Puddles of moonlight made the nighttime forest glow as we walked down the path. A shuffling sounded from the brush, and two owls called back and forth, mournful and haunting. The quiet and the fear of what we’d been through turned the near dark into something more intimate than a mere stroll in the woods. I walked closer to Lucus, longing to feel the pleasure of his lure and to hear him say something that would make me feel less like we were about to walk back into the lion’s den. Maybe he sensed my wish, because he began to talk.
“I thought you were gone to me, Coren.” Sounding angry, he stared into the distance, his jaw working and his cloak pulling tight over the muscles in his shoulders. “After all this time, my long, long life, I’ve finally found a woman who fits my soul.”
My cheeks heated along with my heart. He fit me too. The way he did things in such a practical manner. How he thought of others before himself. His courage under fire. The way he adored my pancakes. This relationship was new, but it was solid and so, so good. “Too bad I’m a nasty mage, eh?”
He chuckled. “I guess not all mages are terrible. I wonder if Oliver has any power.”
“I’d have thought he’d have escaped if he had. He’s a kid. He wouldn’t consider the consequences.”
“Perhaps he tried.”
“Come to think of it, why didn’t Kaippa try to escape? He could’ve tried to rip the vine floor of his cell with his nails or his teeth, couldn’t he?”
Lucus’s glanced at me, his face grave. “Didn’t you notice his fangs?”
I shook my head.
“The unseelie filed them down. They broke off the claws at the tips of his wings and ripped his nails from his fingers as well.”
“Holy shit. I didn’t even notice. He acted totally fine.”
“Except he didn’t escape before you came for him.”
Dang. Ripped fingernails sounded like the worst kind of torture. Well, second to them having a kid you love, of course. I blew out a breath. “That’s rough. I’m amazed I didn’t end up killing him and Oliver.”
“None of us knew the vines would react like that to a blade.”
“It was like they were on some kind of alarm system. The minute the edge cut into them, both Kaippa’s and Oliver’s floors retreated up the walls.” Then something occurred to me. “What if the alarm system also let Arleigh know there was a jail break?”
Lucus’s brow furrowed as we rounded the last bend, the sound of the feast rising and drowning out the owls’ calling. “I suppose we’re about to find out.”
Chapter 28
I worked my way toward the dais, fake laughing and fake drinking and fake not freaking out as the unseelie glanced my way. Lucus went to his brothers beside the dais as I passed Arleigh, Corliss, and Nora, who stood at the bottom of the dais steps, talking to one of the musicians. The Binder was nowhere to be seen, so hopefully he’d headed to the dressing rooms as well.
Like I’d called his name, the Binder appeared out the forest from the area where we’d changed clothing. His face was set in lines, emotions hidden. I couldn't imagine what he was feeling. I had never had a loved one imprisoned and then returned to me. And his son, Oliver, was quite possibly in even more danger now. Arleigh might decide keeping the boy around was more trouble than he was worth, kill him, and find a new way to keep the Binder compliant.
I remembered when Mom’s cancer went into remission, and I’d ignorantly believed the sickness was gone for real and forever. But the cancer had returned, and it had moved fast. My hope had died before she did, and I wished I’d never had it in the first place.
Perhaps that was how the Binder felt at this very moment as he walked between the tables of his captors. These were the same fae who’d put a blade to his son’s throat. Did the Binder have hope in his heart, the idea that maybe—just maybe—he would escape his own brand of hell? I was scared of that kind of hope in all of its forms.
When he reached Nora, he surveyed the crowd, his gaze landing on the queen.
“To dispel any doubt concerning Mage Nora's power, I’ll test her magic. You’ll see she is powerful enough to hold your barrier soundly for many moons,” he said, his tone solid with a confidence he couldn’t truly feel, I was sure. This was a ruse, after all.
Queen Arleigh stood. Her dress swirled around her like smoke. “What is this? A test? I was not informed.”
I gripped my tunic, heart beating in my ears. The image of the towering trees at the duel going black and crumbling like ash spread through my mind like rot. I was certain she could do that to a person. To a mage. My stomach twisted. Hold it together, Connelly.
The Binder held the queen’s gaze.
Arleigh turned to face her court. “If it is necessary, and also interesting for our guests, then do proceed with my blessing, Binder.” She waved her delicate, blackened fingertips in the Binder’s direction then sat on one of the mushrooms that served as chairs along the feasting tables.
The Binder removed a magestone from his pocket and placed it in Nora’s hands. He spread his arms, and lightning cracked across his palms, extending to the mossy, moonlit ground at his feet.
The queen cleared her throat. “I trust this test won’t harm Mage Nora or lessen her ability to participate in the sacrifice as planned.”
“Of course not,” the Binder answered before facing Nora again. “Claim this burst of power for your own. Engulf my energy and claim it,
