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“Maybe, if we walk around, I’ll see it?”
“Very well.” He tucks my arm through his again and we begin to walk. The gravel path crunches beneath our steps, but all I can hear is the heavy thundering of my nervous heart. “As we walk, why don’t you tell me of how you got here?”
“I don’t really know. I was out getting some fresh air, and I saw this light. I followed it, and then woke up in the woods where Conary found me.”Don’t lay it on too thick, Ember, I remind myself. The best lies are layered with truths, but you get caught when you try to be too detailed—too fake.
“You must have stumbled through the only portal up between our worlds.”
“Portal?” I feign innocence since the only person who gave me any information is one I should never have met.
“Our worlds are separated by a veil. It is impassable by anyone but a light fae.”
“Are you a light fae?”
“I am.” We turn a corner. “Not too long ago, that veil was warded closed by a fae who wanted to trap her brother on your side. Seems she left a portal open, though.” He smiles at me. “Does anything look familiar, yet?”
“Not yet,” I reply. “But I do love these flowers.”
“I am happy to show you all of the gardens should you wish to see them.”
“I do. Being out here calms my nerves.”
“Good.” He pats the hand looped through his arm, and his touch is like sandpaper. We turn another corner, and I see it. Somehow, someone messed up the gravel. A rock juts out of the ground, and it’s tipped with a bit of crimson.
“This is it. This is where I fell!” I yell loudly. Birds take to the sky around us, and Taranus glances back at Conary.
“Why has this not been tended to?” he asks.
“I’ll find out.”
Victorious in solidifying my lie, I smile at them both. “It really is not a big deal.”
“You are bleeding, Ember. That is a big deal. Your fragile state needs to be tended to. I will escort you to the healer.”
“I really am okay.”
Taranus grins at me, showing off a row of impossibly white teeth. “While I am grateful you think so, I’d much rather have our healer take a look at you.”
“If it will make you feel better, I will do it.”
He beams at me. “I am grateful for that. This way.” He loops my arm back through his and guides me back down the path toward the castle. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Flora in what looks like an herb garden. She doesn’t spare me a glance, but I know it was her.
Somehow, she fixed it so Taranus would not recognize my deceit.
Getting the key is about more than freeing Rafferty or myself. I can also free Flora, and that alone is worth the risk.
“Can I ask you a question?” We step inside where the sunlight is replaced with flaming sconces on the walls.
“Of course.”
“The man you—”
His grip tightens. “I truly am sorry I killed him in front of you. That was very unkind of me.”
Not an apology for taking a life, just for letting me see it.“I understand why you did it, though it did bother me to see it.”
“Won’t happen again. You have my word.”
“Thank you.”
