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Chapter 13
Bree
Bree staredacross the Great Hall at the fallen fae, horror twisting her gut into knots. Every single fae in the massive space had collapsed onto the floor. Some were draped across the tables, across the benches, and across the stage where the musicians had fallen amongst their instruments. Their eyes were still open wide, staring unseeing at the lofted ceilingabove.
She was the only one left. The only one except for… Eurig. A strange roar began to build in her chest, a roar that came from the beast deep within her. And it was directed right atEurig.
He stood by the red tapestry that divided the Great Hall from Midas’s special exit. His face was ashen, and he looked just as confused as Bree felt. But it had to be an act. Because there was no other explanation for what happened. He had done this. No one else was awake. Only him. First, he had cursed the king. And now, he had cursed the rest of theCourt.
Ever since he’d come to the castle, he’d been dismissive of everyone inside of it. He was not fond of courtly ways, or of how the outposters were still pressed underneath the kings thumb, even though they had their own system of rule andjustice.
Maybe he had been sent by the outposters for this very reason. Maybe he’d been sent to take the entire court down, so the outposters could finally have control over their little pocket of the realm on thesea.
Eurig’s deep golden eyes locked onto hers from across the room. In an instant, it felt as if he’d read every single thought churning through her mind. He shook his head and stepped back, his body whispering against thetapestry.
“You did this,” Bree whispered, her heart raging like a bull. “All this time you’ve been working against us, and now you’ve ruined itall.”
She curled her hands into fists and began to storm across the room, but the fallen bodies blocked her path. She had no idea what she was going to do when she reached him, but her anger and fear were so deep that she could not stop herself from doing everything in her power to take himdown.
She would make him fix this. She would make him undo what he had done. And then she would feed him to the pack of wolves that the fae of this Court could turn into when angered. It was what hedeserved.
All logical thought was drowned out in Bree’s mind. She would make him pay. No matterwhat.
Eurig shook his head once again, taking another slow step back until the tapestry rippled from his touch. “I did not dothis.”
And then he was gone. He ducked beneath the tapestry and disappeared behind the sea of red. A low rumbling growl built in Bree’s chest, and her feet pounded the stone ground as she chased after Eurig. Her entire vision saw red, and the bloodlust that she tried so hard to keep hidden deep within her rose up like a snake eager to strike itsprey.
But as she stormed after Eurig, a familiar prone form caught her attention. It was Rafe. He laid on the ground, his bright silver eyes dimmed for once. A cry of alarm flew from her tight throat, and she came to a sudden stop beside his body. Bree dropped to her knees and placed trembling hands on his chest. Underneath her fingertips, she felt the unmistakable beat of his heart. Her entire body sighed in relief, even though there was no guarantee that she would ever be able to stare into his soul everagain.
Tears streamed down her face. She had not looked hard enough for Taveon’s attacker. If only she’d done more. If only she hadn’t gotten distracted by Dagen when searching for answers. If only she’d forced Fillan to tell her what was going on. She’d had so many opportunities to do more than what she had, and yet she’d squandered all that timeaway.
She hadn’t even had a chance to kiss Rafegoodbye.
Rubbing the tears off of her cheeks, Bree leaned down and brushed Rafe’s silver hair away from his slack face. The image of him was blurry through her tears, but he had never looked more handsome than he did in that moment. The emotions she felt for him were unmatched by anything she’d ever felt before. She would do whatever it took to get himback.
“Listen, Rafe. I know you probably can’t hear me, but just in case you can, know that I will be back for you. I… I care for you. I’m… fond of you.” Her heart lurched in her chest, the emotion she felt toward Rafe still overwhelming. There was a word she wanted to say, but not like this, not right now. She wanted to look into his eyes and see that emotion reflected back at her. And, she wanted him to truly hear her when she finally told him exactly how shefelt.
She leaned down and brushed a kiss on his forehead, pressing her fingers over his eyelids. He was very much alive, his heart was beating, and his lungs were full of air. It didn’t feel right leaving him like this with vacant eyes staring up at the darkceiling.
With a ragged breath, Bree stood and picked her way across the floor to the red tapestry. She knew she would not find Eurig on the other side, but she had to check all the same. He had said that he didn’t do this. Not that he would admit to it even if he had. He probably hadn’t expected Bree to resist whatever curse he’d cast on the entire court. Truly, she didn’t understand why shehad.
There was only one person in the entire castle who might know, or at least one person that she could actually speak to, even if only in hermind.
As expected, there was no one to find on the other side of the tapestry, not even fallen fae. The corridor was quiet and dark and empty, and no guards were stationed outside of the Taveon’s quarters at the far end. It made Bree’s heartbeat speed up even more, and a new worry twisted in her gut. If there were no guards protecting the king, and Eurig truly had been the one behind all of this, he might very well have taken this opportunity to end the king once and forall.
Bree’s footsteps echoed through the corridor as she stumbled down the stone floor. The air was damp and dank, just as it always was in this castle, but now the scent carried with it a shiver of dread. Sconces lined the walls, and firelight danced. It cast shadows across the walls, fingers of darkness reaching and stretching until snapping back as she passed themby.
In only seconds, Bree reached Taveon’s door. She threw it open and stormed inside, her heart jumping toward the still and silent form that laid on Taveon’s bed. From a distance, she could not tell whether he was alive or dead, though she knew deep down in her gut that she would have felt it through their bond if he had left thisworld.
As she raced toward him, she realized that she had thrown up every barrier she had between them during the attack on the Court. Not on purpose, but instinctively, as if she’d been doing everything in her power to protect herself, to keep herself hidden from whoever had done this. But now those walls came tumbling down, and the fear and pain and anger that had been storming through her gut shot straight through the bond and into Taveon’ssoul.
She felt his alarm in response to her churning emotions, and the wrenching, struggling sensation of trying to push himself back into his body so he could jump up and throw his arms aroundBree.
“Bree,” Taveon said, his voice panicked. “What has happened? Something is wrong. Something is very much wrong. Is it Rafe? I cannot read your thoughts. They are far toojumbled…”
“Oh, Taveon,” Bree said, grabbing his hand as she fell onto the bed beside him. “It is Rafe, and it is everyone else, too. The entire court has fallen prey to the curse. Dagen and I tried to throw that ball for the entire court, hoping to sniff out some information about whoever did this to you. But they retaliated instead. They cast the curse on everyone. I’m the only one left. The only one…except forEurig.”
A storm of emotions flew down the bond, emotions that matched everything Bree felt inside of her. But most of all, she could sense his guilt. Taveon thought that he could have prevented this somehow. If only he’d been strong enough to resist the cursehimself.
