“Stay.” Orion shakes the back of my neck, forcing my eyes to his. “You hear me? You stay with us.”
I can’t. But I also can’t tell him that. Can’t make my tongue form the words that would break something in his face.
“What the fuck does that mean?” Ash is on her feet, pacing, thorns flickering under her skin like her body wants to fight something. “Can’t I…I’m Wild Court, there has to be?—”
“You can’t.” Kieran’s voice is gentler than I’ve ever heard it. “The binding predates the courts. It answers only to her.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“That’s Fae magic. Same thing.”
The pull intensifies. I’m starting to fade at the edges, my body becoming less solid, less here.
“Oh look. A light show.”
Badb walks up like she’s arriving at a party she’s already bored of. There’s blood on her fingernails. Fingernails that reston my shoulder. They dig into my flesh, piercing skin, and I jerk at the sudden sharp pain.
But it grounds me. Anchors me to my body in a way Orion’s warmth couldn’t quite manage.
“What did you do?” I grind out.
“Pain is an excellent tether.” She sounds almost bored. “Now.” Her claws dig deeper. “Say your goodbyes. You have perhaps thirty seconds before the summons tears you apart trying to deliver you.”
“Don’t—” Orion starts.
“Twenty-five seconds.”
Orion’s hand moves from my neck to my face. He grips my jaw, forces me to look at him.
“We will come for you.”
“You shouldn’t?—”
“Wasn’t asking permission.” His amber eyes burn. “You are not alone in this anymore, Finn. You hear me? You spent thirty years thinking you had to survive her by yourself. That’s done. That’s over.”
“Orion—”
“We’re coming for you.”
He releases me. Steps back.
Kieran takes his place. His hand lands on my shoulder, the one Badb isn’t currently shredding, and his ice-blue eyes hold mine.
“You are far stronger than you will ever give yourself credit for.” The words are precise. Deliberate. The kind of thing Kieran doesn’t say unless he means it down to his bones. “I have watched you survive her for three decades. I have watched you maintain your soul when she tried to consume it. Do not doubt yourself now.”
“I—”
“He’s right.” Orion cuts in, because he can’t help himself. “Smart. Nice ass. The whole package.”
Badb makes a gagging sound.
“Fifteen seconds,” she announces.
Ash drops to her knees in front of me.
Her hands frame my face, cool against my fever-hot skin, forcing my eyes to hers.
“Hey.” Her voice cuts through the static, through the pull, through everything. “Look at me.Lookat me, Finnian.”
