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Someone let out a low whistle.
“Fair play to the mortal,” Fenella said. “She cut off the pooka’s head.”
A warm, rough hand cupped my face. “Tessa, can you hear me?”
I blinked up at his tense face and managed to force the words from my throat. “You found me.”
He relaxed visibly, though worry still pinched a line between his eyes. “There’s blood on your head and all over your hands.”
“Some of that is from the shadowfiend. I got the bastard.”
“You really fucking did,” he said with a hint of pride in his voice, but then he took notice of my shivers. “Do you think you can sit up?”
“Maybe.”
Gently, he helped me ease up from the ground, and then he propped me against a boulder. I caught the others standing just behind him, all staring at me with concern. That probably wasn’t a good sign.
He knelt before me and took my hand in his. “I was scared out of my mind.”
“I know,” I whispered. “Me too. I don’t think I should have survived that.”
He cast a glance over his shoulder at the dead beast. I hoped they could get rid of it somehow, while I rested. The stench was unpleasant and would only get worse.
“You did more than survive.”
I gripped his hand tighter. “I remembered some things. About my past. The journal my father had…he wasn’t wrong, Kalen. I am everything he thought I was. I think that’s how I survived. The magic isn’t strong in me, but it’s…it’s still there.”
I glanced down at where my fingers touched his skin, and I started to pull away. He shook his head, pulling my hand to his chest. “We don’t do that, remember? No matter what blood runs through your veins, I do not fear you touching me. We’ll find a way through this.”
“But how?” I asked, dropping my voice low so the others couldn’t hear me. “I’m the descendent of a god, and my fall off that cliff has only slowed you down. You need to find Oberon and stop him, and I don’t think I can carry on like this.”
“We were going to make camp soon anyway. It’s been a long day, and we could all use some sleep,” he said. “I’ll get a fire started. It’ll warm you up, and you can get some rest.”
As much as I wanted to argue, I could use a very long sleep. Every inch of my body hurt. Even my bones ached. The combination of all my training, the ride through the mists, and the fight against the shadowfiend had left me well and truly spent. I could barely keep my eyes open as Kalen started a small fire on the rocks.
My chin dropped to my chest, and the movement jolted me awake. Through my blurry eyes, I watched Kalen kneel beside the fire and cook some meat. Darkness crept into my eyes again. I slumped, head lolling.
Sleep came swiftly.
Forty-Four
Tessa
The world rocked beneath me like a boat on the swaying sea. Confused, I blinked open my eyes, wondering if Kalen had decided to carry me back to Endir. For a moment, all I saw was mist, and I couldn’t make sense of my surroundings. I was on a horse, pale gray with a mane the color of wheat. Frowning, I tried to reach for the reins, only to find a rope cinched tightly around my wrists.
“Welcome back to the land of the living,” a familiar voice said from the darkness ahead. “You look like shit.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “Oberon?”
A form solidified in the mists as Oberon dropped back to ride beside me. I looked like shit? Well, he looked worse. He slumped forward on his horse, his shoulders bowed as if the weight of a thousand shadowfiends sat on top of him. His eyes were hollow, the brilliant ember of them dulled to a shadow of what they’d once been. Muscles tightened around his jaw. His lips were purple and flaked, and the burn scars that covered every inch of his skin looked red and painful and raw.
“I see you still refuse to call me your king,” he said roughly.
“Because you are not my king.”
“No, I suppose not,” he said with a hollow laugh. “Kalen Denare wins once again. He took my kingdom, and now he’s taken my last remaining city. I have nothing left.”
For once, I was speechless, and it had nothing to do with the orders he’d once given me to keep my lips closed. This was not the brutal monarch who had terrorized me. All that was left was a ghost, and I almost felt pity for him. Still, he had tied me up for a reason.
