Finally, she looks atme.
In her big, blue eyes is the deep seed of knowing. Vile, poignant, accusatoryknowing—which only confirms my suspicions.
She spiked my meals with the berries to begin with.
Tension cuts the air, andI settle the mortar on the table, swallowing, brutally aware of just how fragile this situation has become.Burn-me-at-the-stake-rather-than-couple-with-mefragile.
“Izel, please don—”
She spins toward the door, the fertility tonic thudding against the rug.
My vision smears as I move too fast and all at once, chewing the space between us in a few strides, making me feel as if I left my skin over by the vanity. Swallowing a violent, rocking surge of displacement, I bind her with my arm and smack my hand upon her mouth.
She bucks and twists and tries to wrestle free, but my bones are hardened by the alloy of my desperation.
“Stop, Izel. Please. Youhaveto listen.”
She continues to twist and grunt, teeth grazing my palm, trying to sink into my flesh.
I press my lips close to her ear, my whisper sharp and urgent. “He’s a very bad, verytwistedman. Just stop trying to bite my hand and give me a second to explain.”
She goes completely slack and still, and I breathe a sigh of relief, closing my eyes.
“He’sUnseelie,”I whisper, tainting the air with the haunting admission. “He’s got men, women …childrenentombed in a feeding burrow beneath an island in the bay.”
I wait for any reaction at all.
Nothing.
Just the sound of her breathing hard and fast through her nose.
“I— I have a plan to rescue them. Their lives depend on it.”
I give that information time to settle, feeling each second tick by faster than the last while I stare at the door. Expecting someone to burst in at any moment to hail me for the ceremony.
We can’t stand here all night …
I draw a tight breath. “I’m going to let you speak now. Please don’t do anything stupid.”
The second I lift my palm, she screams.
I slam the heel of my hand into the side of her head, and she crumples. Fists assault the door as Izel’s limp body thuds to the floor at my feet.
“Orlaith?”
Fuck.
I leap over Izel and dash to the door, pulling it open just enough for me to peek through the gap up into Kolden’s daunted expression. “Can you keep everyone out for a moment?”
He looks past me, eyes widening. “Is she—”
“Going to have a very bad headache when she wakes up?” I mutter, and a sharp curse batters me.
“How?”
“She saw me mixing liquid bane with my lip lacquer.”
All the color drops from his face, and he tries to shove the door.
