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God, I’d actually thought I knew Sai on some deep level. That we’d had some connection. He was apparently a damned prince, and I didn’t know. I thought about everything he’d said to me. That he regularly went to the Prasanna palace, that he couldn’t just quit his job, how personally he seemed to feel over the mistreatment of Prince Shaan—who had to be his brother. I’d gone with this man and slept in his bed and had done… so much more… based on ridiculous, romantic feelings and I hadn’t known one thing about him.
Damn my ridiculous heart.
And damn Sai straight to hell.
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
MARGO
I wipedsweat off my forehead. Several days of tromping through the rain chasing after Lira had me pissed at her again. My feet sank into a puddle, and I lifted my foot to give it a flick, scattering the drops over slimy leaves. A tremble of revulsion skittered down my spine. Sure, I got Lira’s perspective on things to some extent, but our lives were on the line and now I felt like I’d spend my last dozen hours alive trekking through the woods with a moody and mercurial Palaria trying to track her down. I wasn’t designed for all this hiking and exploring. I should have stayed back with the troupe in a city while Palaria took this journey. However, when Palaria had asked me to go with her, I didn’t hesitate to say yes.
As an adolescent, I’d longed to take Palaria’s role in the future. She seemed to have it all—beauty, confidence, power. It was my mother who disabused me of the notion that I could one day rise to the rank of leader.Palaria has a daughter of her own,she chided me. When Lira returned, I’d been prepared to hate her or at least ignore her. Jealousy curled through me like an invasive plant. Plus, Palaria had laid out all the rules for what we could and could not talk about with Lira. It wasn’t worth the bother to get to know her. The other sirens grumbled similar sentiments and avoided Lira from the moment she’d returned.
However, I met Lira, gave her a chance, and that changed things for me.
She had a moral compass and sense of compassion Palaria lacked. It tarnished my view of our leader. Palaria no longer seemed infallible and perfect. And Lira always pushed back with her mother in a way no other siren in the group would. She might have done it trembling and unsure, but it took a hell of a lot of bravery to do so at all. I’d told her so many times.
“That’s not true, Margo,” Lira had whispered to me once from beneath the covers in the rented room we shared as she laid the book she’d been reading against her chest. “I’m not brave at all.”
I dropped beside her and jabbed her in the side. “Yes, you are. Stop reading those fairy tales. It’s a lot harder to be brave in real life.”
She rolled over and scowled at me, but her eyes sparkled. “You’re a pain in the ass, do you know that?”
I fell back on the bed which caused her to bounce, and both of us erupted into a fit of giggles. When we quieted, I rested my chin on her shoulder. “I’m your favorite pain in the ass, though, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then believe me when I say you’re braver than you realize.”
She rolled her eyes and turned back towards her book, but I meant what I said which made this whole expedition with Palaria complicated. On one hand, I didn’t wish to die at the King’s cruel hand. There was still a part of me that hoped Palaria might see me and realize I could manage the group. I could bring some of Lira’s compassion with me and change the course of our troupe. Then again, if she’d vowed our magic to the King and we only lived at his mercy, that was hopeless. The powers would stay strongest by passing through Palaria’s bloodline. I couldn’t help but feel that I betrayed Lira by helping her mother. She wanted to get away and if she’d talked with me about it, I would have helped her. Except Palaria had given her that damn mark which meant only Lira could accept the magic. Palaria could only revoke it in person and with her magic waning, we had to find Lira or potentially lose our magic forever. If the powers left her before Lira accepted them someone else could steal them.
When we’d made it to the miserable, mud-flecked town with the magic trace, Palaria hissed. “It is Sai.”
The name sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place him. Our group rarely paid attention to fairies and their interactions. We’d blissfully lived in ignorance of the fae realm, letting Palaria handle things. That may have been to our detriment, though. “Who is he?”
She’d looked up at the pale blue sky and released a breath. “One of the Maharani’s children, known for both his magic and his reputation as a thief.”
“A prince is a thief?”
Palaria gave her head a shake, but loose wisps of hair that had fallen out of her updo stuck to her glistening temple. “He uses his magic to retrieve Unseelie artifacts. Nothing we’ve had any reason to be caught up with.”
Until Lira got involved with him. I’d stood on the stage singing as she approached him. I could just make him out from where he stood in the shadows. He was the perfect image of the heroes in Lira’s beloved books, dark-haired and sharp-jawed. He was attractive but there were good-looking men in every crowd. I hadn’t given him much more thought than that. “Is there a chance she knew him before?”
Palaria nodded at a couple of humans that walked by and paused under the eave of a building until they passed, her heeled boots reflecting in the glass door. “Unlikely. He possesses too much magic to gain access to Madalia.” Palaria’s words grew whip sharp, the way they did before she punished someone in the group. “However, when we find her, we’ll ask.”
A sour feeling bubbled in my stomach. Lira didn’t deserve the wrath her mother would soon pour out on her. She hadn’t known leaving would put our lives at risk. If I were honest, it wasn’t like I had much of a choice with helping Palaria. My magic and life entangled with her—and Lira. It didn’t make me feel better, though.
When we made it a day later to a one-room cabin even more miserable than the town, Palaria’s expression turned venomous. “Someone’s fucked in this room.”
Lira’s magic glittered around the edges of it too.
Palaria stormed out, slamming the door behind her. I hesitated a moment. Who was Palaria to judge if Lira was sleeping with someone? Palaria had entertained plenty of lovers. God, most of us in the troupe had. Palaria treated Lira like a doll she had a right to control and manipulate, but Lira was her own person. My respect for Palaria slipped further. It would soon break, and I didn’t know how to deal with that. If Lira took the magic, however, she would lead our group. I could get behind her. She didn’t want the magic, though, and that was unfair. I couldn’t abandon her now. If we caught up with Lira, she’d have to face her mother, and I could try to act as a buffer to keep Palaria from losing her temper.
Those thoughts left me mired in disquiet as we squelched across the rain drenched belly of some forest. I groaned as I looked at my boots. Scuffs and water stains marred them. What a waste.
Palaria sucked in air over her teeth. “Prince Lennox was here.”
I darted around like I would see him. “Are you certain?”
