“Ah,” she whispered. “And there it is. The truth.”
“Where is it?”
“My father will never sign your treaty if you kill me,” she replied.
He chuckled. “Your father will never know it was me. Reyna Darragh, the warrior princess, has been twisted by the Ruin. She escaped the tower and ran off into the woods. No one would struggle to believe that. You’ve run off into the woods more than once.”
Chills swept across her arms. “He’d never believe it.”
“Wouldn’t he?” He arched a brow. “His princess of a daughter who forsake her duties to dodge arrows in the woods with Shieldmaidens.”
“Fine.” She took her own hair into her fist and ripped it out of his. Sharp pain exploded in her skull. “Maybe he’d believe you. And maybe he wouldn’t take off after me to hunt me down and drag me back to Falias. But your threats still don’t work on me. I won’t give you what you need in order to destroy this world.”
“I’m not trying to destroy this world,” he said in a low growl. “I’m trying to save it. Haven’t you seen what’s become of us? We’re worse than humans. Unseelie’s power needs to flood these lands and purify it. Only then can these courts begin anew. He will rise from the ashes and build a better world from the bones of us.”
Reyna shuddered as an iron fist of fear clamped around her heart. So, this was Unseelie’s plan. He wanted to destroy the world in order to rebuild it in his own image. He’d attempted it with Molt, but it hadn’t worked. And now, he was attempting to do it through Lorcan. A horrible, twisted thought sprang into her mind. During the battle against the Wood Court, she’d convinced herself the Ruin was wrong about the Namhaid. That the true enemy was Ulaid Molt instead of her.
But what if she’d been wrong, even when she’d been right?
What if the Namhaidhadn’tbeen Ulaid Molt? What if it was Lorcan instead?
Swallowing hard, she tried to shake away her fears. It just wasn’t possible. Itcouldn’tbe. If Lorcan was the Namhaid…
“I wish you could hear yourself,” she whispered to him, her heart aching. “The Lorcan I know would never say these things.”
A wicked smile curved his lips. He did not need to say what they both were thinking. The male before her was no longer the Lorcan she knew. But she would not give up on him. He was still in there, even if his mind had been transformed by the curse. He had to be.
“There’s just one thing I want to know,” she asked after flicking her eyes toward the door. She hadn’t heard a single rustle from the corridor since he’d arrived. As far as she could tell, it was empty. “If you’re so intent on destroying the world, why have you let all the other kings live? Why didn’t you kill them the moment they stepped foot inside your tower?”
“Didn’t you see?” He scowled. “They brought their armies with them. The wood fae barely accept my reign as it is. If I killed the other kings, the sea fae would rebel. And the ice fae? You know your realm would never accept a shadow fae as their ruler, not one who killed their beloved Darragh king. Your family has ruled the Ice Court for centuries.”
But he had another plan. He must. Or his face wouldn’t be wearing that smug confidence of someone who had won.
Nevermind all that. Reyna wouldn’t allow any of it to happen. Slowly, she inched her hands together, and she palmed her ice glass ring. Magic buzzed beneath her skin with an electric charge that made her bones shake. With a deep breath, she blasted ice at his chest, aiming for his steel armor. It vaulted him across the room, crackling in the heat. His body slammed against the wall. He grunted, eyes flying wide. And then he crumpled to the ground.
Reyna waited, her heart flickering wildly in her chest. When he didn’t move, she stole across the floor and cracked the door to peer into the corridor. It was empty, just as she had suspected. With one last glance over her shoulder, she made her escape. Lorcan would wake soon. She hadn’t hit him hard enough to do any permanent damage.
She had just enough time to find Thane, and then get the hell out of this cursed tower.
13
Mariel
Mariel peeled open her eyes. The shadows were thin, creeping things that paced the corridor outside of her dungeon cell. At least, she thought they were shadows. Perhaps they were ghosts, remnants of long-lost fae sent here by the Dagda. They would take her away to the Court of Death just as soon as she took her last breath.
Because she would die in this place.
She had no idea how many days had passed since Thane Selkirk had locked her up inside this iron-barred corner beneath the ground. It could be weeks or even months. It was impossible to keep track of the days. No sunlight. No fresh air. No hope.
The guards brought her food occasionally, but by the gnawing ache inside her gut, she knew it wasn’t every day.
Sighing, she dropped her head back against the grimy wall and breathed in the stench of decay. There were others in here. Occasionally, she heard the echo of screams. Were they warriors who had fought for her? Desperate hope flared within her. Surely Thane Selkirk wouldn’t punish his own people for supporting someone they mistakenly trusted to lead them.
It wasn’t their fault. They’d only done what they thought they were supposed to do. They’d only followed orders, like all good warriors did.
But she hadn’t thought Thane Selkirk would launch an attack on his own city either.
They were terrible, cruel people, the both of them. Mariel had failed Tairngire. She deserved to be in this godforsaken hole. But so did Thane.
