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Celine swallowed with effort but placed the tricorn on her head. “Aye, My King.”
The Ever Crew would remain behind. Only Tait and Aleksi joined me in the small boat. Alek guided us to the darker side of the jagged isles. Rough tides made it impossible for their longships to sail this route.
With the Ever King, the seas soothed soon enough.
“Shore patrols should be here,” Alek said once we pulled the boat onto the rocky beach. He tugged a dagger from a sheath on his leg, his gaze on the empty paths leading toward the fort. “Stay low. They might be at the point of striking first and asking questions over graves later.”
Meaning, they might kill their own prince before we ever got a word in for our defense.
We kept low up the hillside, Alek and Tait three paces in front of me. Every few steps, I’d run my fingers through the long grass. Livia’s fury magic lived in this soil, and it brought a sense of nearness to her.
“They’re not here,” Tait muttered and took out his own blade. “Something’s off.”
“Agreed.” Aleksi spun the dagger in his grip and stepped over the crest of the ridge.
In the next breath, shadows seemed to fall upon us.
“Illusions!” Alek shouted.
Dammit. Some fae clans had wretched magic that tormented the mind with illusions and tricks of the eye.
Roars of warriors broke the darkness. It sounded as though they came from all sides—overhead, underfoot, from the flanks. I reached for my blade, but the moment my hand curled around the hilt, Aleksi and Tait were gone.
I shouted their names and made a run for where the ground fell out from beneath them. A hidden pit dug into the top of the knoll swallowed them up. Beneath a plume of dust, a net released from its snare and snapped over the top of the pit.
Shadows faded and cloaked warriors erupted from the tall grass.
Dammit. Aleksi’s shouts were muffled over the roar of the guards. Without a moment’s pause they surrounded me. I didn’t fight. I didn’t pull back. Hands took hold of me and shoved my face down in the soil.
I held steady when a cold blade leveled at my throat. A laugh, cruel and raw, followed. “Bloodsinger himself. Some balls you have to show your face.”
A man peered down at me. His hair was braided off his face and runes inked along his throat and chest. Kohl painted his chin and pitch eyes. An unnatural darkness, like the whites were blotted out. His face was stubbled, and there was a madness to his grin. “My name is Jonas of House Eriksson. I hoped I’d be the one to catch you.”
Jonas. I knew the name. Livia mentioned it when . . . all hells, he was her friend. Another royal of the earth fae. He’d need no reason to cut us down.
“Nothing to say?” Jonas landed a kick to my ribs. I grunted, but kept my jaw locked. He lowered into a crouch. “You took them from me. From us all. I ought to slit you open right here.”
Pain was speaking. No doubt he thought I’d slaughtered both Livia and Aleksi. I gave him the honor of holding his stare but didn’t speak. What was the point? He wouldn’t believe a word, not without Alek.
Slowly, he sheathed his blade and stood. “Gather the sea fae caught in the trap.” He sneered back at me. “I’ll be taking Bloodsinger to Valen. Remember my face, sea king. For I will not look away, not for a moment, as the Night Folk king tears you apart.”
* * *
