Maybe Drayce was right. Maybe the palace wanted me to free someone weak enough for us to defeat, so I could absorb its power.
Opening my eyes, I placed my thumb between my teeth and pulled off my leather glove. Drayce held up a dagger, and I pressed a finger on its point. A bead of blood formed on my fingertip, and I held it out into the mist.
It thickened and swirled around the blood, curled around my finger, my hand, my arm, until it engulfed my entire body. A man’s scream rang through my ears, and my heart lurched.
What if I had hurt Drayce… again? I waved my arms, kicked out at the mist, but it was as futile as fighting the wind.
Eventually, the scream faded into harsh pants, and the mist drifted up into the ventilation holes, leaving behind a naked man with golden curls. His strong body glistened with sweat, and the muscles beneath his golden skin quivered. His physique was about as powerful as Drayce’s. The only difference between the two males was their coloring. Drayce’s represented darkness and shadows, while this male represented the light.
I glanced at his ears, which were rounded at the tips. Nothing about him, except from his appearance from the mist, indicated that he was anything other than a beautiful human.
Drayce pressed the dagger into my hand. “Do it, now.”
I reared back. “What?”
“Wait!” The man raised his head and held out both palms, his handsome features twisted with terror. “This humble horseman is not your enemy.”
I narrowed my eyes. “But you’re a Fomorian.”
The man licked his lips and stared out at me through cornflower blue eyes. His chest muscles heaved with every panicked breath. “My mother’s father was one of those monsters, but I cannot help the circumstances of my birth.”
I gulped. He might have been describing myself. King Balor was my grandfather, and I wasn’t evil. “What do you eat?”
“Berries, meat, green leaves.” His gaze dropped to my hands. “I don’t suppose you have any food? Perhaps a horn of mead?”
I glanced at Drayce, who tightened his lips. He wanted me to kill this man, but he could see that I was already changing my mind.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Aengus. Shooter of arrows, tamer of horses.” His gaze flickered down my leather outfit. “And lover of females.”
“Do you know Melusina?” Drayce snarled.
The muscles in Aengus’ face tightened. “I know every wretched soul trapped in that prison of white. Melusina and I travelled together and used to watch out for enemies. Then one day, we found a rift in the nothingness that led into a forest. She sacrificed me to a hoard of purebloods and disappeared.”
“What happened next?” I asked.
“They tore me into quarters and devoured my body. The next day when I arose, the rift was gone.” His nostrils flared. “If she is in this world I will repay her ten-fold for the time I spent in misery.”
“That’s good enough for me.” I handed the dagger back to Drayce.
Ignoring the exasperation in Drayce’s eyes, I commanded the palace to create an opening into somewhere we could get clothes.
An arch formed in the wall that led to a storeroom of silver uniforms that I guess were for the guards. Satisfaction filled my chest. If the palace wanted Aengus dead, it would have kept me trapped within this chamber until I killed him.
I turned to Drayce with a triumphant smile. Drayce raised a shoulder and swept out an arm for me to go first. The palace’s magic must have kept the mist encasing Aengus because he would help me track and kill Queen Melusina.
Aengus walked across the garment rails with a long finger tapping his lips. The muscles on his back rippled with every movement, and his golden skin glistened in the sunlight.
“Hurry before I choose something for you,” Drayce growled.
“My apologies,” said Aengus. “I’m unused to seeing anything but white space and the gnashing of Fomorian teeth.”
I shot Drayce an admonishing glare, and he raised his brows with an unasked question. Suppressing the urge to smirk and ask if he was jealous like he did that time he nibbled on Queen Melusina’s neck, I reached down and squeezed his hand. Nobody, not even a wickedly handsome naked male, could replace Drayce.
Aengus selected a long tunic that looked like a man’s sleeping shirt and wrapped a sword belt around his waist, exposing his muscular thighs. Drayce made the other male walk at his side as we took him to a dining hall. It was illuminated by a stained glass window mosaic of the goddess Dana that took up an entire wall.
The sun shone through her vibrant orange hair, looking much like my reflection. I snatched my gaze away from the display and gulped. It was no wonder some of the faeries had commented on my hair.
Soldiers sat around long tables, eating bowls of stew. The colored light streaming through the window display reflected an array of blues and reds and shades of green on their silver uniforms. As soon as they caught sight of us, the chatter ceased, and the males rose to their feet and bowed.
Aengus flicked his head toward Drayce. “Is she someone special, then?”
“They’re greeting their queen,” Drayce muttered.
Aengus’ eyes bulged. “What happened to Queen Pressyne?”
“Queen Melusina killed her.” I watched his expression to see how he would react to what I would say next. “My father was the person who created the rift, and he was her captive for a thousand years.”
“You’re Melusina’s daughter?” he rasped.
My fingers curled around Drayce’s dagger. “And the woman who wants her dead.”
“I see.” Aengus’ gaze rose to my pointed ears, but he didn’t comment that I wasn’t a human.
“And the only person alive capable of killing Melusina,” added Drayce.
My teeth worried at my bottom lip, and I fought back the
