“Nifty contraption, isn’t it?” Wynn tapped on the glass, and Winnow covered her ears. “Another one of my experiments you’d probably disapprove of. But don’t worry. It won’t hold her for long. The beast realm will call her back within the hour. I just wanted to make sure she didn’t slip out before then.”
He handed the gilded cage to one of his lackeys. The panes of glass magnified Winnow’s fear, and her wide eyes threatened to break me into a million pieces.
“Imagine my surprise when she appeared in my chambers with your exact location.” Wynn shook his head. “After you’d stolen my Scorpex and murdered my Femsy, I wasn’t sure how to proceed. I couldn’t send another beast in case your charm somehow broke the bond again, and I knew you wouldn’t stay in Ortega Key long.”
Fury stoked fire in my veins, and the weak shadows leaking from my frame desperately tried to lash out.
With his back to Leena, Wynn offered me a private smirk. “But the solution fell right into my lap in the end. Nocwishedfor this.”
My world went cold.
Leena’s voice wavered. “No, it was his guild. He had to give up—”
“Did you even consider he might lie?” Wynn’s grin deepened, and the veins on my neck bulged as I tried to scream. None of this was true. But I could see the flicker of doubt in Leena’s wounded gaze.
Wynn extracted heavy metal shackles from his robe and latched them on her wrists. She didn’t even fight back. She only stared.
He brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face. “Look at the facts. He made a wish, and now here you are. Back in my hands.”
Tears endlessly spilling down her face, her eyes silently accused me of everything I knew I was.
Filth.
Scoundrel.
Liar.
“Leena,” I croaked, the harsh weight of the gravity beast’s magic threatening to smash my vocal cords to oblivion. “I didn’t know. I swear.”
Her chest heaved. How on earth could I make her believe me when we both knew her greatest fear was once again being collateral damage at the hand of a Gyss?
Each tear that fell from her cheek was shattering, my heart aching for everything I’d gained and destroyed in such a short time. I should have known. Because whether he knew it or not, Wynn wasright.
Cruor wasn’t something I’d achieved—it was gifted. A rite of passage from one leader to the next. I had formed the ranks, built a family. But nothing in this world was more precious than what I had built with Leena: trust. Love. A future.
Gods, I should have known.
Wynn yanked on Leena’s chains. Blazing white, his Charmer’s symbol erupted, and the same lizard beast he’d summoned in Devil’s Hollow appeared by his feet. A fresh portal sparked to life in its unhinged jaw. “Come, Leena. As you’ve said, you know what happens when you put your trust in a man who is willing to wield a Gyss.” He turned to the stone beast beside my head. “Hold him until your time runs out. Then, return to the beast realm.”
Pushing Leena into the swirling gateway, he offered me a parting sneer. Shadows tried in vain to reach him, but the rock beast’s unending gravity buried me deeper and deeper into the earth, and the lizard beast disappeared before I could even dream of getting close.
Twenty-six
Leena
Manifesting through the portal, we landed at the foot of the glistening falls on the banks of my former home. Hireath was everything I remembered it to be—and more. Gargantuan trees lined the clearing, and their branches reached across the pool of water to form a network of interconnected walkways and bridges for Charmers to cross. Alabaster platforms and buildings suspended against trunks were full of people. Of laughter. Flush with the mountain, a castle of white marble reached toward the clouds. The Beast City. A sanctuary birthed from the earth itself to provide haven for Charmers.
All I could see were Noc’s wide, pleading eyes. Damn him. I’d trusted him.
Wynn nudged me in the back, and I walked along the edge of the lapping waters toward the glittering steps. A fine mist from the falls lingered in the air, and the taste of minerals coated the back of my tongue.Home.I swallowed hard, ignoring the hot sting behind my eyes. It was all too much.
Walking in silence, I followed the Charmers under Wynn’s command past the watchtowers into the open gardens of the Beast City. Trickling water sang from the fountain in the middle of the clearing, a maiden upending a vase into an endless pond. Plants with vibrant pink, pastel purple, and hypnotic blue flowers clustered along the marble path. Beasts and Charmers alike rambled down walkways, quiet murmurs just audible over the water’s call.
Maintaining a tight circle, Wynn’s guards hid me from any wandering eyes. I wasn’t sure if anyone would even remember me, but that was a chance he apparently didn’t want to take. As one, we hit the smooth stone slabs of the keep and navigated corridor after corridor. Swinging lanterns with soft blue flames marked our progression as we climbed higher until we reached a lone floor dedicated solely to Wynn.
He dismissed the attendants standing post outside the double doors of his room and led me in. “What do you think, Leena? It’s quite the step up from our home before.”
Our home.Floor-length windows thrown open to the sky, the constant rushing of the nearby waterfall ricocheted off the slick marble stone. A four-poster bed large enough to sleep six dominated the wall to my right, tulle curtains flapping lazily in the breeze. Clean lines. White furniture. Open space. It was the picture of innocence, and the very thing Wynn could never be.
