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I released Livia and mussed the boy’s hair even more. “Keep out of trouble, Jonas.”
He puffed out his lips.
I grinned and lowered my voice. “Or at least, don’t get caught.”
He took another bite, smiling and showing off a missing tooth he must’ve recently lost in the back of his mouth. “Never do. Unless Livie—” he glared at the Night Folk princess. “Tattles.”
“I don’t tattle, Jo. You’re just not as tricky as you think.”
He rolled his eyes dramatically and sloppily licked his fingers. “You’re a tattler when you don’t get whatcha want. A big, blubbering baby.”
I chuckled when Livia attacked. First, she hooked her arms around the boy’s neck. Jonas tugged on her messy, sleep tossed braid. She cried out and tugged on the new piercing in his ear.
“Hey!” Jonas said through a grunt. “That’ll bleed, Livie!”
“Aww, big, blubbering baby.”
Jonas grunted and sprinted after her, eyes black as his father’s, when Livia took off squealing in an odd kind of delight.
“Will he hurt her?” Silas whispered.
“No. Just watch.” I patted his chest and made it to the count of five before three more littles snapped into action and chased after the other two—all on varying sides of the war. Mira sided with Livia this time. Sander, unsurprisingly, did as well. I suspected only because he liked to torment his brother.
“Ah,” I said. “Alek is on Jonas’s side this time. Usually he’s with Liv.”
“Do you sense it?” Silas whispered beside my ear.
His words drew me to a pause. Long enough I felt a heat gathering in my chest, a sign that words wanted to shape. A path of fate that would lead to a heart’s song was here.
It was coming from the littles. All hells, one of those young royals had a fated path taking shape.
“Oh no.” My shoulders slumped.
“Could be a good thing,” Silas said. “Might mean our fates do not end here.”
“Let’s go with that option.” My stomach burned in sharp, bile-soaked waves. Unable to shake the notion that everything would soon change, I would cling to any hope that led us to think we would emerge out the other side of this battle.
We left the youngest among us to torment and live freely for a little longer and joined the rest of the crowd gathered in the center of the hall.
“Flame’s nearly gone.” Niklas was going around to everyone and handing them something. “Find a place to wear this unless you want that creature to wear your skin.”
He paused at me and wiggled a bracelet made from twine. “Ankle or wrist, Cal. Make sure it’s secure enough they need to cut off your limb to remove it.”
“More of your elixirs?”
“Same ones from the fae isles. The wards to keep him from mimicking our likeness or possessing us. But if you recall, he can also absorb the different magicks of folk. This’ll see to it he can’t.”
I tightened the bracelet until it cut into my skin. Niklas handed one to Silas with a nod, not a word.
“You made these in one night?” I asked.
Niklas offered a dramatic gasp, as though he were affronted. “What do you take me for, girl? I’ve had these bleeding prepared for turns. We all knew this damn nightmare would be back one day. If you sang us here, many thanks for keeping my stores intact during the shift. Then again, I have complaints about my nest being above ground.”
I chuckled. “Win us this fight, and I’ll dig you a bleeding new Nest.”
“Done.” Niklas winked, then moved on to others, seeing to it that everyone bore his tricky ward somewhere on their person.
Folk who’d stand in the battle were given clay plugs meant for the ears. Cuyler had been the one to warn the warriors of sea singers and sirens. Wretched songs of lust and desire would not be our undoing. To step into the Otherworld because we’d died from an untamed ache between our thighs would be horrifying once we faced those who’d fallen in much grander ways.
