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He blew out a breath. “We’ve certainly tried. For years, my pack has captured and experimented on Taken, attempting to unlock their secrets. We’ve learned much, but ultimately not what we’re looking for. For example, we learned that certain scents attract them like moths to flame.
“A mixture of linseed, rosehip, and suet drives them mad. They come running far and wide,” he said. “I arranged for that mixture to be put in your bath that day you and your king traveled to Bevin—”
I stopped dead on the frozen path.
“—but, of course, you survived.”
Meallan’s outline disappeared into the shadows. I panted hard, spinning this way and that for any sign of him—any sign of where he’d strike from next. “What are you saying?” I croaked. “You’re the reason the Taken attacked us that day?”
A laugh echoed out of the dark. “I’m the reason for a lot of things,my lady. I’m the reason poisoned food was placed on your gilded tray and carried up to your royal bedchamber. Sadly, you weren’t in said bedchamber”—anger bled into his voice—“because you chose that night of all nights to dine with the court.
“Aeris, in her wisdom, had your meals prepared separately, so that you always dined on your favorites. The meal for the main table is not so pompously handled. You’ve taken every meal with the court since that night, and we lost our chance.” He swore. “The last attempt, tripping you coming down the stairs, was desperate. I admit that.”
Horror filled me.
“You kept slinking away from death like a scampering rat. So what else do you do with rats but lead them into a trap?”
“How could you!” I spun, trying to find him. “Why would you do this!”
“It was nothing personal.” I didn’t have to see him to know he was shrugging—the unrepentant kakka. “Believe it or not, I like you. If this were different, I’d want you as my own mate, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be.”
My lips twisted. “That’s disgusting. I wouldn’tmatewith you if it’d unbind my magic!”
“I couldn’t give a shit about your bindings,” he growled. “This is about my own.”
“What are you talking about!”
“I’m talking about you! Every day, the change spreads deeper and wider—turning this land and the fae into what we’re meant to be. But then you chits show up, seduce Alisdair, fill his headwith stupid love nonsense, and risk the chance that he’ll throw it all away to destroy his heart, and love you back. If that happens, it all goes away,” he roared. “We return to being nothing!”
“Being a summer fae isn’t being nothing, you lunatic! Rolling around naked in a dirty pit with fangs and claws isn’t a better life!”
“You like this life just fine, or you wouldn’t be crying for leaving it.”
I clamped my mouth shut, breathing hard. As I just said, there was no point in arguing with a zealot. The only thing I needed to do was get away from him.
Slowly, I backed up—desperate not to let the words “I have excellent vision” deter me.
“Alisdair has no right to rid our land of the change, nor does he have a right to rule it. Wind and Wild is wolf territory. We are its natural-born and rightful leaders. When Raelina threatened that...” His voice whispered through the dark. “When she got too close to him and began addling his mind, my father turned around and addled hers.
“He cursed her with a love curse that made her hopelessly obsessed with that bastard Salman. She practically chased after his carriage out of town.” He barked a laugh. “Curse or not, it was pathetic.”
“You monster.”
“I’m the monster?” He sounded right next to me.
I spun to the left, fist flying, but struck nothing.
“Your husband is the monster. He’s a violent, uncaring beast, and we were certain you were no threat, because there was no way a pampered princess such as yourself would ever fall for him, or make him fall for you.”
Thud. Snap.
“Seems we were wrong, so you had to go. Three times we tried, and then you did something wonderful.” Another harsh, chilling laugh. “You walked straight into the wolf’s den.”
“But you don’t have to do this,” I snapped. “I walked into the wolf’s den because I want to leave him and this cursed place. Holding up your side of the bargain would achieve the same end!”
“I can’t take the chance. What happens when Shadowsoul showers you with enough gifts and praises that you forget this temper tantrum and come running back to him? The only way to end your threat is to get rid of you for good.”
I swallowed hard—feet coming to a stop. “We’re not alone,” I said—voice flat. “Are we?”
