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“No.” I shake my head and begin to pace. “This is not good. If there’s no one to fight back, no one to push against what he’s done—”
“I know,” Fin replies, angrily. “Fucking cowards.”
“Taranus was one of us—or, at least, we all thought he was. He knew us, our faces, our families,” I remind him. “To run was not cowardly. It was smart.”
“The smart thing was to regroup.”
He’s grieving—rightfully so—which is why he can’t see it from their side. Even as much as I hate that no one stepped forward, as much as it surprises me, I can understand why. Taranus’s betrayal came out of left field for a lot of us—mainly me. While I knew he wasn’t an honorable man, I never pegged him for a murderer, a rapist.
“Do you know where Candice is? Any word of her?”
He shakes his head. “I’ve looked, hoping she could help me locate you, but it seems like she’s completely disappeared.”
My heart aches. A steady burn in my chest reminds me that she was my only hope of severing the connection forged between Taranus and Ember. “You told me that Taranus called them all to the other side of Faerie.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know where?”
He shakes his head. “My guess is somewhere near the castle to prevent you from marching the Rebellion straight to his front door.”
“Good. Then that makes things a bit easier for us. We need to track everyone down. We need to find Candice.”
“I will carry the word myself. Though, don’t hold your breath on the witch. She was already a bit dodgy, so I wouldn’t count on her showing back up.”
“We need her, badly,” I tell him. “To prevent Taranus from tracking Ember.”
“The woman?”
I nod. “Tomorrow, we can go look for a new place, start rebuilding for the others when they do arrive.”
Fin nods. “I know I’ve already said it, brother, but I am so damned glad you’re back.”
“Me, too. And I am so sorry for the part I played in Meena’s death. What happened to her—had I known what he was capable of—”
My friend shakes his head. “Taranus was your brother, and until he overthrew our camp, the worst he’d done was put his hands on her arse.” The ghost of a smile plays at his lips even as grief washes over his face. “She handled herself pretty damned well, don’t you think?”
“Absolutely. I still remember when she broke his nose for making inappropriate comments.”
Fin’s choked laugh guts me. “She was quite the woman.”
“She was.”
The mood darkens, and Fin downs his ale. “She was my mate,” he says. “You know that, right?”
“I do.”
“I will see Taranus dead before the Veil takes me.” He looks to me.
Losing a mate will kill the remaining fae within the year of passing. When bound, our souls are so woven together the magic becomes one in the same. “How soon?”
“A few months, maybe. I grow weaker by the day.” Setting his mug down, he pulls the cloak back over his head. “I long for the day I’m reunited with Meena, but I will be taking Taranus and his men with me.” He heads for the door. “I shall come back in the morning. Then we can go find a new location for our camp.”
“Our final camp,” I tell him. “Because we are going to stop this before the next snow.”
Fin nods once, then disappears into the night.
On heavy legs, I make my way back upstairs and into the room where Ember is sleeping. She looks so peaceful, so calm as I study her ethereal face. My lips still taste like her despite the ale I just drank.
