“But I believe someone manipulated us thereafter. Somehow, when we became slaves and took the brand, things changed.”
The mark of Sorlisalvalkeld made the serving Fae unable to raise a hand to their master and bendable to their will even if they fought against it in their mind. It was a plausible explanation, one Heath had thought of as well.
“Then if we were lied to after we were taken, it’s our lives among the Seraph we have to worry about. And we also need to learn who did it and why it was done. There is no reason for us to have been made to believe Silva ordered our harsh treatments and broke us down. What could anyone gain?”
“The death of a queen.”
“Assassination? I found her in Encantado after she’d been there for a few years, from what I could gather. She was powerless, working at Kalinda’s Katering. But even then, I didn’t know she was Fae until she nearly died in an attack. Suddenly, she was on my radar.”
“Perhaps she was in hiding.”
Heath shook his head. “She’s Kalinda’s Cosantiór, Eiravel. When Kalinda was in danger, she wouldn’t have been able to let her be harmed.”
“Then someone has impersonated her.”
They were going around in circles. “The royal seal is tied to her blood and magic. It was designed that way so no one could mimic it.”
“You do not remember your past.”
Heath spun and slid his sword from his sheath before he registered the ghostly apparition before him.
Ash.
Eiravel leapt to his feet, fangs big in his mouth, daggers at the ready. “What?”
“It’s her.”
“Your Foraltae?”
“Yes. Ash, can you make yourself visible to him?”
She closed her eyes for a minute, and her form became more solid than before.
Eiravel gasped. “It’s not clear, but I see a silhouette of someone standing there.”
“It drains too much of my energy to maintain it.”
“Gods tit, I heard her. It’s like the ocean.”
Heath hissed. “Don’t sound too fucking excited.”
With a chuckle, Eiravel tucked away his blades. “Not even close, brother. She is yours.”
Of course, she was.
“Fade back to where it’s easier, if you need to.”
Ash did so with a blink. “You said you do not remember your past right.”
Heath wasn’t sure how to explain it, so he started from his time in Encantado up until he’d left the Lombardi Pack to find the truth and joined with Eiravel, Cynes, Kallan, and Teague. His heart twinged a bit when he left out Silva and her part in the story. Ash was Seelie, and he didn’t want her to know what he’d attempted to do to her former monarch.
It wouldn’t bode well for their developing relations.
“Hmmm, I wonder.” Ash’s brow pinched as she tapped her lip in thought.
Even now, she was beautiful to behold. A petite but curvy woman who made his blood boil with need. And the fact she seemed completely unaware of how beautiful she was only made it better.
“I can control the dream locations. I wonder if through our Fate bond I may be able to pull up the memories you have and play them true.”
