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My lips part. “N-n—”
I want to say Nine. Or no. I get out the ‘N’ and that’s about it.
It’s enough.
The silver glow building up in the center of Nine’s palm dies. He spins, eyes wide as he plants both of his hands on my shoulders again.
This time, I feel it. By the time he shakes me again before pulling me into his embrace, the last of her spell slides off of me. I wrap my arms around Nine and give him a tight squeeze.
I’m okay.
For now, I’m okay.
Melisandre, on the other hand, is furious.
“That shouldn’t be possible. What powers do you have?”
I regretfully pull away from Nine before reaching beneath my hoodie, revealing the necklace I stole from Gillespie. The Brinkburn. It neutralized her spell.
Ha!
Look at that.
Look at that.
Yes!
“No magic, just trickery. Still, the iron’s bad enough,” she sneers. “Now you bring a fae-killer into my Court? Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
Hell, yeah, I do. I just saved my ass and I didn’t even mean to.
“I’m done with these games. If I can’t have you in my garden to remember my victory, I’ll have to satisfy myself with your head instead. Guards. Kill the Shadow.”
Uh-oh.
What am I supposed to do now?
Nine lurches toward me, wrapping his arms around me as if he’s all the protection I need against the Fae Queen’s soldiers and their diamond-edged swords. Only the killing strike doesn’t come. It’s like the guards, despite Melisandre’s command, are frozen in place.
The air changes, the room gone quiet, as a voice rings out, “I’d reconsider that if I were you.”
I… I know that voice.
Oberon—the same Oberon who told me that he didn’t want to get involved—has just emerged from the portal I was working on in the corner of the throne room. He hasn’t come alone, either. As he pulls himself out of the pitch-black shadows, he’s carrying Nine’s silver sword with him.
Melisandre sneers at his unkempt appearance at first, but I can tell the exact moment when she sees through his glamour and recognizes who he really is. And even if she wasn’t able to, I’m thinking that the green eyes are all she needs to see before she knows exactly who has just used my portal to burst into her throne room.
“You.”
“Me,” Oberon agrees. “Miss me, wife?”
“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be dead.”
“Thanks for reminding me.” There isn’t a single sound as Oberon moves across the room, to the center in front of the queen’s throne—or his throne. I’m not so sure. “I’m so glad I decided to take the Shadow up on her invitation to visit my former bride. Just as she reveals the Brinkburn. Plot twist, eh? Sorry. Human term. I’ve lived alongside them for long enough. But you, Melisandre, you’d know all about a fae-killer, wouldn’t you?”
Ash told me before that Melisandre was a pro when it came to holding onto her glamour. He mentioned that, as one of her favored guards before he defected to be with my mom, he saw her lose it a couple of times. He just never explained what made her drop it.
I’m, uh, thinking it’s fear.
