“Promise me you’re not going to run away. Not now. Not ever,” he said softly.
She hesitated at his tone. It wasn’t a command. Teague wasn’t demanding it of her. He was asking her, needing her reassurance.
“I promise.” She had to press him, find out how much he was softening toward her. She lifted up her iron cuffs.
“No, I can’t.” He looked disappointed in himself.
“It’s okay.” She shrugged it off and looked back to Teague. “Let’s go.”
“Aren’t you the eager one?” He offered a rueful smile. “Well, come along.” He held his hand out in front of him.
For the first time in weeks, Mina left her prison. Outside her cell, the floor moved beneath them like an escalator as it carried them up and then left along a passage. The bricks continued to move out of their way, opening up for them and closing behind them after Teague passed through. Finally, they were deposited in the main hall. She turned to watch as Teague stepped through the wall after her, and their passage disappeared.
The palace looked nothing like she remembered it. Gone were the elaborate tapestries, statues, and sparkling marble columns. Instead there were fragments of burned cloth, scorched walls and columns, and headless statues. Cobwebs and layers of dust had laid claim to the place. She was looking at the destruction Teague caused the day he was reunited with Jared. That day, the Fates lost the war. He had banished them to the swamp. No hand, human or Fae, had restored the palace to its glory.
He led her up the winding stairs to the second floor and out onto a balcony that overlooked the lake. She glanced across the water, imagining the invisible veil that sat midway. One of the griffins flew low over the water. But something was wrong with the picture.
The surrounding lands—now as brown and ugly as the swamp where the Fates hid—used to be green and flowing with life.
“It’s dying,” Mina stated.
“I know,” Teague snapped.
“Can you stop it?”
He turned to her, his mouth an angry line. His nostrils flared, and she could see that he was barely keeping it under control. “I’m…I’m not sure I want to.”
“This was your plan all along, to destroy everything you loved?”
He looked pained, and his hand kept going to his chest and scratching. “I’m not… I don’t… I…” He hissed between his teeth and pulled away. Turning to give her his back, he leaned over the balcony and caught his breath.
“Teague, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
“No,” he growled. A few seconds later, he straightened and turned to look back at her. She felt uncomfortable under his gaze.
“Teague.” Mina walked over to him. “Does this hurt?” She touched his chest.
He turned away and mumbled. “It’s been hurting more and more lately. It’s enough to drive someone mad. But I ignore it. The pain makes me weak.”
“No, ignoring your feelings is weakness. Listening to your heart is a sign of strength.”
“That being said from a girl.”
“I may be a girl, but I can kick your butt…in a game anyway.”
He snorted. “I know how uncoordinated you are.”
She shrugged. “Okay, I’ll cheat. That’s the Fae way, isn’t it?”
He grimaced. “Yeah, it is our motto.”
Mina reached for his hand. He immediately stiffened.
“Why am I here, Teague? What do you want with me?”
“I don’t know anymore,” he said simply, and he walked off, leaving her alone on the balcony. She waited a few minutes, gazing out across the dying land, but he didn’t return.
This was a test. It had to be. She wanted to believe he really didn’t know, that he was changing. But part of her feared he was waiting somewhere to see if she’d run away, so he’d have an excuse to kill her on the spot. The poison in his heart wasn’t his fault, but it certainly made him dangerous to try to predict.
She retraced her steps through the empty palace. Where was everyone? There were no servants, no guards, barely any signs of life. And what little there were seemed to be dying. The large double doors of the main hall taunted her, tempting her to try and escape. But she was invested. She needed to follow through for so many reasons. Her pulse raced, wishing it were as easy as walking away, but it couldn’t be.
Besides, she didn’t have the seam ripper. And if she did leave, Teague would have every excuse to destroy her brother and friends.
This was the test. He wanted her to break her word, so he could destroy everything important to her.
She clenched her fists and headed in the opposite direction. She would not be the one to break her promise. Teague was a trickster, a cheat, and a liar—the most dangerous one alive.
After a few turns, her little Fae light surprised her in the hall—at least she thought it was her Fae light.
“Can you take me back to my room please?” she asked.