Something twisted in my chest: anger, grief, perhaps pity. I couldn’t decipher which.
“And now?” I asked. “Now that the leash is off, you expect me to grant you forgiveness freely?”
He looked at me steadily. “No. I want toearnit.”
Neera appeared from the shadows, a tenderness shining in her eyes as she knelt beside Seamus, fingers brushing his.
“When I first saw her,” Seamus said quietly, attention turning to the shifter at his side, “everything stopped. The noise. The commands. The voices she left in my head. My bond to Neera… It burned through it all. I felt a sense of peace for the first time in five hundred years. And when Anjani raised the blade to kill her, I—”
“The mate bond severed the blood oath.” Rhett’s expression softened, his voice almost reverent.
Seamus nodded. “Neera saved me from her control. But I know Minaeve. SheknowsI broke free. I fear she’ll come for Neera next. That’s why I’m here. I’m not asking for a pardon, Daxton. I’m offering to be utilized as a weapon to finally end her.”
I studied him, this male I’d once trusted with my life, now shackled in the dark because of what he’d become.
“I watched you slaughter our kind,” I said, each word a physical blow to his heart. “You looked me in the eye more times than I can count to crush my mind beneath your will. You nearly broke Skylar’s mind in Crimson City!”
His eyes closed briefly. “I remember every scream.”
The silence that followed was thick and suffocating. Skylar’s fire crackled in the corner. The faint hiss of her magic reached out to calm me before my temper could boil over.
Seamus shifted slightly, curling his fingers around Neera’s hand. “There’s more,” he said, voice tight but controlled. “The armies… They’re gathering in the White Fang Mountains. Their intent is clear: they plan to surround Solace. Gilen expects you to return there, and they’re preparing their defenses for your arrival.”
I felt a chill run down my spine.
Skylar’s fury ignited along the bond at the mention of Gilen’s further betrayal. I might have claimed Blade’s death at my hands, but Gilen’s blood was hers to take.
“How many?” Castor demanded, stepping forward, eyes narrowing.
Seamus’s expression darkened, the shadow of his former ruthlessness flickering in the torchlight. “Far more than you have,” he admitted, voice low, heavy with unease. “Even though my oath to Minaeve is momentarily broken, I fear it will resurface. I cannot guarantee complete loyalty, nor that of the High Fae still under her influence on the mainland.”
Skylar’s fire flared brighter, the heat of her magic humming against the walls as her eyes met mine.
“I will do everything I can to undo the damage I’ve caused. But the moment I am away from Neera or in Minaeve’s presence…” Seamus paused, lips pressing into a fine line. “Then the magic may reclaim me.”
Castor’s jaw tightened, his narrowed gaze locked on Seamus. His voice was sharp as he spoke, “How many more do they have exactly? Hundreds? Thousands? Tens of thousands?”
Seamus’s eyes darkened further, the torchlight catching a glint of steel in his gaze. “Enough to crush any army that marches blindly into the mountains. I cannot give you an exact number. Minaeve’s magic obscured some of her forces, but trust me, it is overwhelming.”
Nyssa shifted beside Castor, her fingers flexing as she signed quickly to Skylar, “We need a plan. Now.” Her expression was calm, but the tension in her shoulders betrayed the urgency.
Skylar’s eyes narrowed, her fire flaring, but her voice remained steady. “We adapt. We don’t march blindly. We utilize the advantages we have with this intel,” she added, her gaze flicking to Seamus. “We have him. He knows their deployments, their strategies.”
I crossed my arms, my mind racing. Five centuries of betrayal, manipulation, and murder were not so easily forgiven, but the male in front of me wasoursnow. And his knowledge could save Solace, could save Valdor. The spark of trust I’d once felt as a young warrior flickered faintly, unwilling to die.
Castor clicked his teeth, shaking his head. “And the oath to Minaeve? You said it’s broken, but only temporarily. How can we be certain it won’t return mid-battle? That she won’t force you to betray us?”
Seamus lifted his head, eyes meeting mine. “Minaeve’s magic is powerful, yes, but she cannot break the bond between mates, even with the Heart of Valdor. It is the strongest magic in existence, purer than any oath she could craft. It is my anchor. Without it, I am vulnerable. But with it…” He let the words hang, and the weight of them settled in the room.
Castor’s eyes flicked to me, sharp and calculating, as if to ask silently whether we could trust him. I exhaled slowly, letting the tension slightly drain from my shoulders.
Skylar simmered her flames to a gentle warmth as she ran a hand along the cobblestone wall, deep in thought.
“Then we plan. Carefully,” she said. “We use the mountains, the terrain, and everything we know to level the battlefield. The north is our home. Shifters will fight to regain it. Many would have stayed if I had not commanded them to leave our shores. I believe we fight the battle there and draw them from the mountains.”
I nodded slowly, but my gaze lingered on Seamus, the complicated knot of old friendship, betrayal, and newfound hope twisting in my chest. His unholy deeds were not undone in a single day, but maybe there was a chance.
“Why should we trust you now?” I asked.
