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Oberon tilts his head in my direction. “You’re learning.”
I reach out and, hesitating for only a heartbeat, I lay my hand against the elbow of Nine’s long jacket. “I had the best teacher.”
“You’re learning,” the king says again, “but not enough.”
“Hey—”
“Why you?” he asks suddenly. “What makes you so special? You’re a halfling, born of a Blessed One and a human. But you wield the shadows like you’re Unseelie. What are you?”
Is that a question? Or a test?
Feels like a test.
“I’m Riley. Just Riley.”
“She’s the Shadow,” cuts in Nine, standing up for me. “Destined to end Melisandre’s reign.”
Oberon’s face goes unreadable. Okay. I get the feeling like we just flunked his little test. Then, when he says, “Well, pity you’ll never be able to do it on your own,” I’m sure of it.
Does he think I don’t know that? “That’s why I thought you’d want to come with us. Come on. You’ve gotta want revenge. I can… I don’t know… distract the queen and then you can—”
“Can what? Kill Melisandre for you?”
When he puts it like that, it sounds like a lot to ask. But I’m desperate.
“Why not?”
The fae have no problem with murder if it suits them. I lost my sister thanks to Rys’s indifference toward humans and an inability to understand that her cruel murder would hurt me. Carolina? She starved to death because Melisandre wanted to make her pay. His old mate—wife—whatever… stole Faerie away from him for two hundred years and he doesn’t want even a little bit of revenge?
One look at Oberon and I’m thinking: guess not.
“I gave you the prophecy. Did you read it?”
“I memorized it.”
“Tell me. Does it say anything about the Summer King?”
“Well, no—”
“Oberon?”
“No.”
“Any Seelie?”
I shake my head.
“‘...when Dark mates Shadow…’” he begins.
I finish the quote for him. “‘...the Reign of the Damned shall come to an end...’”
Oberon raises his eyebrows knowingly, then shrugs. “Prophecy’s a prophecy. I can’t jump in and finish, no matter what I owe her. It’s between you and my former consort. Facing Melisandre… that’s up to you, Shadow.”
Yeah.
Of course it is.
15
