“Well, they should know better than—” Rian began, but he cut himself off and glanced down at Nuala.
Rian had moved her just behind his right shoulder to shield her from the newcomers, and the witch had been quietly observing the gorgeous female. But she must have squeezed the hand Rian had tucked behind his back for her to hold onto, and now she had all of his attention.
I gasped when her head tilted back, her face slackening so it was eerily expressionless. Her mismatched eyes both went an unsettling milky white and a reddish-brown rune appeared on her forehead.
Rian immediately turned, putting his back to Geera to block her from Nuala. But she had already seen, and her face paled as she shifted back a step.
“Nuala?” Rian murmured as his bloodstained hands slid tenderly around her jaw to cup her face.
“A trick,” Nuala breathed, her white eyes unblinking as she seemed to stare right through him.
“I do not trick him!” Geera gasped and shifted back again with a nervous glance at Ciaran who was eying her with a hand resting on his sword.
“Not her… Riordan has many allies now in Mionlach. He sent them word of your battle… He wants to know if you survived. He means for them to confirm it for him with their own eyes,” Nuala warned in an airy whisper.
“Oh, sweet Elements,” breathed Iraj, blue eyes wide as they bounced from Rian to Ciaran. “S-she is awitch!”
“Not a word to anyone,” Ciaran growled at him sternly enough that Iraj immediately nodded with a gulp.
Geera was watching Rian’s back with an expression of immense trepidation.
“She is an interesting pet, Rian. Considering you have named her kind among our enemies,” noted the emissary, her tone asking the question her words would not.
“Nuala isnota pet,” Rian growled over his shoulder before returning his full attention to the witch. His thumb gave her pale cheek a gentle caress, which seemed to wake her from her trance.
Nuala blinked as her face began to regain animation, and her eyes returned to their natural colours. Her gaze refocused on Rian who raised his brows at her as if to ask if she was alright, and she smiled at him reassuringly.
I saw Ciaran shifting out of the corner of my eye and knew he was probably wondering the same things I was. Like how it was that a little witch already seemed to have so much sway over the Autumn Prince.
Nuala pulled Rian’s hands down from her cheeks and stepped around him to face Geera. There was nothing but surety and confidence in the young witch as she prepared to addressthe beautiful fey.
“Do not inform them that you saw Rian. If they ask, you spoke with Ciaran,” Nuala instructed the female.
The emissary looked affronted by the order and looked at Rian for his reaction, but he merely nodded.
“Doexactlyas she says. Tell them the Wild Hunt will accept their invitation and join them for tomorrow night,” Rian directed her.
Geera nodded and bowed as she began to back toward the door again. But then her green eyes shifted to Nuala one last time with a look that seemed unkind before she raised her head to address Rian again with a smirk.
“Shall I arrange your usual entertainment?” she asked with an implication in her voice that made Ciaran grin.
“Do everything the way you usually would for one of our visits to avoid any suspicion,” Rian confirmed.
Geera gave a self-satisfied smile before bowing again and leaving the yurt with Iraj on her heels.
“Well,” Ciaran crooned once we were all alone again. “I’ll be looking forward tothattomorrow.”
“We are not going for the orgy. We are going to sniff out the traitors,” Rian insisted with feigned seriousness.
“I will be staying here either way,” Darragh muttered with a slow and dramatic roll of his shimmering eyes.
“You heard Rian! There will be no real fun to be had, which means that this is your chance to attend the party without breaking your vows,” Ciaran tried to reason.
“All the same,” Darragh maintained gruffly.
“Wait, I am sorry,” I interrupted with my hand raised. “Did you just say we are going to anorgytomorrow?”
I looked at Rian, but his attention had drifted to Nuala who was still staring at the tent door. When she noticed his attention, she gave him an unenthusiastic smile.
