Page 110 of The Stolen Crown

The Tower. The Ever. A lingering glimpse of a man with eerie yellow eyes grinning up at me. I knew him. I’d known the sod for turns. He was the Tower matron’s son, who aided in stocking her rum casks and shelves.

Swordeater’s unclaimed mate.

They’d never made it official, but had shared each other’s beds since the turn after the earth fae war.

Swordeater.

His heart’s desire was to be free, to return home, to see his lover again.

The trouble was, Swordeater couldn’t be lost to the seas, not if I could walk through his heart.

No. Swordeater was close.

He was here.

33

The Heartwalker

Gooseflesh raised on my arms. Something was not bleeding right.

How thrilled these folk were to see more fae. Were they like merfolk and inclined to collect faeish races who had the misfortune of being lost at sea?

And why in the three hells did I, all at once, have no desire to leave?

The same lull of comfort flowed in my veins as it did on the isle. A strange, unsettling urge to sleep a little longer, to curl around Mira’s body, and to not even bother with returning to the Ever.

We had food aplenty here and good company. We were seen as something great in this kingdom.

No. Dammit. I shook my head, smacking the heel of my palm against my brow. Swordeater was here. He had to be here.

If he was desperate to escape, then it could only mean we were not safe.

Mira slept peacefully, a gentle smile curved in the corner of her mouth. Her hand was in the middle of the bed, like she’d been reaching for me.

I shook her briskly. There was no time for gentility.

“Bleeding gods. What?” Mira blinked at me with a touch of annoyance.

I pressed my fingers to her lips. “I’m going to tell you something. You must keep your head and keep your words quiet.”

Mira’s eyes went wide, but she nodded.

“I felt Swordeater. He’s in distress, Mira. I think he is here somewhere.”

Mira let out a muffled “Bleeding hells” behind my hand.

“Tell me, do you feel the need to leave, or is there little motivation to set sail again?”

Mira’s brows tugged together, then a short gasp of her breath heated my palm. I dragged my fingers down her lips.

“It feels like…contentment. Like I felt on the isle,” she whispered.

“We need to go.” I hesitated, for the truth was, in this moment, I wanted to abandon the potential of finding my fellow crewman and get Mira out of sight. I knew enough about my Vicious to know that she would not allow it. “We will do what we can to find Swordeater, but if we can’t, we leave. Agreed?”

Mira’s face set in determination. She nodded again.

“Ready?”