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“We?”
The question has barely left my lips before she lashes out, grabbing me once more and shifting us again. We land in a new spot, and once again, she lets me go, almost like a cat toying with a mouse. Fitting, given the cat ears atop her head and the strange vertical pupils of her eyes.
“The Unseelie,” she says, picking up the conversation as if shifting were as easy as taking a step. For her, maybe it is.
She grabs me again, moving us a third time.
“You’re taking me to them?” I confirm when I can speak again.
Katiya nods. “As soon as I finish leaving bait for your king to follow.”
I swallow the hard lump in my throat. Bait has to be me. But so far, she hasn’t left anything behind.
Her nose twitches as she takes me in. “You bear his mark.” A fierce grin spreads across her face, pointed fangs peeking free. “He’ll feel you here and come, but you’ll be gone by then.”
“You’re trying to start a war between Forest and Air.”
“Partially.”
I’m too slow to move before she latches onto my arm and shifts us again.
When she releases me this time, I wobble from dizziness and fall to one knee. “He’ll just follow me wherever you take me. Why this nonsense?”
“He can’t follow me, little human.” She circles around me, her tail flicking behind her. “I’m a null. A shield to my brother’s sword. If I am touching you”—she takes my hand in hers, almost gently—“he won’t feel you at all. Almost like you don’t exist.”
If I wasn’t already kneeling, I’d have swayed on my feet. “That’s why no one noticed you in the Court of Air, or the protection spell you placed on me that one time.”
“Smart little thing,” she says. “Enough. My brother waits.”
This time, the shift is slower, more jerky and awkward, and I know wherever the magic brings us, I’m not going to like it.
Chapter 38
Theworldfinallystopsspinning around us. I’d have fallen again if not for Katiya’s solid grip. She’s not letting go, not this time. Shifting at all is a horrible feeling. Shifting so many times in a row is far worse, like being stuck on a rollercoaster that I can’t get off of.
I squint against a spill of bright light flickering in front of me. My vision clears quickly, revealing rough-hewn rock walls on either side of the little pathway we stand on, almost like we landed in a narrow gorge. I glance up, expecting a roof, but beyond the narrowing of the walls high above us looms a starlit sky.
“Come along.” Katiya gives my arm a gentle yet insistent tug.
My heart tries to climb into my throat as we traipse the narrow pathway. I have no idea what waits ahead, though the whisper of conversation growing louder with every step indicates we aren’t alone. Somehow, I know we aren’t in the forest anymore, nor anywhere near Sigurd. This is somewhere new—the Unseelie’s home, if I had to guess. If Katiya is to be believed, Sigurd won’t know where I am either.
The sides of the gorge open into a wide space. Everything in me screams to run, but Katiya’s tight grip pulls me forward toward the cluster of Unseelie lingering near a large stone chair—a throne.
The man sitting atop it grabs my attention instantly, especially as he demands silence with nothing more than a raise of his hand. Authority clings to him like a second skin, radiating power that even I can sense. But the most peculiar thing is his look. His hair so pale it may be white and hangs loose past his shoulders, contrasting with the black of his clothes and the golden tan of his skin. This has to be Katiya’s brother because they share the same set of cat ears atop their head. If he has a tail, I can’t see it yet.
Other fae stand nearby, just as strong and sculpted as their leader, each bearing animalistic traits that boggle the mind. One, however, is more massive than the rest, with rams’ horns curling back on his head, a snarl on his features, and a glint in his eye that says he’d love to eat me alive.
“You got her,” the pale-haired man speaks from atop his throne. His voice isn’t the sharp, hissing thing I imagined—nothing like his sister’s. It’s deep and rich, the kind that resonates through a person and slips into their memories, only to play itself over and over again. “Were you seen? Do they know it was you?”
Katiya shoves me forward, sending me stumbling to a stop before this intimidating group. Despite my best efforts, I can’t quite hide the quiver in my limbs. But she let me go. Maybe it’s an error, or maybe it’s a trap, hoping Sigurd will shift right in here to try and save me. Despite my worry for him, I can’t deny the bit of hope burning in my chest that he’ll appear and take me away from here.
“There was a complication, but I believe I used it to our advantage,” Katiya says, circling around me. The other fae move out of her way as she stalks toward the throne and leans on the armrest at her brother’s side. “Another fae had already stolen her to deliver her to the Court of the Forest,” she says smugly. Her brother merely raises his brows, waiting for her to continue. “I took her from him and left a trail of her presence through the Court of the Forest. With any luck, the Air king will take the bait and rush in to save her.”
Poor Galen. My chest grows tight. I’m still pissed that he would dare to use me as a pawn for his advantage, but this is the very opposite of what he planned. At this rate, he truly will have started a war, angering both sides, instead of receiving the forgiveness he longed for.
“They are impulsive, these Seelie monarchs,” her brother says, his gaze coasting across me.
Katiya smirks. “Don’t look so hopeful,” she says to me. “I’ve created wards around this place. He won’t feel you here. He won’t feel any of us. Most likely, your king is already invading the Forest searching for you.”
