I blink.
And he’s right. I can feel the Hallow’s echo starting to ripple out through the lands, like some sort of sonar frequency.
A heavy weight forms on my shoulders, and suddenly I have a fur cloak.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Grimm demands. “We haven’t got all day.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
The second we arrive in Ceres, I stagger out of the Hallow’s copper ring, feeling utterly drained.
The Hallow stands in the second-tallest tower in the castle, and for a second, I simply close my eyes and breathe it all in. Home. I’m home. Bells ring in the distance, seagulls squawk through the open arches that lead to the sky, and I swear I can smell bread baking.
And I can feel the land welcoming me back—a big, deep breath of air that relaxes every tense muscle within me.
“Are you always so slow?” Grimm demands, already sauntering down the stairs of the tower. “Did your mother drop you on your head as a baby? Come on.”
Thiago and Eris.
Their faces when they see my new companion.
I grind my teeth as I stomp down the stairs after it, my skirt still in ruins, and bruises and dirt covering my skin. No queen now, but an untidy vagabond who desperately needs a bath. “My mother would have had to cradle me in her arms in order to drop me, and I’m sure the second she birthed me, she handed me over to the nursemaids. I was merely appreciating the fact that I’m….”
Alive.
I hadn’t let myself dwell on what had happened too much. It’s easy to push such thoughts aside. I’ve been doing it all my life. Just focus on what’s in front of you and keep moving forward.
But this is the first time the fetch has made a deliberate attempt to kidnap me since it lost me the first time.
Angharad wants to cut my heart out on the stone floor of the Hallow in the middle of the Black Keep, and she came very close to doing it.
“I see the future, not read minds,” Grimm tells me.
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“I assure you, my faculties are quite adept.”
“An Unseelie queen wants to sacrifice me to the Horned One in order to resurrect him,” I snap. “Forgive me if the thought makes me a little uneasy. I’m grateful to be home.”
Grimm stops on the stairs, and for once there’s no snide remark.
“We cannot allow that to happen.” He continues padding down the stairs.
“Thank you.”
“Not until you’ve found my child.”
“Is it possible she ran away from you?” I growl under my breath.
“Impossible. I am a grimalkin. I am her shadow. There’s no place she could go that I couldn’t follow.”
“Then how did you lose her?”
For once, he’s silent.
I’m almost tempted to apologize.
“I don’t want to talk about that right now.”
We circle around the final curve, and as light spills through the archway ahead, I realize there’s an enormous shadow hovering in the arch.
Thiago stands frozen, one hand resting on the rail, his foot on the first stair, staring up at me. He looks like he’s seen a ghost.
My heart skips a beat.
“Vi?” Thiago’s voice comes out with a quiver, and the look on his face—I don’t think I’ve ever seen him wear that expression before. As if he doesn’t dare hope, doesn’t quite believe his eyes and ears.
“It’s me,” I whisper.
And then he’s rushing up the stairs and I’m in his arms, and suddenly everything is going to be okay.
I’m home.
I’m safe.
And the rib-crushing hug he gives me makes me want to simply lose myself in his arms and never lift my head again.
“Where were you?” he rasps. “What happened? I’ve had Thalia’s spies and sparrows searching everywhere. We’ve been to every Hallow we could find, and turned to every fae with the gift of foretelling. None could even catch a glimpse of you.”
“I’m fine.” I squeeze his biceps. “The fetch took me to Charun, and I managed to escape it, and—”
“Escape it?” There’s an edge of the predator in his eyes, and I know he’s battling the instincts that demand he heads north and tear apart everything that had a hand in my kidnapping.
“I used the power of the Hallow to make enough light to rival the sun. I burned it, but I don’t know if it managed to blink into the shadows, or if it… died. But doing so drained the Hallow dry. We had to wait for it to recharge before I could return.”
There’s a weight on his brows. And then he kisses my hand. “Sunlight.”
“The only way to slay a fetch.” I give him a light smile, but we’re both aware of what I’m not saying.
I did something that no fae could manage.
“Good.” Thiago lets out a slow breath. His hand slides through my hair, and he leans down and captures my—
“No!” I squeak. “I’m filthy! And I smell. And I haven’t scrubbed my teeth.”
He kisses me anyway, his hands sliding up and down my waist as if he can’t resist touching me. “I don’t care.”
I do. “Bath,” I growl, pushing at the hard planes of his chest.
Thiago backs away, but the glint in his eyes promises me ruination the second I’m clean—or deemed to be so. He lifts my hand to his mouth and kisses my palm. “As you wish, my love.”
“Maybe you can help wash my back.”
“Hello? Have you forgotten something?”
A furry weight bumps against my legs, and Thiago looks down with a scowl. “What… is this?”
There’s so much to say. So much to explain. But perhaps the easiest thing to start with is this. “I have a cat.”
His eyebrows arch. “Vi, that’s not a—”
“Pfft. Semantics.” I press my finger to his lips. “I know what he is. The bastard’s only too delighted to point it out every chance he gets. But for now, he’s my cat.” My voice roughens. “He guarded me while I slept. And he’s lost
