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“Okay. Let’s go.” Hunter gave me a look. “You didn’t think I was going to let my Alpha’s mate go to the unseelie realm alone, did you? We all heard about how HFE came for you.”
Nathaniel had told me I wouldn’t be going anywhere alone. I eyed Hunter. “There are wolves following me around, aren’t there?”
“Of course.”
I didn’t have time to protest. I’d talk to Nathaniel about having me guarded another time. For now, I just hauled ass out of my office, locked the door behind me, and unlocked my car.
“I’ll steal the book off him if I have to,” I said. “He’s not in his right mind. Oh God, how did I forget about it?”
He would never have forgotten about something like that when it came to me. We were a few days into this mating business, and already, I sucked at it. Sucked so badly that my inattention could cost him his life.
“Hey.”
Hunter leaned down until we were seeing eye-to-eye. He had to stoop. “Something tells me that if this book could enspell an entire kingdom, it was likely working on those closest to Nathaniel first. My guess is you’ve been fighting the book’s power this whole time.”
“Maybe.” I shook off my guilt. I could wallow in it later, when Nathaniel was fixed. “Let’s go talk to Finvarra.”
Fifteen
Evie
Finvarra kept us waiting. I wasn’t sure if it was a power play or if he was truly in a meeting, but I paced in the sitting room we’d been directed to. An unseelie guard stood outside the door, his gaze watchful.
“It’ll be okay, Evie.” Hunter said.
I shrugged. Now that I knew something was seriously wrong, I felt like I’d crawl out of my skin if it wasn’t fixed.
“Explain to me how it works,” he said. I had a pretty good feeling he was attempting to distract me, but I took a deep breath anyway.
“The book has been in Finvarra’s family for centuries. The seelie gave it to his ancestors, and it turned the king insane, until his son returned to the kingdom and killed him. Finvarra kept it in one of his estates where it couldn’t affect him, but his cousin took it and attempted to sell it with the other artifacts.” My throat ached as I ruthlessly suppressed the urge to burst into tears. “I should’ve known.”
“The book dampens the intuition. Within days, the people closest to you begin to overlook your personality changes. That’s what makes it so insidious,” Finvarra said.
I whirled. The Dark Fae King Finvarra stood outside the door, dressed in black. A black crown was perched on his head, the jewels glinting in the lights from the chandeliers above us. But it was the man who commanded all attention.
From his formal dress, wehadinterrupted him.
“You knew this would happen.”
He shook his head. “I hoped it wouldn’t. Your wolf held out longer than most.”
I curled my hands into fists. Finvarra dropped his gaze, and he moved into the room, his stride long, relaxed, a panther’s prowl.
“Why didn’t you do something?”
He waved one hand. “Do what? I warned him. I told him he needed to return it immediately. I didn’t anticipate your wolf would be so easily affected. Usually, it takes weeks before the book manages to change a ruler’s personality.”
“He was injured,” I ground out. “Badly. Multiple times.”
Finvarra angled his head. The black jewels along the top of his crown gleamed in the light. “Ah. That changes things. If the book sensed the Alpha was injured, it would have struck when he was at his weakest.”
“Well, are you going to take it from him?”
He gave me a faint smile. “That’s not how it works. If it were, the book would not be so dangerous. Do you remember the story I told you of my ancestor?”
I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry. “You said his entire kingdom was affected by the book.”
“Yes.”
