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Prologue
Niall walked through the ruins of the tattoo shop. Shards of painted glass crunched under his boots. The floor was strewn with vials of ink, unopened needles, electric apparatus he couldn’t identify, and other things he’d rather not identify. The Dark King had known rage before, known grief; he’d felt helpless, felt unprepared; but he’d never before had all of those emotions converge on him at once.
He paused and lifted one of the mangled bits of metal and wire from the floor. He turned it over in his hand. Only a year ago, a tattoo machine—maybe this one—had bound Irial to the mortal who had brought the former Dark King and Niall together again after a millennium. Irial was the constant, the one faery that had been a part of Niall’s life—for better and worse—for more than a thousand years.
Niall stabbed his bloodied hand with the broken tattoo machine. His own blood welled up and mingled with the drying blood on his hands. His blood. Irial’s blood is on my hands because I couldn’t stop Bananach. Niall lifted the broken machine in his hand, but before he could stab himself a second time, a Hound grabbed his wrist.
“No.” The Hound, Gabriel’s mate, Chela, took the machine. “The stretcher is here, and—”
“Is he awake?”
Mutely, Chela shook her head and led him toward the living room, where Irial lay.
“He will heal,” Niall said, trying the words out, testing the Hound’s reaction to his opinion.
“I hope so,” she said, even as her doubt washed over him.
Irial was motionless on the litter. The uneven rising and falling of his chest proved that he still lived, but the pinched look on his face made clear that he was suffering. His eyes were closed, and his taunting grin was absent.
The healer was finishing packing some sort of noxious-smelling plants against the wound, and Niall wasn’t sure whether it was worse to look at Irial or at the bloodied bandages on the floor.
The Hound, Gabriel’s second-in-command, lowered her voice. “The Hunt stands at your side, Niall. Gabriel has made that clear. We will fight at your side. We will not let Bananach near you.”
Niall came to stand beside Irial and asked the healer, “Well?”
“He’s as stable as can be expected.” The healer turned to face Niall. “We can make him comfortable while the poison takes him or we can end his suffer—”
“No!” Niall’s abyss-guardians flared to life in shared rage. “You will save him.”
“Bananach stabbed him with a knife carved of poison. He’s as good as d—” The rest of the words were lost under the Dark King’s roar of frustration.
Irial opened his eyes, grabbed Niall’s hand, and rasped, “Don’t kill the messenger, love.”
“Shut up, Irial,” Niall said, but he didn’t pull his hand away. With his free hand, he motioned for the waiting faeries to approach. “Be careful with him.”
Niall released Irial’s hand so that the faeries could lift the stretcher.
As they left the tattoo shop, Hounds fell into formation around Niall and the injured king, walking in front, flanking them, and following them.
The former Dark King’s eyes closed again; his chest did not appear to rise.
Niall reached out and put a hand on the injured faery’s chest. “Irial!”
“Still here.” Irial didn’t open his eyes, but he smiled a little.
“You’re an ass,” Niall said, but he kept his hand on Irial’s chest so that he could feel both pulse and breath.
“You too, Gancanagh,” Irial murmured.
Far too many miles away from Huntsdale, Keenan leaned against the damp cave wall. Outside, the desert sky glimmered with stars, but he wanted to be home, had wanted to be home since almost the moment he’d left. Soon. He’d needed to be away, needed to find answers, and until he did that he couldn’t go back. Being on his own was unheard of, but despite the challenges, he was certain he was doing the right thing. Of course, he’d been certain of a lot of things. Surety was not a trait he lacked, but it did not always lead to wise choices.
He closed his eyes and let sleep take him.
“Is this what you freely choose, to risk winter’s chill?” Sunlight flickered under his skin, and he reveled in the hope that this time it would not end, that this time, this girl, was the one he’d been seeking for so long.
She didn’t look away. “It’s what you want.”
