I sat in my chair, staring blankly at the blade.
Try as I might, I couldn’t drag my gaze away from it.
When I finally returned to myself, I admitted to Nix that he had been right about Edwin’s intentions. Offering him a salmon dinner as an additional apology seemed to put me back in his good graces. He followed me around the cottage the rest of the evening, the soft pitter-patter of his tiny paws never far behind me. The same empty feeling that set in after Edwin’s confession haunted me as I pulled back the covers of my bed, ready to sleep away the day. Presuming, of course, that it didn’t spill over into my dreams. Nameless enemies and traitorous acquaintances. Nightmare material indeed.
The island wouldn’t have let him harm me anyway.
Still, there was now one less person I could trust.
“You aren’t going to stay up until midnight?” Nix asked, interrupting my thoughts.
“I’m tired,” I answered, crawling under the sheets. “Besides, no one ever comes.”
Silently, Nix jumped up onto the bed, curling into a small ball at the end of my mattress.
I didn’t protest.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The throne was a living thing.
Rather than stone, it was carved from an ancient oak tree—trunk twisted into the visage of a chair. Above, its branches extended into a wild canopy of vibrant green leaves. Below, its roots stretched deep, deep into the ground. A man sat on the throne, wearing a crown of golden-brown antlers upon his brow. It complemented the warm, golden tones of his flaxen hair. No such warmth could be found in his eyes. No…they were completely devoid of feeling. Cold and merciless.
He exuded power. But I wasn’t afraid—I was angry.
He spoke, voice teetering on the edge of control. “Who wouldn’t want to be my bride?”
I answered, only it wasn’t my voice at all. “I’m not leaving until I hear it from her lips.”
“There’s no need for you to be so meddlesome.”
“Need? It was a mother’s need that brought me to your doorstep.”
“Her family has been provided for—they will want for nothing.”
“She wants her daughter to have a choice.”
“Humans who choose to enter my court answer to me.”
“Choose being the key word. Her mother claims you physically dragged her daughter across the boundary.”
“It was dark. Humans often confuse what they see at night. They have such poor eyesight…”
“You’re right. Some people will be fooled by the dark. Others will use it as an excuse to look the other way. But I am not one of those people. There is no darkness that moonlight cannot touch. If you think you can use the cover of darkness as an excuse for stealing yourself an unwilling bride—think again.”
A root, piercing through the floor. Headed straight for my heart.
I didn’t even flinch.
It wasn’t my body the root collided with—it was the wall of bright, silvery light conjured into being in front of me. A shield. Moonlight made manifest. Solid enough to deflect the root’s attack.
The man on the throne wasn’t the only one who exuded power.
My voice was calm and authoritative. “I will not ask again. Where is she?”
“You will regret this, Moira.” He choked out the words in a rage, control slipping. “The Midnight Sovereign will see its end.”
It was a vow. A vow laced with cruelty and disdain and binding magic.
