and grabbed her arm, dragging her away from the water.
“Let go.” She smacked him in the face with her phone as she tried to get the nail into her fingers ready to use.
He tightened his grip. “A fear of water is one thing, but it is not enough to stop me from getting what I want and getting home. I need the Window and I will have it.”
Caspian stepped forward, then stopped as if unable to move. Shea’s face hollowed, his features becoming more drawn and haggard as if was wasting before her eyes. He was using magic. On Caspian.
“Use magic to fight me, darkling,” Shea sneered.
“I’m not a darkling. My father is Court.” Caspian forced the words out, his gaze on Shea, not her.
“Fight to free yourself. Let’s see how fast you wither.” Shea’s grip on her arm eased a fraction as if he was weakening.
Caspian seemed to be fighting for every breath. She almost dropped the nail as she turned it, then it was ready. She said a quick prayer and then drove it into Shea’s thigh.
The scream was like that of a wounded, enraged animal. Shea released her and she moved—but not to Caspian’s side. She went to the other doorway, the one that led to the formal dining room. Without iron or water she had nothing but speed and distance. But she couldn’t bring herself to leave. Plus her handbag was still on the kitchen counter.
Shea reared up and snarled, dark blue… blood, she realized… dripped onto the floor. He stepped toward her, but Caspian pulled the necklace out of his shirt. Shea stopped to watch.
“One more step and I destroy the Window.” Caspian lifted the chain over his head.
“Don’t give it to him,” Lydia whispered. Caspian needed his soul back, didn’t he? Or did he no longer care? Was he on Shea’s side now because he was a Grey? It was all too confusing.
Shea stared at the shard of mirror. “You’re lying. She has it.”
Caspian shook his head. “I went to Court and saw where it was hidden. Here amongst the jewelry. Clever.” That wasn’t right; he’d said it was to help him find the Window. Had he lied about that too? Then she realized she was watching him trick another fairy. He was playing the Grey at his own game.
“Prove it’s the Window,” Shea demanded.
“Prove it’s not.” Caspian shrugged, and his face remained expressionless. “What are you prepared to risk, Shea ap Greely?” He set the mirror swinging, and the chain moved closer to the ends of his fingers, millimeter by millimeter.
Lydia watched as Caspian prepared to break the mirror. What was he risking by doing that?
Caspian took a step closer and smiled, but there was nothing remotely human about it. Lydia shuddered. She’d been to bed with him like this. Soulless and hard, and yet at the time he’d seemed more lost than anything.
“I didn’t break the deal. The only way I could be free of you was to find the Window. Which I have done. Annwyn took my soul for dealing with you, but you will not take what is left of my life.” He inclined his head at Lydia.
“So if you found it why haven’t you given it to your father and begged for your soul?”
“I was on my way; there is a doorway at the cemetery. But Lydia rang to tell me you were visiting and I couldn’t leave her here with you. I know how a Grey will do anything to get home.” The mirror slid a little further down his fingers and Shea drew in a sharp breath.
Shea seemed frozen, as if he didn’t know whether to rush for her or Caspian. His gaze darted between her and her lover. She couldn’t move and didn’t dare say anything in case she damaged whatever Caspian was trying to do.
“Let’s make this more fun. How about I call my father?” Before Shea could answer he drew a breath. “Let it be known I have found the Window. The deal is complete.”
Caspian didn’t raise his voice but his words echoed with power. She felt in her blood something ancient and powerful stirring—the same way she’d felt his invitation to bed last night. He really wasn’t anything close to human at the moment and yet she couldn’t take her eyes off him as the silver chain slid down his fingers. To his fingertips. She held her breath.
Then the mirror began to fall.
Shea leaped for the mirror, his belly hitting the floor, his hand outstretched as he muttered some kind of incantation.
“I never promised it would be whole,” Caspian said.
Chapter 22
Caspian jumped to the side as Shea landed on his stomach on the floor, stretched out his hand, and then vanished in a flash of light into the mirror just as Caspian had expected him to. It had been a gamble but the only one he’d been able to make and now the Counter-Window was in three pieces on the kitchen floor. For several heartbeats he waited for Shea to reappear through the Window that was somewhere in this house—hopefully. He didn’t want to have claimed to have completed the deal when in actual fact the Window was still lost and he’d broken the Counter-Window.
When there was no enraged snarl, no cursing, and no sign of the banished fairy lord, he let himself breathe for a moment even though he didn’t have long to find the Window before his father showed up and demanded he hand it over. Lying didn’t go down well at Court; lying by omission or letting people assume was another matter.
He walked over to Lydia. “Are you okay?”
She shrunk back against the door frame as if his touch was poison and her eyes were full of suspicion and fear. “What are you?”
He had to be honest. Shea had already spilled the truth and lying would only make it worse. “You know what I am. My father took my soul in exchange for the Window.”
Her lips moved but no sound came out. But she didn’t need to speak; he could see the distrust in her eyes. “You’re a Grey, like him.”
“It’s temporary, if I return the Window.” But it was also clear he couldn’t protect her from his family or fairies in general. Maybe a life in Annwyn was the only chance he had. While he missed the beauty, that was all he missed. Beneath the dancing and partying there was an edge. A razor constantly held to throats just waiting for an opportunity to slice. When he looked at Lydia, he didn’t want to live at Court. He wanted to be human and with her. She made him feel like he had a chance at living again.
“You should have told me last night.”
“Does it change me?” He already knew it did, but had she noticed?
She nodded and his worst fears were confirmed. He swallowed down the rising ache. What would he do if she never wanted to see him again? Would he have the strength to say no to his father when the Prince asked if he wanted to live in Annwyn?
“Is he gone?” She pointed to the broken mirror.
“I think so.” He picked the pieces up and placed them on the table. How did he ask for the other piece? Straight up. It was the only way. “While I was in Annwyn I saw you in this piece. I think you have the other half.” He turned to look at her. “I think it was here all along, but no one, not even the ghost, knew what it was.”
“The ghost followed me home after I’d packed up some of my grandmother’s personal things. I think I have it.”
“Do you have it here?”
“What are you going to do with it?”
“Return it to my father and get my soul back, hopefully.”
She looked at him as if trying to work out if he was lying. “How do I know you aren’t trying to trick me? Isn’t that what Greys do?”
“A Grey will do anything to get back to Annwyn and stop the fading of looks and power. I didn’t fight Shea
