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The man who’d visited her explained, “She told me fertility doesn’t change after sealing a mate bond, but that taking extra leaves doesn’t hurt, so she usually sends them home with more. I went back and searched the couple’s home afterward but couldn’t find their pouches anywhere.”
Kierden grimaced, “She didn’t mention giving them different leaves?”
“No.”
He nodded slowly. “Is she still home?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll confront her and give her a chance to explain. Ready?” He looked at the others, and they all nodded.
Then he looked at me.
I was a little surprised he didn’t ask me to stay back but nodded too.
“I asked Death to bring Bright back with him while you were sleeping,”Kierden told me as we walked.
“Thank you.”
“Of course.”He squeezed my hand, and I squeezed back.
Our bonded esu reached the castle’s entrance as we did, and we slid onto their backs while the other fae with us did the same.
I filled Bright in on what we’d learned while we moved through the city as a pack. She mentioned catching the Beast’s scent while she was outside the elves’ shield—which terrified me a little, though there was nothing we could do to keep him away from us.
The Beast would keep hunting Kierden until the eclipse, and there was no way around that. According to Kierden and the elves, shifters didn’t believe in hurting animals, so the esu were safe outside the magical shield.
When we reached the healer’s house, Kierden and Death stopped on Dirue’s balcony, and Eisley and Sharp did the same. It made me feel better to know they would watch each other’s backs.
Bright stopped on the porch of a tree near Dirue’s, close enough that we could see her porch and far enough that she couldn’t reach us.
I saw movement in the corner of my eye, and then noticed more fae already gathered in the trees around us. They waited silently, their expressions dark. Someone must’ve spread the word about Dirue’s potential guilt, but since she was still in her home, it obviously hadn’t reached her.
Kierden rapped a fist on her door, then gave her a moment to answer.
She opened the door with a smile—but when her gaze met Kierden’s and then lifted to the trees, it vanished.
“Please step outside,” Kierden told her.
Despite the “please,” I knew it wasn’t optional. And the look on Dirue’s face told me she knew it wasn’t either.
She stepped outside.
Kierden’s mind touched mine.“Which plant is it?”
“The middle one,”I said.
He strode into the house, sending me a mental image of them as he grabbed the pot. I confirmed it was right, and then focused my magic just to make sure.
“Be careful,”I told him quietly.
Ice covered his hand and arm to keep the plant from touching his skin.
“What’s this about?” Dirue asked, her expression a calm neutral the whole time Kierden was gone.
Eisley stared her down. “The murders.”
Dirue didn’t look surprised, though she didn’t say anything incriminating.
