She nodded and pressed her ice glass dagger into his hand. “We’ll both go in the tower. I’ll be there beside you, but you need to be the one to approach him. Talk to him. Bring up old times. Good memories you’ve shared together.”
“Alright, I have plenty of those.”
“Good.” She smiled. “When he sees you, maybe he can gain control of himself long enough for you to explain what we have to do.”
A grim certainty flickered in his eyes. “Spill his blood on the throne.”
“Make him understand he needs to stay on the throne. He can’t get up. Not until the curse is broken.”
“I’ll do this, Reyna, but I have to admit, I don’t like this at all.” He turned to gaze at the door of the looming tower. There was no sign of activity yet, but she knew what they’d find inside. Lorcan would be waiting for her, and he would not be unarmed.
“I don’t like it either,” she whispered. “But I don’t know how else we can save him, along with everyone else. His blood is the only way to wash away the curse, and if it doesn’t hit the throne, then it will all be for nothing.”
“What if we’re wrong?” he asked. “What if he can’t break through the curse to speak to me?”
“Then, you have to take that dagger and stab him.”
“He’ll never let me do that. He’d kill me first.”
“He won’t,” she said insistently. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Even if he can’t do anything else, he will never turn his blade against you. If he broke through one magic, he can break through another. For you, Thane.”
It was the best idea she’d had yet. She just wished she’d had it sooner. They’d wasted so much time chasing false leads. Too many innocents had died because of it.
And the curse was spreading fast. Even if her father didn’t plan to attack at dawn, they had to finish this now before it was too late to stop it. Murias would soon fall. They’d come too close before. The cursed fae would swarm across the border between realms and aim their sights on Tairngire.
And then home.
Her kingdom needed her, more now than they ever had before.
“You and me, Thane. Just like you said.” She clutched his hands in hers. “We’ll finish this together.”
49
Reyna
Reyna kicked open the door of the Tower of Thorns and strode inside like she owned the place. Thane walked beside her, the ice glass dagger tucked away in his back waistband where Lorcan couldn’t spot it. The cloying scent of death clogged her nostrils as they stared down Lorcan Rothach, the High King of the Shadow and Wood Courts combined.
Lorcan chuckled from where he lounged on the throne, one leg kicked over the vine-woven armrest. “Too afraid to face me on your own, are you? This wasn’t part of the deal.”
“Thane’s just here to watch. He’s pretty eager to see you lose. What else did you expect? You did betray him, after all.”
He snorted, rolling his eyes. “You mean thepathetic onebetrayed him, don’t you? That had nothing to do with me. Regardless, I won’t mind watching him squirm while I drain your lifeblood from your veins.”
Reyna arched a brow. “The pathetic one?”
He waved his hand dismissively. “It’s what I call the one I used to be.”
“So, you admit to not being the same person.”
Grinning, Lorcan dropped his hand to the floor and cradled a goblet he’d left beside his feet. He lifted to his lips and tipped the entire contents into his open mouth. He swallowed and flashed his bloodstained lips.
Reyna fought the urge to shudder.
“You’re still clinging on to the hope that you can get him back.” He revealed the Iron Dragon he’d hidden in the branches of the throne and dragged the tip down the curve of his jaw. “But it’s time that you accept your brutal reality. The sooner you do, the sooner we can get on with the business of me killing you.”
She held back a wince. Even though she’d braced herself for this, hearing those words in that familiar voice and coming from his beautiful face…it killed her. She wanted to scream and shout and beg him to come back to her.
But that was what he wanted her to do.
