A seductive scent curled around me—the sweet, wine-ripe scent of pomegranates tinged with dark smoke. I froze, and stole a glance behind me.
Seemed someone new had entered the fray. A fae I hadn’t seen before.
Behind him, the bodies of Gwydion and the blond fae lay broken—ripped apart. Only Gwydion would return from the dead.
I stared at the stranger, who moved toward me with an elegant grace. His beauty felt like glass shattering in my heart.
Dark hair swept over his forehead, and the morning light blazed over his face. His eyes were dusky hues—purple streaked with gold, and his cheekbones were blade-sharp. Possibly the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. I realized I’d simply stopped walking.
“I believe those two fae were bothering you,” he said. “I had to kill them.”
“Thanks,” I said. I still clutched tight to the bloodied knife.
His eyes gleamed, and he arched a dark eyebrow. “You look like your mother.”
My stomach swooped. He knew way too much about me.
“Who are you?”
As I stared at him, the sound of a low drum pulsed in time with my heart. It seemed to me that it was a sacrificial drum, a sound echoing off rock. I don’t know why that word popped into my mind—sacrifice. I felt dreadfully hot, and phantom flames seemed to rise and burn around me. Boom, boom, boom… A drumbeat to drown out screams.
However gorgeous the man standing before me was, the drum was telling me to run.
Chapter 27
Shadows cascaded behind his back like wings. He smelled fae, and he seemed ancient.
The world seemed blurred around him, as if no one existed but us. That low, rhythmic beat pounded in my body.
I stood, immobilized, while the man with the bright eyes took another slow step forward. Peering down at me, he stroked a fingertip along the side of my face. His touch was hot. I had the strangest, strongest urge to kiss his hand.
“The Daughter of Malgven,” he said. “I might need your help someday.” His voice was like a lover’s touch that skimmed under the fabric of my clothes, sending hot shivers rippling over my body.
My heart pounded harder.
The man pulled something out of his pocket—a ripe, red piece of fruit. My mouth watered as he held it out to me, hunger and desire mingling in my belly.
“You look hungry,” he murmured.
My gaze locked on his sensual mouth.
Whoever he was, eating from his hand was a terrible idea. The fae believed that food could be used to control others, to poison their minds, to enslave.
Still, I was desperate to taste it. I wanted to bite through the skin into the fruit, to feel its sweet tang on my tongue. I wanted to lick the juice off the beautiful man’s fingertips just like he wanted me to. I closed my eyes, and I could almost savor the sweet sting on my tongue.
“Taste it,” he said. “And tell me where she is.”
“Who?” I asked. “I don’t imagine you’re talking about Gina.”
He arched an eyebrow. “No, I have no idea who Gina is. Are you playing coy with me?”
He wasn’t after the World Key, which seemed strange. Nor did he want to know about Nova Ys, or the athame. Who was she?
He took another step closer, holding the ripe fruit to my lips. The hunger overwhelmed me. I stared into his dusky eyes—like a twilight sky over a burning city.
Gina. We were talking about Gina. Now, at least, my mind was clear.
Surprise flickered in his eyes when I took a step back—then another. I’d ripped my mind free of his allure. Clarity scrubbed my thoughts clean of all the confusion and panic, and the words of the portal spell rang in my brain.
“Egoriel Lyr, warre daras.”
I spoke the words that would bring me to Lyr.
I took another step back, and the stone ground opened up beneath me. I sank into the glorious embrace of the cold portal water. My arms floated over my head as I drifted in deeper, heading for Lyr.
When I looked up, I saw that I’d come into the portal alone. The bright-eyed man—the one who smelled of pomegranates and smoke—hadn’t followed.
Blood from my shoulder and my side pooled around me in crimson swirls. My mind was dimming, flickering with old memories—blood and blades, a pearl-studded goblet.
She of the poisoned blood. Death spills from her…
I could hand Lyr over to the fuath, and maybe they’d give me Gina back.
It’s just… I really didn’t want to hand him over to get tortured. There had to be another way to get Gina back.
The toxins from the iron bullet soaked into my muscles, making them freeze up as I drifted through the portal. My thoughts were slipping by, like blood spilling through water.
As the water pulled me under, I realized I could have gone anywhere in the world with the key around my neck. Anywhere in any world. The spell on it had been unlocked, and the power was in my control.
And out of all the places in the world I could go, I chose to join him.
The absurdity of this hit me only after I’d plunged into the portal, and then my whole world went dark.
My eyes opened a bit as Lyr pulled me from the portal. The iron had worked its way through my system, making my muscles cramp.
I glanced over at a tile floor, where the portal closed up behind me. To my relief, no one else came through.
Violent nausea roiled in my stomach. I rolled over onto my hands and knees, and heaved up a little bit of Shira’s latte.
I felt the sharp sting of the chain pulling against my neck as Lyr ripped the World Key off.
That was what he was interested in?
I turned to him, anger rising along with another dry heave. “I came back to you half dead, and you just want the necklace?”
“Aenor.” Lyr’s voice was soft as he cut me off, holding up the key. “This is what was making you feel sick. It’s part of the spell. The fuath managed to weaken the spell, but it’s still there, poisoning anyone who uses the key. Only I can use it without consequences.”
“Oh.” My whole body was shaking. Everything about me felt completely wrong right now.
My teeth were chattering wildly.
I felt Lyr pull me close to him, and I rested my head on his chest. I let myself lean against him.
“What happened?” he asked.
Let’s see… “Shot once, iron bullet. Stabbed. They have Gina.” I thought that just about covered it.
But the warmth of his body radiated around me, and I could hear my heart beat. I closed my eyes, and Lyr lifted me, carrying me to another room.
I looked up into his determined face, and at the stark line between his eyebrows. His eyelashes were so shockingly black against the blue of his eyes.
A sound like the rushing of water filled the room. Whatever instinct had propelled me back to him had been the right one, because Lyr was the only one who’d know how to fix this spell situation.
My thoughts were drifting back again to Ys, and my mother combing through my long hair as we sat at a mirror. She wore her bloodstained wedding gown, her mark of pride.
My teeth chattered again, and I curled into Lyr’s warm body. But he wasn’t letting me rest. In fact, he started to pull off my shirt.
“What are you doing?” I asked through chattering teeth.
“Helping you.”