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Gillie’s body had been tense, his eyes darting behind closed lids, but he suddenly seemed to relax back into the sofa. His brogue had returned, his voice back to normal when he spoke.
“It’s cold.”
My stomach lurched. I knew what that meant—that meant they were in the Carlin’s palace.
“His arm hangs there. Behind her throne. It still wears the holly king’s ring.”
My breath caught. The ring Lonan had given me at Christmas. The one that had been his.
The Carlin had my arm hanging in her throne room.
Fury made my hands clench into fists, and I stood up quickly. “I need to get him.”
“Wait for Gillie to wake up.” Nua gazed up at me imploringly. “He might know more when he comes out of it. Things he hasn’t said. Please, Ash.”
I clenched my jaw and nodded, limbs stiff with the overwhelming urge to run straight to unseelie land and find Lonan.
The Carlin was keeping him there somehow, trapped as a bird. Why? Had she somehow realised he’d found Ogma and gotten his second name?
I paced the small living room as Gillie fell silent. It was several minutes before he roused, struggling up onto his arms with Nua’s help. His eyes were back to silver.
I stared at him, chewing on my lip. “Are you alright?”
He nodded, bleary-eyed as he reached up to wipe his face. “She’s trapped him there. I couldn’t see how. But I can feel his mind is… He’s been stuck outside of his true form for a long time. Too long.”
I scrubbed a hand through my hair.
“A bird, I think. She’s somehow keeping him trapped as a bird.” I stared at Nua and Gillie fearfully. “What will happen if he’s stuck in an animal form for too long?”
“From what you said earlier, I’m guessing he’s a very powerful spiritsmith if he has several different forms.” Gillie exhaled shakily as he sat up, and Nua wrapped a blanket around his shoulders before kissing his temple. “But none of them should stay outside of their true form—their normal form—for too long. It affects the mind badly.”
Urgency made my branch arm jerk, the fingers twitching. “I need to get him.”
Gillie nodded, looking up at me with big silver eyes. “Yes. You do.”
