Chapter 11

11

A fter Lugh vanished, the healing fae stopped by my room again and applied another dose of magic to my aching body. I fell asleep almost instantly, knocked out from the strength of her power. When I came to moments or hours later, I found myself alone in my room, wounds barely flickering with pain.

Squinting against the overhead fluorescent lights, I pushed up and snatched my phone from the bedside table. The display said it was well past midnight. Lugh hadn't come back to my room, at least not that I was aware of. Suddenly, my phone dinged with a new text message alert.

My eyes flicked across the screen.

They're going for the spear. Now.

My heart skipped a beat, and instantly, I was on my feet. I didn't recognise the number, so it was likely a message from Nero or Warin, whose numbers I didn't have programmed into my phone. Frowning, I shot off a quick message in response.

Who is this? Where are you? Where's Lugh?

No response.

Gritting my teeth, I shoved my phone into my back pocket and slid my feet into my thick boots that had been left by the door. Pain flickered through me, a reminder that I still wasn't fully healed. But I couldn't huddle in this bed when Lugh's spear—and soul—could be moments away from being stolen.

I knew where Lugh kept his spear hidden. While the others were out of the castle doing who knew what, I would stand guard against any attackers. And this time, I wouldn't have to hide my sword.

Jogging out of the healing ward, I passed one of the nurses who had been tending to my wounds. She frowned and stood in the center of the corridor, blocking my escape. Crossing her arms, she shook her head. "I'm under strict orders to keep you confined here until you've fully recovered, Moira. King's commands."

"The king is in trouble," I said, my breath huffing as I slid to a stop in front of her. "If I don't go now, Castle Wraith could fall."

Another understatement of the century. The castle wouldn't just fall if Lugh lost his soul. The entire realm could descend into chaos. If he called the nightmare wraiths out of Faerie, humans and fae alike would spend the rest of their lives terrorised by fear. Those who survived, anyway .

The nurse's eyes widened, but she didn't budge. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"You just have to trust me. I'm the king's mate."

Her eyes flickered with doubt, but she stepped aside. Giving her a smile of thanks, I rushed past her and out of the building. My feet pounded on the uneven cobblestones as I twisted around the corner and aimed for the Royal Palace that loomed large in the darkness. No lights were on inside this night. Lugh still hadn't returned from his mission.

I tried not to jump to conclusions about what that might mean.

When I pushed inside the building, silence and darkness greeted me like familiar enemies that lurked in the night. My footsteps were loud on the hardwood, but my heartbeat drowned them out. Palms slick with sweat, I made a detour into Lugh's quarters and grabbed two swords from his personal collection, trying my best not to knock over the towering stacks of books strewn across the room.

Armed and ready, I minced back into the corridor and found the hidden wall. It groaned as it opened before me, revealing a pitch black tunnel. I wet my lips, focusing on my enhanced fae hearing. In the distance, I heard the drip of water splatting onto the floor, but nothing else. No sign that anyone lurked in these tunnels, ready for a fight.

I pressed inside, fully closing the door behind me and enhancing my eyesight. The floor came into view before me, but only enough for me to see where I was going. Slowly, I crept around the bend and entered the secret room that Lugh kept hidden from the rest of the world. Inside, there was a desk, a bed, and his gleaming golden case where his spear sat, safe and sound.

Immediately, I could feel the hum of power in my bones, emanating from the weapon. I ached to reach out and touch it, to feel its golden shaft between my fingers. When I'd first seen the spear, I hadn't understood the pull I felt, I hadn't understood how it seemed to call to my very bones. But now I did. Lugh was my mate, and his soul was encased in the spear.

It meant I would always feel an inexplicable connection to the weapon, as though it were just as much a part of me as it was a part of Lugh.

With a deep breath, I turned my back on the spear and strapped one sword to my back, holding the other tight in my hands. I would stand here on watch for as long as necessary.

It didn't take long for something to happen.

