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He didn’t earn my parents’ freedom. He just made it so that he threw his own away.
I won’t let him do that.
“Perhaps you’re willing to negotiate with me now. Things are going so wonderfully for me today, I’ll even bargain for Ninetroir. What do you say?”
I’ll do anything to bring him back. I can’t even pretend that Nine doesn’t mean something to me—I just kissed him in front of the whole Seelie Court, and there’s no going back from that. She’s got me right where she wants me.
Negotiate?
Ha.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Nothing now. For your parents’ freedom, I insist on the earlier conditions. You in my garden where I can ensure you won’t trouble me. But for your precious mate? Let’s just say that I’d reserve a favor to call in at my leisure. So, do we have a deal?”
I don’t even know how to answer that.
Nine taught me a lot of things when I was a kid and he was getting me ready for a lifetime of being the target of the Fae Queen. I learned about touch magic and iron, how a fae can’t lie, and the power of a bargain.
One of the most important lessons he drilled into my skull was about never letting yourself get in the debt of the fae. A contract needed to be just that—a contract with set terms and no wiggle room. If I accept Melisandre’s conditions that she’ll set Nine free from her spell for a favor she can call it in at any time, it’ll be even worse than if she made me a statue right off.
She could make me do anything and still trap me in Faerie for the rest of my life.
But what can I do?
I open my mouth.
And that’s when Rys does the same.
“Riley, the pocket!”
Without anyone noticing it, Rys moved away from his post right behind the queen, taking up a position closer to where the statues of my parents are. At his shout, he has the attention of the entire room.
He has his sword out. With his free hand, he gestures toward his chest.
It hits me in an instant what he means.
Rys is the one who taught me about the pockets. About how, as the Shadow, I’m drawn to them—and how I can make them work for me. With the last of Nine’s shadow forming a weak portal at the point where the two walls meet, it’s just enough of a pocket to trigger my shadow magic.
And now that I’m still buzzing with the power of Nine’s touch, the shadows are so attuned to me, I could pull that toward me with barely any effort at all.
This… this just might work.
I bolt toward the corner. The whole room is so stunned at how openly Rys just betrayed his queen, no one even tries to stop me. I dash right by him, sparing only a single look as I aim right for the portal.
He nods, then lifts his sword even higher.
Rys was right, I realize as I tuck my body behind the towering statue of my father. When he told me that I can’t rely on Nine to save me… he was right. Nine can’t save me—but I sure as hell can save Nine.
Know what? Rys wasn’t a monster, either. He was fae, and he meant it when he said he would never harm me.
I should’ve known better than to doubt him when he said so.
The fae can’t lie.
It all happens so fast after that. As soon as he shouts to me, Melisandre slashes her hand through the air. Her guards immediately surround him. As I frantically begin to pull the shadows toward me, weave them around me, the last glimpse I have of Rys is the scarred fae falling under the weight of the Fae Queen’s devoted guards.
Despite our history, I wish I could save him, too.
