The mists began to thin as we crept through the trees, and the glow of the bonfire was so bright after the darkness we’d just left that it almost blinded me. The stench grew stronger and the sounds grew louder until we neared the edge of the woods. I motioned for Tessa to get down on the ground. Wincing, she removed her hand from her nose and flattened her body against the dirt. Everywhere her hands touched, life turned to dust.
Her eyes glistened with unshed tears, but she did not flinch back.
I lowered myself to the ground beside her. Together, we crawled through the brush. Grass and brush turned black as we inched forward, Tessa leaving a trail of death in her wake. I tried to appear as if I didn’t notice, as if the dusty path behind were nothing more than dirt. But still, I could see the shame on her face and the regret in her eyes. She was trying to control it—trying to stop her power from killing everything she touched—but that control still evaded her.
At long last, we finally reached the lip of the woods, where the small hill looked down on the war camp in the valley below. My fingers tensed on the ground, and absolute terror stole all the breath from my lungs. That was not a war camp. At least, it wasn’t like any camp I’d ever raised in all those months I’d spent battling Oberon and his bloodthirsty kingdom.
A massive bonfire raged in the center of a clearing where the grass had been burned away, leaving behind a perfect circle of charred earth. The orange light cast eerie hues across a small cluster of dyed emerald tents that shuddered in the harsh wind—the color of the Kingdom of Storms. On a few flat stones, several storm fae perched, clad in leather armor and holding bows. With eyes vacant and hollow, they watched the rest of their camp.
A camp swarming with monsters.
Pookas prowled around the bonfire, the light glinting off their talons and fangs. Blood drenched their matted fur, blood that looked fresh. There were at least a hundred of them. And among them, wraiths danced in their tangled black robes, their bony feet leaving behind trails of black, poisonous sand.
But that wasn’t the worst of it, not by a long shot. I saw five or six of those scorpion-like creatures we’d faced in Itchen hunkering in the darkness like mountains of death. There might’ve been even more, hidden by the dense mist.
Tessa sucked in a sharp breath.
Muscles knotting in my shoulders, I scanned the camp, searching for any sign of Sirius or the other gods. I would never forget him—his cruel, wicked face, and the way he’d looked at Tessa. But I did not see him among the fae nor anywhere else in the camp.
Still, this was not good. If these creatures swarmed the streets of Dubnos…I shuddered at the thought of all the blood painting the streets, and of the life draining from innocent eyes. The terror-filled end of all those trusting citizens who believed no one could harm them because they had the Mist King.
I swore beneath my breath and moved back, retracing my steps with Tessa by my side. As soon as we were far enough away to avoid being heard, I leaned down to press my lips against her ear.
“I’m going to attack that camp,” I whispered.
Tessa hissed and pulled away from me. “Have you lost your mind?”
“Did you see Sirius or any of the others? My power should work without the gods nearby. I can stop that army of beasts from attacking my kingdom.”
“Think about this,” she whispered up at me. “Sirius could be hidden inside those tents. He could be waiting foryouto show your hand.”
I pressed my lips together. “You think it’s a trap.”
“I think it’s a war camp with a terrifying variety of beasts, and those fae are readying themselves to march on Dubnos. Soon, no doubt. But they’ll also suspect you’ve lost all your scouts and have come out here to investigate yourself. What better way to win than to take out the King of Shadows before the battle even begins?”
I clenched my jaw. Walking away from this when I might stay and prevent an attack on my kingdom from happening…it went against everything I was, everything I wanted to be as king. It felt like cowardice. It felt like loss.
But deep down, I knew Tessa was right. We’d seen no sign of Sirius, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t close enough to dampen my power if I tried to unleash it upon this army.Hisarmy. An army of beasts. I’d never before seen pookas so contained, so…calm. They were pacing around the bonfire, but they were leashed. The gods were able to control them. Or at least one of them was.
“I could take my sword against them,” I murmured. “I’m powerful and fast.”
“You’re good, Kal. But there are too many of them, even for you. Even with me and my death hands by your side. They would either kill us or capture us, and then Dubnos would have no idea what was coming for them. We need to return to the city and warn them. We need to prepare for a fight. Because it’s coming for us. May the realm never break.”
She spoke with such conviction, and it wasn’t fear or anger that fueled her words. The glint in her eyes was something else, something far more powerful—strength and clarity. She lifted her chin and spoke in a calm, steady voice. It was the way a queen might speak when faced with an impossible situation, in a voice that could capture the heart of an entire kingdom.
It had captured mine.
“All right,” I answered. “Let’s be swift. We don’t know how soon they’ll attack.”
But as we turned to race over the hill toward the base of the mountain, a tall, hollow-eyed fae blocked our path. “Neither of you will be going anywhere.”
Forty
Tessa
The eyes of the storm fae swept across us, his gaunt face highlighting the cutting cheekbones and a strong, jutting chin. His dark hair was pulled back from his face and melded into shadows behind him. He snarled, showing canines sharp enough to slice through flesh. And he had an arrow aimed right at Kalen’s heart.
There was a buzz in my ears, and a heavy darkness crept into the corners of my vision. I stared down the fae, my own lips curling back. I had the sudden urge to rip his head off and tear the rest of him apart, limb by limb. My rage was so intense, my body shuddered from the force of it.
