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The sound came again.
Dear gods, someone or something was here. My nose twitched as a faint, pungent scent tickled my senses just as the absolute conviction that I was about to be attacked slammed into me.
Instinctive magic erupted inside my gut, and a ring of fire burst to life around me, creating a protective barrier and providing light.
A scream of pain cut through the darkness, but when I whirled toward it, a flash of something appeared in the air, and then...nothing. Although—
I sniffed. The lingering scent of something rotten permeated the air.
Boot steps reached my ears, then Sandus careened around the corner. “Lady Seary!”
“Sandus!”
“You’re not to venture through the castle without me!” My guard was seething when he reached me, his eyes wild as I released my fire, allowing my guard to come to my side.
“I know. I’m sorry! I was—” But I couldn’t continue. I couldn’t very well tell him that my thoughts had turned into a spiraling tornado, and all reasonable action had left me when I suspected the prince was my mate.
“I didn’t mean to.” I settled with. “I wasn’t thinking.”
My eyes darted back to where I’d seen that flash, back to where I’d been certain someone had been about to attack me. “There was someone here. They killed the lights and then started approaching me, but I flung fire out, and...” I couldn’t continue. I was breathing too fast, and my heart felt as if it would explode. Too much was happening.Too much.
Sandus snarled. “The prince will have my head when he learns of this. Come. We must get within the prince’s wing, behind his wards. Then I’ll notify him.”
* * *
Sure enough,the prince was livid when he discovered that I’d left the dinner on my own and had nearly been attacked.
Only minutes after Sandus had sealed me within the Exorbiant Chamber, the prince and his three other guards burst into my room, carrying the vengeance of the gods with them.
The prince made me recall every moment of the harrowing encounter in detail, and with every second that passed, the aura around him grew higher and higher.
“You arenotto roam the halls without Sandus,” he snarled as veins bulged in his neck.
“I know.” I wrapped my arms around myself, rocking back and forth on my bed as Cailis sat beside me. “I didn’t mean to. I just—”
But I couldn’t bring myself to say it. How did I sayI think we’re bonded to each other?I think you’re my mate, and the thought of that terrifies me, so I stupidly ran through the castle at night even though I know I shouldn’t since it isn’t safe.
I sealed my lips as Prince Norivun’s gaze glittered with barely leashed violence. He rounded on his guards. “Alert the castle commander. I want the grounds searched for any intruders. I want whoever followed her tonight found.”
They all dipped their heads and strode from the Exorbiant Chamber before the prince addressed Sandus in a savage, gravelly tone. “Guard her with your life.”
Sandus’s jaw tightened, a deadly light entering his eyes. “I will.”
CHAPTER16
The entire castle was searched. Every hall, alcove, cellar, room, chamber...all of it. The prince didn’t leave one stone left unturned.
But nothing was found. No intruders. No ghostly phantoms. No hired mercenaries sent to terrorize the court. Whatever had doused the lights and prowled toward me had disappeared, as though whisked from this very realm.
It was enough of a reminder, though, that fae were going missing and that it was stupid of me to have run alone at night. It also wasn’t lost on me, or the prince, that such an attack had occurredafterit’d been revealed that I was trying to save the crops.
The only comfort I took was knowing that the prince hadn’t lied about killing the missing fae. Whoever, or whatever, had been with me in the hall definitely hadn’t been the crown prince.
Still, despite being alive and safe, knowing that the prince and I potentially shared a mate bond brought an entirely new level of stress to my life.
The next week passed in a blur of following all of the rules. Even though my fire had fended off whoever had come near me following that disastrous dinner, I wasn’t going to risk an encounter like that again, so I healed fields, trained on schedule, and never went anywhere without Sandus.
Each day was similar to the one prior, and the days began to bleed together. However, I welcomed the monotony after my epiphany about the crown prince, then experiencing what I had in the dark castle.
