Page 154 of The Reaping Rose

Greer hitches an eyebrow at our side. “Should we reconvene in the morning, or can you two separate long enough to take care of business?”

“Greer!” Elorie pushes out of my arms, throwing herself at her friend. “Wilder said you were back, but thank the Gods.”

Elorie hugs Greer tighter, and it takes a moment for Greer to reciprocate. She’s frozen as Elorie whispers something. Then her hands find Elorie’s back, and she closes her eyes, nodding once in answer to whatever Elorie said.

When they pull apart, their faces are solemn.

“We can’t put this off until morning.” Elorie frowns, her gaze moving between us. “If what I saw in the Mortal Realm says anything, I doubt we have much time.”

All I want is my mate to myself—a moment to breathe her in. To exist, just the two of us. And when Elorie’s eyes meet mine, I sense she wants that too. But our responsibilities come first.

By the time we reach the meeting hall, everyone is there besides Atlas and Perame.

It takes all my effort to not sit Elorie on my lap. This long without her, and I’m aching to have my hands on her—my lips on her. It’s like a part of me has been missing, and now she’s returned.

Aurora is the last to arrive, shutting the door behind her. Once we’re all seated, we go around the table, sharing what we’ve learned in the time we’ve been apart. Elorie and Callum alternate telling us about the state of the Mortal Realm, and Greer stays quiet the entire time as if her thoughts are elsewhere.

Elorie’s experience in the Mortal Realm is nothing like my recollection of it. Over the past century, it’s clear things have changed, and they’ve been making up their own stories about the Fae.

Callum leans back in his seat when he’s done recalling their time with the overlord, while Greer sits straighter.

“You swore you’d look out for them.” My tone is clipped, gaze on Callum. “How did they manage to capture you?”

“It’s not his fault.” Elorie rests her hand on mine, but it does little to quell the thought of someone putting my mate in obsidian shackles. “We got out, and we made it back.”

“Perame is barely breathing.”

“That’s on both of us.” Elorie frowns, and I’m struck by the guilt she’s carrying around.

Guilt I’m fueling by directing my anger at Callum. It’s not either of their fault; I just hate that I wasn’t there to protect her.

“I’m sorry.” I close my eyes, taking a deep breath before looking at Callum again. “Thank you for being there for them. I know you did all you could.”

Elorie laces her fingers through mine. “I know you did too.”

The table turns to me, and I update everyone on what happened in their absence with the mercreatures and my meeting with Celeste. Rior manages not to shift in his seat, but his gaze is fixed out the window.

Finally, Greer tells us about Solace. About Malachi setting up magic collection sites in Lyrichia. About traveling the Echme forests and thinking they found Malachi, only to discover it was an illusion. A trap.

“He’s strong.” Greer bites her bottom lip. “Stronger than anything I’ve seen before. And that’s saying a lot considering the two of you sitting across from me.”

Elorie and I share a look.

“So we have no lead on where he might be.” I sigh, frustrated that Elorie risked her life finding the void—a human girl at that—only for us to have gotten nowhere before her return.

“That’s not entirely true.” Greer leans forward, her eyes darting to Elorie. “Malachi told us that you already know where he is.”

“Me?”

Greer nods at Elorie’s question. “He said he told you when you last saw him.”

Elorie’s face pinches as she thinks. Through the threads, a hundred thoughts run wild all at once, making it impossible to keep track of them. Until confusion finally slips, and it’s replaced with something far more terrifying: fear.

“The prison. When I went back to find my mother and Malachi came to see me, he said a few things that didn’t make sense at the time.” She pinches the bridge of her nose, replaying it in her mind. “He wasn’t there physically, of course. Like you said about seeing him in Echme, he was an illusion, projecting himself. It was confusing, and he was speaking in riddles. I assumed nothing he said meant anything.”

“He seems to think it did.” Greer frowns.

Elorie’s gaze is distant, glassy. “He said that the time would come that I would need him. That when I did, I could find him where the river meets the sea and the Well drinks us down. At the peak of a full moon.”