I, Serena, awoke on a rolled-out sleeping bag near a roaring fire. My rucksack lay beside me and night had closed in. The rain and thunder had passed. I sat up and touched my arms, legs, and face. I had to make sure it was me—only me. The human—the girl from Tunnock with no wings—who’d never known the King of Aurora.
Liora moved to my side and braced a palm against my back. “Thank the light! Are you okay?”
At the same time, Cai was saying, “What happened?”
I studied the glade. Adrianna was gone but Cai and Liora were kneeling on bedrolls either side of me. Frazer was sitting opposite on a dead tree stump, treating his arrows. The flames of the fire flickered between us, casting phantom shadows across his face.
Aren’t you going to look at me?
His hands trembled; he wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“Serena?” Liora breathed.
“I’m fine.”
“Aren’t you going to give us more than that?” Cai asked, his voice strained with exhaustion. “You make us all shit ourselves with fright and—”
“I showed him my memories. All of them.”
Liora muttered something like, “Moons above,” and Cai pressed his lips together. “That was … reckless.” He seemed to be biting his tongue—quite literally. My instincts told me he’d wanted to say something a lot more damning.
“Did it help?” Liora asked, studying Frazer. Doubt was written all over her face.
What could I say?
Frazer stopped fussing with the arrow fletching to peer at me from under sooty lashes.
“Here we were thinking you were having a seizure,” Adrianna said as she came in to land.
“Mother have mercy—why do I even bother?” Cai stressed. “You’re meant to be keeping watch!”
Her shoulders rolled into a careless shrug. “I’d hear someone before I saw them in this light. And my hearing works just fine down here.” She snapped her wings into place and kneeled in between Liora and Frazer.
“Why agree to go up there then?” Liora asked, staring at her.
“I prefer to be alone.”
Cai huffed a half-laugh. And Adrianna pretended she didn’t hear. She raised her hands to the fire to warm them.
“Why did you all think I was having a seizure?”
I turned to the kindest set of eyes, the safest bet for a simple answer. Liora. “Both of you went into a kind of trance,” she said, sounding spooked. “We couldn’t get you to respond, and then you started screaming.”
“You sounded like you were being murdered,” Adrianna said bluntly. “And Frazer just stood there looking like he’d been force-fed poison while these two clucked over you like hens.” She shot Cai and Liora a look.
Gods, what had happened between them?
Adrianna continued. “So, I did the only thing I could think of and knocked you out before you had a fit or tore your voice.” A note of defensiveness.
“Good.”
Adrianna blinked.
“It was the right thing to do,” I told her. “And I’m sorry. I didn’t know that would happen. But it was worth it. I’m glad it happened.”
I stared at Frazer, willing him to believe me. His eyes had become fixed on the blazing fire while his body remained still, lifeless. I survived—you survived it, and we’re together. We’re whole.
Frazer’s burning glower met mine. “How can you say that?” he rasped aloud.
Liora gasped, Cai cursed, and Adrianna croaked out a harsh laugh. “Guess he wasn’t mute after all,” she drawled.
Frazer didn’t respond. He just glared at me, unblinking.
I braced myself and said, “Whatever happened back then … It doesn’t have to ruin the rest of your life.”
His face was bleak. “You don’t know what I did to deserve the sentence.”
Cai, Liora, and Adrianna stiffened as their attention piqued.
“It doesn’t matter.” I didn’t care why Linus had done it. He’d hurt Frazer in the worst way possible. I was glad his king was nothing but dust and bone. “Whatever you did, you’ve paid for it a million times over.”
Adrianna scowled over at Frazer. “Well, Serena might not need to know what you’ve done, but if you are a criminal, we deserve to know.”
Protectiveness roiled in my veins, firing my words. “No—you don’t.”
Frazer’s next words were so quiet, they were barely audible over the crackling of the flames. “I’m an exile from the fallen court—from Aurora. The king shredded my wings because I refused to work for Morgan.”
Well, that answered some of my questions.
Cai’s and Liora’s wide eyes and open mouths said everything.
Adrianna’s reaction was the most extreme. Color drained from her face, leaving behind a gaunt mask. “When?” A sharp rasp.
“Eighteen years ago—about a month before King Linus was killed and Prince Lynx was taken.”
Frazer sounded like he’d been reduced to smoke and ash. My heart bled.
“Taken.” Adrianna flared to life again. “A nice word for it. Turned traitor might be more accurate.”
“What happened wasn’t his fault,” Frazer growled. “Lynx would’ve killed himself before becoming puppet to that evil bitch. Morgan must’ve done something to him, bewitched him—”
“I don’t care,” Adrianna hissed, her face twisting. “He has oceans of fae and sprite blood on his hands. It was because of his strength that she was so successful.”
Blinding rage drummed down our thread. An urge to bite and maim. I shot up and over the fire in a vain attempt to restrain him. The impulse died as quickly as it’d been born; I found him cradling his head in his hands. I kneeled and put my palm flat on his knee. It was all I had to offer—a comforting touch.
I was fumbling in the dark. There was so much I didn’t understand about this realm. “Why was he so important?” I asked faintly.
I directed the question toward Frazer. A heaviness that spoke of years of anguish echoed in every word of his reply. “Lynx is gifted with the old magic.” Noticing the confusion in my eyes, he clarified. “Aldarian fae were known for light magic but over the centuries, the gifts became rare. But Lynx—his power was … vast, undiluted. And somehow Morgan turned him. I wasn’t there to protect him. The lives lost, the bloodshed, it’s all on me.”
“Don’t try to scrub him clean.” Adrianna’s nose wrinkled in plain disgust.
Something snapped in me. “Don’t speak to him like that!”
Frazer’s hands dropped, revealing his haggard eyes with the light of the fire. “Matea,” he said softly. A call to back off. Straightening his back a touch, he looked to Cai. “Can you shield our conversation?”
Cai gave a little nod. The air shimmered.
Frazer freed a breath, easing into his explanation. “My king wanted to ally with Morgan, but it came with a price. A heavy one. For one of the demands she made in the treaty was for the famed Sami Warriors of our court to kill her enemies for her, which meant murdering anyone brave enough to stand up to her. I was put in charge of that mission.”
Adrianna’s low growl pierced the air.
The little whistle of appreciation came from Cai. “I guess the rumors were true for once. Why would you ever train as a foot soldier? Surely becoming an Iko’s beneath you?”
Frazer’s reply was gruff. “I wasn’t a Sami Warrior. Not really. I trained with them, but I remained part of the king’s personal guard. But when he put me in charge—”
“You couldn’t do it,” I guessed.
The sorrow in his eyes made my chest crumple. “I knew those fae. They were loyal, but to become Morgan’s assassins would’ve ripped them apart. I took them outside the city walls and gave them a choice. Disappear or submit to Morgan’s wishes.”
Adrianna’s back straightened. “The Aurorian Samite were massacred along with the rest of the court …”
Frazer shook his head.