Rhi opened her eyes only to be blinded by bright, beautiful sunlight. She squinted against it, her fingers moving in the warm rays. She rolled over onto her back and realized she was in her cabin. Her private place. A place no one else was supposed to know about—not even her queen.
Rhi sat up and looked down to find herself covered only by a coral-colored blanket spun of the softest cashmere. Her skin was clean and there were no manacles around her wrists. Yet she knew without a doubt she had been in Balladyn’s prison. It hadn’t been a dream.
And neither was this.
She had experienced those “dreams” while chained, and during that awful time she had been deluded into believing the dreams were real, but now that she was free of the Chains of Mordare, she could tell the difference.
Which begged the question: who brought her to her cabin?
Rhi stood, carefully keeping the blanket wrapped around her, and walked out of her bedroom expecting to find someone sitting on her sofa. But there was nobody there or in the kitchen.
Her gaze went to the door. She walked silently to it and threw it open before she walked onto the porch and found him sitting in the rocker.
“It’s about time you woke up. I was getting concerned,” Ulrik said, looking up at her with his golden gaze from the small piece of wood he had been carving.
She drew in a shaky breath. “What are you doing here?”
Ulrik folded his knife and tucked it into his pocket before he got to his feet and faced her with a smile. His black hair was long and loose, giving him a dangerous look that was accentuated by the black shirt with a large silver fleur-de-lis on the front and dark denim on his legs. “The correct response is to thank me.”
“For what?”
His smile slipped and a frown emerged. “You doona remember?”
“I suppose you got me out of Balladyn’s?”
“Interesting,” he said, more to himself than to her. He took a deep breath and flipped the piece of wood in the air before catching it again. “You blew up his fortress.”
Rhi closed her eyes. Not again. “I see.”
“You broke the Chains of Mordare with that little show. They’ll never be used on anyone again.”
She opened her eyes and looked anywhere but at him. It was too difficult. “So what do I thank you for?”
“I pulled you out of the rubble and brought you here.”
“You?” she asked with a snort. “You want me to believe you found your way into a Fae doorway and just happened upon me?”
“I went looking for you.”
She kept her face averted. “You should’ve left me there.”
“Because that’s what the Light Fae do?” He made a sound at the back of his throat. “I doona do that.” He moved in front of her and she turned her head the other way. “You think ignoring me will work?”
“What do you want?”
“To help,” he said in a soft voice.
Rhi pulled the blanket tighter. “How did you know of this place?”
“I’ve always known, Rhi.”
“Thank you for what you’ve done, but I don’t need your help.” She turned on her heel and walked back into the cabin where she slammed the door behind her.
She stopped, waiting to hear him leave. Minutes ticked by before she heard him expel a loud breath. Then, his voice came through the door. “You’ve been asleep for a few weeks. Everyone’s been looking for you since I brought you back.”
The sound of footsteps told her he was walking away, and then they paused.
“By the way,” Ulrik said. “Con saw me take you.”
“Wonderful,” she whispered to herself.
She waited until Ulrik was gone before she released a pent-up sigh. She looked around at the frilly, ridiculous things she had accumulated through the years and anger seized her.
Rhi didn’t stop it, didn’t restrain it. She let it free as she went from room to room destroying everything. Not even the bottles of nail polish she had meticulously ordered by color were spared.
By the time she finished, she was breathing hard as she stood in the middle of the cabin. She no longer knew who she was. Balladyn had gotten into her mind and obliterated the person she had been.
She was wrecked, damaged.
Shattered.
The Fae she had been was gone.
Who she was now … well, she’d have to find out.
*
Con leaned his arms on the stone wall and stared off at the Chinese landscape beneath the night sky. He was on a portion of the Great Wall of China not open to visitors, as if that would stop him.
But he hadn’t come for the sights. He’d come for a meeting.
The click of heels on the stones made him smile. “Do you go anywhere without those damn high heels?”
Usaeil leaned on the wall beside him and grinned. “Never.”
She was in a good mood, and he hated to disappoint her, but there was no use putting it off. “I’ve no’ heard anything of Rhi or from her.”
“Us either.” Usaeil linked her fingers together as if she were praying and looked at the land. “How many more weeks will we have to worry?”
“Perhaps no’ long at all.”
She turned her head to him. “Ah. You want to ask the Warrior Broc.”
“Only if you agree.”