Page 248 of The Edge of Darkness

I glanced back at Breck, who was sweeping his eyes over the interior of our tent, keeping quiet. “Breck can accompany me. I’ll be back before the sun is fully over the horizon.”

Niall didn’t reply.

This was the most solemn I had ever seen him. The night had been full of long stretches of silence, and planning in between, working through all the moving pieces to this game called war. But seeing him staring at the fire, deep lines etched into the space between his brows . . .

“I can’t lose you,” he said quietly.

“You won’t,” I replied, leaning my head against his. “I promise.”

He closed his eyes and sighed. “I know better than to tell you to stay.”

“And you know that I never want to be without you. But if I can help save the king and keep Corinne from harm . . .”

There was a long pause. Then, reluctantly, he nodded. “No detours. Do what needs to be done and come straight back—both of you. We meet with the Dionachs shortly after first light.”

Breck inclined his head at the orders.

Niall looked up and held his stare. “Guard her with your life, Breck, or it will be considered forfeit.”

“I will,” Breck vowed, placing a hand over his heart.

“Good. Because if you don’t, I will come for you, and I will not stop until your soul burns to ash.” Niall didn’t even need to be standing to make his threat land with deadly precision. Breck shifted from his left foot to his right, seeming to feel the finality of each word.

“Hurry back to me,” Niall said, hooking a finger under my chin and pulling me closer to plant a kiss on my lips.

Breck stretched an open hand toward me, helping me to stand. The moment my fingers touched his, a nervous twinge began in my gut, but I pushed past it.

My mind was a messy place, thanks to what had happened earlier. But what we’d learned made me even more anxious to investigate this and help the human realm if I could. Queen Corinne was our ally, and what good of an ally were we if we did not answer her call for aid?

The worry on Niall’s face was the last thing I saw before Breck and I ported.

We materialized somewhere in the midst of the forest. Elandrew’s forest, not Belthria’s. I knew because the vibrancy of the foliage in the fae realm definitely did not exist in the human one.

“Why are we in Elandrew?” I asked. “I thought the queen said to meet in The Great Wood?”

“No one can port through The Veil. It’s like a ward—in a sense. No force of magic can move across it, except for a god’s. It must be crossed physically.”

Right. Because what would be the point of it then?

“Don’t worry, it isn’t far,” he said, imploring me to follow him with the nudge of his chin.

The forest floor was still somewhat dark, a mix of purple and gray hues, caught in the final moments before the sun would crest the horizon and wake the world. Gone was the mist I’d encountered at dawn when I first crossed into this realm. The warmth of the approaching daylight seemed to have already burned through it. Moss and dewy leaves wafted their scent into the air as we trudged over fallen tree trunks and stony outcrops, and every few steps, I caught a strange whiff of citrus and sweat.

Breck shuffled through the foliage, not following any particular path. His focus was everywhere, yet nowhere. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, watching his breaths, the hitch in his exhale.

“Do we have to move so quickly?” I searched the area as best I could, keeping an eye out for hidden threats. “What if Killian placed guards here to intercept us?”

“He didn’t.”

The quiver of arrows thudded against his back, bouncing wildly as we rounded a bend and hopped over a stream. I ground my jaw at all the clamor, knowing anyone close by could easily pinpoint our exact location because of it.

I scanned each tree and bundle of ferns with precision, looking for the shimmering wall between the realms. It was near. I felt its pulsing presence.

“Breck, the king’s guards could be just beyond,” I said, running through every possibility in my head. He didn’t seem to be listening. I reached out and caught his arm, tugging to make him slow down. “Breck!”

He whirled on me, his hair swinging over his brow. But the look he gave me wasn’t one I was used to receiving from him. There was an impatience there. Something that didn’t sit right in his features.

“We’ll be fine.” He tugged away from me. “I know where they would be stationed—if there were to be any at all.”