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“Careful,” Cadoc’s rough, demanding voice interrupted. “This wood has ears everywhere, and we cannot afford for this conversation to be overheard.”
By now, I’d forced my eyes to remain shut, knowing this was probably the only chance I would get to glean some real information out of these faeries.
Vazden laughed humorlessly. “I’m not the one with an army of erasu at my beck and call sleuthing all over the damn place. Sooner or later, Kyre will wake up, and I promise you, I won’t be the one to lie to her.”
“Who said anything about lying?” drawled Haelo. I heard his footsteps as he sauntered closer and tried not to react. Fingers gently grazed the side of my face, moving a lock of hair out of the way. “I have every intention of making her understand exactly why we answered her call.”
“Then why the theatrics?” Vazden asked. “Do you trutly think she will forgive any of us?”
“Just a bit of harmless fun,” Haelo said with a sigh. “She’s lived among the humans for too long and needed to be reminded of exactly whom she summoned. I’m sure with time and…convincing, she’ll come to see it our way.”
“Don’t count on it,” Vazden snapped. “I’m giving you a day to tell her the truth before I do it myself. She doesn’t deserve this, and you well know that.”
“How generous of you,” Haelo drawled mockingly. “Take a breath and go clean yourself up. We’ll take good care of our little, faerie princess. There’s no going back now regardless. She’s nearly here.” A beat of heavy silence fell over the room.
‘She?’ Who was on her way already?
“You’re really going through with this…” Vazden’s voice lowered to a menacing growl followed by low, deliberate footsteps in my direction.
I felt Haelo stand to his full height, his fingers leaving my cheek. “It was only a matter of time before she found out on her own. If your so keen on her knowing the truth, then who better to make her understand than the Sluagh queen herself?””
“This is too reckless. Kyre isn’t ready for the Sluagh. They’ll make the Wild Hunt look like a litter of puppies, and you’re prepared to hand her over? After what we’ve learned?”
My blood ran ice cold, every muscle in my body locking up painfully tight.
“Open those pretty eyes, pet. I can hear your heart thundering,” Riven said, sounding closer to me than I’d expected. My eyes flew open immediately, and I realized I was lying down in a room I didn’t recognize, wearing clothing that wasn’t mine. “That’s a good girl,” he cooed softly, a slash of a smile playing on his lips. “Can you sit up?”
I frowned at the prince, wondering why he was speaking to me like that. Cadoc, Erix, Haelo, and Vazden were standing around me too, Haelo smiling widely, Cadoc glowering, and Vazden and Erix running their worried eyes all over me.
I looked down at myself, realizing that I no longer felt that twinge of pain in my back as I started to sit up. “What did you do to me?” I asked, looking back up at Riven with narrowed eyes. “Where are we?”
“Shh, shh, shh…” Haelo approached me, hands up in a placating manner. “You’re completely safe in Vazden’s home. You need to rest. Your body has gone through quite a change and you’re probably going to be sore for a while.”
“Am I delirious, or did I really hear someone mention the Slau—?”
“How are you feeling?” Haelo interrupted me, taking a quick seat on the end of the chaise I was lying on. He placed a warm hand on my leg, and every muscle in my body went taut. His fingers skimmed along my skin softly, and it took everything in me not to curl my toes in response. “Tell me the truth.”
I ran my eyes over the pale-haired faerie and noticed belatedly that he appeared to be…covered in blood. As were the other four. Each of them wore rough-looking, leather clothing scuffed with dirt and slashed through in various places, as if they’d been shredded by several blades. Haelo’s hair was falling from his braid, and there was a healing bruise on his right cheek. I remembered now—they’d been on a hunt for days before I spent the night flying with Vazden.
“I feel—” I started to say I felt fine, when suddenly, a muscle in my back twitched violently, sending me rocking forward. Haelo reached out, catching my arm and steadying me. “Something doesn’t feel right.” I lunged forward, throwing off a silken blanket that had been lightly draped over me, and every male in the room took a step forward as I placed my feet gently on the floor. “Something’s wrong.” I started to panic when I felt my weight shift, causing me to topple forward. This time, it was Riven who reached out first to catch me.
“I need you to stand very still and take in a deep breath for me, Kyre,” Riven murmured as he steadied me on my feet. “There’s a lot we need to talk about, but you have to keep as calm as you can, do you understand?”
My back twitched again, and this time, I tried to rock backwards. A tickling sensation traveled the length of my spine. “Riven, what’s happening to me?”
He peered down at me, his golden eyes shining bright, and for once, I couldn’t find any real malice in them. A small smile played on his full lips before his eyes rose as if he were staring at something just over my shoulder.
Holding me up with one strong arm, he used his other hand to once again push a stray lock of hair out of my eyes. “Since the day you entered the faerie caves and stepped foot past the barrier between realms, you’ve been changing. Before you panic or point fingers, no, this was notourdoing. You’ve been in the human realm, where magic is weak and the very air is tainted with poison. Your faerie body never had the chance to develop as it should have a long time ago.”
“What does that mean? Did I…?” Bringing my hands to my face, I patted my cheeks, my forehead, my lips. Nothing felt off.
Riven chuckled. “You’re still as beautiful as ever, pet. Only…with a few improvements, I guess you could say.” Fingertips leaving my face, he reached over my shoulder, his arm brushing my cheek. My belly fluttered at the contact. “Hold your breath.”
Frowning, I did just that, taking a deep breath and holding it in, just as my entire body was suddenly overcome with the strangest, warmest, most thrilling sensation I’d ever felt in my life. My eyes rolled back in my head, and I groaned out loud at the feel of a warm hand caressing my…my what?
My eyes went wide as realization dawned on me.
Wings.
