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Future Helen can worry about later.
I turn to Riley. “What about you guys? Are you coming back with us?”
Riley exchanges a look with Nine before she shakes her head. “We did our part. Oberon never said anything about us having to go back to his palace and see him when we were done. That’s up to Rys.” It is? “We’re gonna head out, too, but we’re leaving from the Shadow Realm.” With a shrug, she adds, “It’ll give us more juice before we get back to the Iron.”
Juice? Yeah. That’s a good word for it. The way Riley and Nine acted when they first crossed over into the Shadow Realm was crazy. More like crack.
“We’ll see you again, though, right?” Aft
er everything we’ve been through, I like to think I made another friend in Riley.
“Yeah. Sure. You’re cool, Elle. And it’s good to see someone keep this guy in check.”
“Safe travels, Shadow.” Rys pauses, a teasing note slipping into his tone. “Give my regards to your mother.”
“Rysdan—”
Riley lays her hand on her mate’s chest, shifting slightly so that—for the countless time—she’s stepping between the two fae. Once upon a time, that might have triggered my jealousy. After the last few days? I shrug and let Riley handle it.
Which she does with a warning point and a short, “Don’t push it.”
Rys’s eyes glitter in amusement.
I clutch his arm. “That’s enough. Can we go now?”
“Of course, Leannán.” His amusement fades, a hard edge taking its place. “Should I barter for another ride?”
And have him owe a second favor to the Hunter?
I shake my head. “No. But I won’t say no to a shortcut if you have one.”
“For you, my darling? Anything.”
Here’s hoping he means that after we escape the Shadow Realm again.
16
It’s just the two of us now.
It’s weird. When we were in Siúcra, and later when we were traveling through the Shadow Realm and sharing his manor together, I was used to it being just me and Rys. Of course, everything changed after Jim showed up, then we were joined by Riley and Nine.
Now Jim’s staying behind in the Shadow Realm, the mated couple has returned to the human world, and it’s just me and Rys crossing the Court’s divide into the Summerlands again.
Thanks to my shitty sense of direction, I couldn’t tell you if the way we took out of the Shadow Realm is the same as the way we went in. The Cursed woods are so big, so vast, odds are that we could’ve popped out anywhere.
And, yet, as soon as the purple sky fades to magenta burnished with gold, and the purplish-green grass turns the sickly sweet shade of cotton-candy blue, I enter the Summer Court—and come face to face with the pair of gold-colored stallions that brought us here.
What?
They’re the same ones. I know they are. Rys is a few pointed steps behind me, purposely watching my back, but as he crosses over, he moves ahead of me to greet the horses.
The horses are still here. After all this time.
It had to have been—
I pause.
Oh. Oh, wow. I blink, stunned at a sudden realization. I… I don’t know how long we were in the Winter Court.
