”
“Within the hour?” Lorcan’s heart thundered in his ears. “Are you certain?”
So much for the wood king following the trail left behind by Nollaig. The diversion hadn’t worked.
“Aye. Meredith’s getting a boat ready for you. If you leave now, the army won’t catch sight of you.”
“And if I stay and fight?”
Duff’s lips went white. “Then all of us will die.”
“Allies never leave each other behind.” Reyna’s clear voice cut through the room. The two warriors turned to find her standing tall at the edge of her bed, shoulders thrown back in stubborn ferocity. Lorcan’s heart swelled. It was the strongest he’d seen her in days.
“You can’t stay,” Duff argued. “The king doesn’t know you’re here. When he arrives, he’ll take a look around, find nothing, and leave. Same as every other time he’s tried to catch us housing the enemy.”
“Nollaig tried to draw him away,” Reyna said, putting voice to Lorcan’s thoughts. “If the king is coming here, it’s because he knows where we are.”
Duff let out a curse, one that Lorcan felt deep within his bones. And yet, he felt strangely ready for whatever might be coming for them. Reyna had brought him alive again, in a way that he had not been in a very long time. He could not remember the last time he’d had hope in his heart.
“But his army is marching this way,” Duff said, face draining. “We’re just a village. A strong one, but just a village all the same. We cannot fight against the numbers of the wood king.”
“Allof his army?” Reyna asked.
Duff shook his head. “The scout doesn’t believe so.” At the look of confusion on Reyna’s face, he explained. “We don’t know the full extent of the wood king’s army. He’s been very secretive about it for years. We know he has some air fae companies now as well, but our scout did not see any banners with the golden crown sigil waving in the wind.”
“Those would be Lord Bowen’s warriors,” Lorcan said grimly. “The ones Sloane Selkirk sent, and the Grand Alderman never called back.”
“The Grand Alderman?” Duff asked. “You mean, the foreigner?”
Lorcan nodded.
“He would never get those troops back now, even if he called them. The wood king will not be concerned with a pesky nobody playing at thrones.”
“That’s a good description of him, really,” Reyna said with a strained smile. “That said, I think right now I’d rather Aengus be in control of—”
