Bending over his still body, she draped the back of her hand against his cheek. His skin burned. Frowning, she brushed his damp hair away from his face. “Lorcan. Please come back to me.”
Suddenly, his eyes flew wide. Great gasps shook his body as he clutched her hand. A terrified hope crashed over her. She curled over him, wrapping her arms around his body, pulling him close to her chest. He latched onto her, the scent of his smoke and steel filling her head.
When she pulled back, he gazed up at her with fear in his eyes. “Is he gone? Is he dead?”
“Yes,” she whispered fiercely. “The wood king is dead. You killed him.”
He sagged in relief before groaning and pushing himself up from the floor. Wincing, he pressed a hand to his head. She held him steady, but he didn’t seem to need her help. Without another word, he strode purposely to Nollaig’s cell and ripped the door open wide. Without using the key.
Interesting, Reyna thought, glancing at the silent throne. Its magic seemed to have come to his aid, after all.
Nollaig stumbled out. She didn’t say a word, and Reyna could not see her face to know what she was thinking.
“Are you alright, Nollaig?” Reyna asked, taking a step toward the cloaked fae.
“I’m as fine as I can be, considering the circumstances,” she said grimly. “That whole thing was…far worse than anything I could have dreamed.”
“I’m so sorry about Segonax,” Reyna said softly.
“It was not your fault, Shieldmaiden.” Nollaig turned toward the pile of ash that had once been the wood king. She pointed a long, gloved finger at it. “It was his.”
“What even happened? I can’t remember anything.”
“After you pushed the Ruin into the king’s body, you collapsed. And then…well, somehow Lorcan got out of his cell. He fought the king and won.” Nollaig shook her head. “It was a miracle, even then. The king was bloody strong.”
Reyna lifted her eyes to her lover’s face. Lorcan’s lips had flattened.
“And the Ruin?” Reyna asked, heart thumping. “Did it…escape?”
Even after everything the Ruin had done to help them, she didn’t trust the magic. It was still a threat. In its twisted mind, it believed the Namhaid was still out there somewhere, plotting a way to take control of the world and bend it to her will.
If the Ruin had somehow escaped…Reyna would have to track it down once again. And next time, she might not be able to stop it.
“It’s gone,” Nollaig answered. “When Lorcan killed the wood king, the Ruin was still inside of him. It shattered along with Molt. The magic is gone.”
Reyna let out a shuddering breath. Relief settled into her bones, but with it came a strange sense of unease…and almost sadness. Which was ridiculous. The Ruin had been her enemy for as long as she could remember. It had killed her own mother. It had blinded her sister. It had destroyed so many lives.
In the end, the Ruin had become the very thing it claimed it was against. The destructor of Tir Na Nog. So, why did she feel like something terrible had just happened? Why did it feel like they were in so much more danger than they had ever been in before?
She frowned, peering up at Lorcan. “Did anything strange happen when you fought the wood king?”
His lips twitched as he gazed down at her with that beautiful intensity flickering in the depths of his midnight eyes. “Even now, after we’ve won, you still worry.”
“Don’t you?” she asked, heart thumping.
“Reyna, we’ve won.” He tucked his finger beneath her chin. “The wood king is dead. All the other courts have allied. Do you know what this means? Our hundred years of war are over.”
Hope ballooned inside of her, chasing away the fear. “You’re right. I’m not thinking straight.”
The Ruin might be gone from her body, but it had left its imprint behind. The worry, the unease, the constant feeling that something wasn’t right. It had spent so long stirring up her doubts and fears that it only made sense for it to linger for a time. Maybe it would stay with her forever.
It no longer squatted on her shoulders like a menacing beast, but it was there. A ghost of it, haunting her mind.
She smiled. “It’s just so hard to believe, you know? We’ve been fighting this war for so long. It’s almost impossible to imagine our world without it.”
“Well, start imagining it, Reyna Darragh.” He leaned down and brushed his lips across hers. Reyna’s toes curled in her boots. Sighing, she leaned into him, clutching his armor in her fists.
This…this was exactly what she had dreamed of. And now she had it. The realms would finally find peace, and she could stay wrapped up in her lover’s arms. Nothing could stand in their way anymore.
