Page 108 of A Courage of the Chosen

“Is that why the courtyard is so busy? Were you about to come looking for me?” I ask a little breathlessly.

“Partly. I was readying some of the units to search for you, but there’s also been some news.”

I don’t like his ominous tone, or the cold that’s swept into the gap he’s put between our bodies.

“What happened?” My mind jumps from one scenario to the next. None of them are good, and all of them involve someone dying.

Callahan takes a note from his pocket and hands it to me. It’s sealed with black wax, and the handwriting on the front is painfully familiar.

It’s addressed to ‘My queen’.

If I don’t open it, then I don’t need to know what’s inside. Don’t need to face what he’s done. But hiding from this war isn’t a luxury I’m afforded anymore.

This is my war.

These are my people.

With shaking fingers, I take the note from Callahan and open it.

Your move, Your Majesty

T x

“Where was this found?” I ask the question utterly afraid of the answer.

“It was pinned to the barrier. The guards on duty had been slaughtered beyond comprehension, not a single one of them left in whole pieces.”

I close my eyes against the vision of it.

“There were tracks, too. They must have gone through to the human world.”

Fuck.

He told me I’d pay for moaning Cal’s name down the bond. I’d done it on purpose, and I knew it would piss him off. I just wanted to put him in his place for once.

The retaliation shouldn’t be a shock. Tavish is singular in his cruelty, believing that he’s doing the right thing. And now he’s sent his beasts into the human world. Who knows what sort of damage they’ll inflict.

“How many?”

“We think around thirty. But without following them, there’s no way to know for sure. They stayed beyond the barrier.”

We can’t fight a war on two fronts. If we send guards into the human world, we don’t know what they’ll face, or what we’ll leave exposed.

“They . . .” he hesitates.

“Just tell me.”

“It wasn’t just Seelie remains found.”

No.

Callahan watches me carefully. “They brought humans back. Around twenty of them.”

I’m going to throw up.

This is on me.

I goaded him, and now I’m paying the price.