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My heart squeezes in my chest, and I stumble, the wave of feelings knocking me almost off my feet. Wordlessly, Tor helps me straighten, slapping my shoulder and giving me a nod. I think he goes to say something, but his throat works hard, like he’s choking on a sob, and he just nods again. I smile at him. It must look feral because of the way the veins are protruding from my skin, my features exaggerated and dominating, but I try anyway.
“Gods, I wish we were bonded mates like you and Caelan.” My voice is gruff with my change. “I could know where he is, if he is safe.”
Tor turns to look at Caelan, who is walking with the mages. As if he knows we are talking about him, he leans forward to give us a tight smile around the air mage Alesander. He probably did know, felt it through his bond with Tor. I don’t want to be jealous of their connection; bonded mates are rare, almost unheard of. Even if I did—when Ido—mate with Theo, it won’t be a bond like theirs, blessed by the Whisper Woods themselves.
Because we will find Theo, and, Gods willing that he will have me, he will be my mate. Is my mate. Mine.
“You guys are really that serious, huh?”
I raise my eyebrow and pull a face up at Tor where he manages to tower over me just slightly. Thankfully, he has the decency to blush, a pink stain to his purple cheeks when Mauvy snorts loudly on the other side of me.
Tor stuffs his hands in the pockets of his shorts, tipping his head to the ground while he nods. “Yeah, I guess that was adumb question. It’s just… strange. Theo, growing up and all that.”
“Keep talking like that, and he will findusto hit you upside the head.” Mauvy chides Tor, reaching out to pinch his side. Tor yelps and huffs a laugh, scrubbing at the back of his head.
“Yeah, yeah he would.” A sad, resigned smile plays at his lips, but we don’t say anything more. We walk together for a short while, our shoulders bumping with our steps, almost reassuringly. When Seff and Seldon, along with a few of the other shifters in our search party, start barking and yipping up ahead, Tor grips my arm, his sharp intake of breath almost inaudible.
The others shout and call out amongst each other, but we don’t bother to wait, running together, our feet thundering on the dirt path until we crash into the clearing. The others are soon behind us, but I can’t see anything.
He’s not here.
The Falls are empty except for the thundering rapids. Anger and terror boil within me, and I scrub at my face, trying tothink.
“Up there!” I have no idea who shouts, but I force myself to look up. The sun is directly behind the Falls so it takes a moment to focus, but then I see… what in the fuck isthat? A swirling purple grey cloud hovers near the cliff edge. Is Theo in there? My fae instincts, my fae knowing, are too overwrought at the situation to give me any guidance.
“Is that him?”
“How do we get up there?”
“Surely there is a path?”
“I can summon the water element to get us up. Maybe.”
“Or I can use the air.”
The conversation happens all at once, but it ceases immediately when the circular cloud dissipates to reveal Theo and Darius facing off, far enough back from the cliff's edge theyare only just visible. A strained yell echoes down to us before Darius snatches Theo up in his arms, edging them closer to the precipice.
“Theo!” Tor screams beside me, pulling himself free from Caelan’s hold, running towards the water before he realises the futility of it all, and collapses to his knees on the pool's edge. There are once again cries and gasps from around the clearing as everyone notices the blade glinting in the sunlight against Theo’s throat.
“What do we do?”
“If we try, he’ll kill him.”
“There is too much risk.”
“What in the actual fuck?”
The chatter is too loud. But also distant. Like I’m not connected to the moment. I’m here but also in the cottage.
Overlaid with the present moment, my mind's eye shoves the memory of Marieth’s blade held aloft, ready to pierce Theo’s heart to the forefront. Only this time, I can’t just run to him and snatch him up. He’s too far out of reach, that blade all too ready to rip into his body. My lungs seize entirely, every cell in my body vibrating with tension.
“Don’t even think about coming up here!” The hysterical yell from Darius is barely audible over the sounds of the waterfall, but he makes his point well enough by pulling Theo even tighter to him, jerking him around wildly.
Usually something as simple as a cut to the throat wouldn’t kill a fae, but if the blade is enchanted, there is always the possibility. Not to mention that it would incapacitate Theo long enough to do something thatwouldkill him, like remove his head or heart, before any of us could get there.
Gods, we don’t even know what power Darius wields. There are too many things that can go wrong.
The conversation continues to swirl around me, but I can’t hear them. Time is like sludge. Surely we’ve only been here for minutes, but it feels as though I’ve been trapped in this moment for centuries.