Something flickered in front of me, almost as though the very shadows themselves shifted in the darkness. Frowning, I tightened my grip on my sword and squinted at the flicker. Maybe I was just imagining things. Down here in the dark with my heartbeat banging in my ears, it was easy to start to think the very walls themselves were closing in.

But no…there, it happened again. The shadows pulsed. They shifted. They became a tall, rippling form that solidified with every beat that passed .

Gasping, I took a step back, terror charging through me.

Blinking, I tried not to scream. It wasn't one form at all. The floor dropped out from beneath me, and it was all I could do to stay steady on my feet. It was two forms. A tall, muscular male fae—Quentin—and a terror-eyed hobgoblin. The fae held Uisnech tight in his grip, the end of a very sharp dagger pointing right at the hobgoblin's green head.

"Don't move," the fae warned in a deep voice as I lifted my sword higher in the air. "If you even so much as flinch toward me or in the direction of that door there, I will kill this hobgoblin."

Gritting my teeth, I held my ground. "What the hell are you doing here?"

He smiled. "Coming to meet you, of course. I am glad to see that you answered my text as I suspected you would. Some fae are so predictable."

"The text message." I narrowed my eyes. "So that was you."

"Oh, yes." His arm tightened around Uisnech's neck. The hobgoblin merely stared at me with his big yellow eyes, his lips pressed together. The poor thing looked like he might die from fright.

"I'll admit, the plan did not go exactly according to…well, plan. But it was close enough." He continued to smile. "Lugh is gone. You are here. And now, you are going to give me that spear."

I snorted, scarcely believing my ears. "You are joking, right? I would never hand the spear over to you. You'll have to kill me first."

The smile dropped instantly, quickly replaced by a spine-chilling, dead-eyed stare. "You will give me the weapon. Or you forfeit the goblin's life."

Fuck. I flicked my eyes to Uisnech's face. Staring deep into my soul, he gave a minuscule shake of his head. He didn't want me to go along with this. The poor creature was ready to sacrifice his life in order to protect Lugh's spear. Hell, I was willing to make that kind of sacrifice, too. But it wasn't my life on the line. It was Uisnech's. Horror churned in my gut as I dragged up my gaze to focus on where the sharp point stuck into the goblin's skin.

"Leave the hobgoblin out of this," I hissed. "If you kill him, you'll accomplish nothing. I'm the one guarding the spear. "

"I have no desire to fight you," the fae said. "Just hand over the spear. I won't ask you again. In fact, I will give you sixty seconds to make your decision. If the spear isn't in my hands at the end of those sixty seconds…well, then you will have a funeral on your hands." He lowered his voice and shifted on his feet. "The hobgoblin's funeral, just to be clear."

"Yeah, I got that, thanks." I rolled my eyes, refusing to let him see the terror churning through me. The seconds were flying by as if time itself had been doused in a vat of Iron Bru. Uisnech had closed his eyes, resigning himself to his fate. I stared at the little creature. My heart raced; my mouth went dry.

Sucking in a sharp breath, I let out a guttural scream. "Dammit!"

I just couldn't do it. Regardless of what it meant, I could not stand here and let Uisnech die. I couldn't "sacrifice him for the greater good" or whatever other kind of nonsense people told themselves so that they could sleep at night after making terrible, life-altering decisions.

Unshed tears burned my eyes as I whirled toward the spear and unlocked the case. A sharp gasp rang out in the tunnelled room. "No, my noble warrior. You cannot do this."

"I have to. I cannot let him kill you," I said through gritted teeth. "Just trust me, Uisnech."

Quentin might get his hands on the spear, but I wouldn't let him get out of this room with it. Not alive. I lowered my sword to the ground and backed away from the open case, gesturing for him to approach it.

"The spear is yours," I said quietly, my hands curled into half-fists by my sides, ready to reach up and grab my second sword the moment he made his move. "Let go of the goblin and take it."

Quentin's thin lips curled up into a smile. He let go of Uisnech and strode toward the case. Quickly, I rushed to Uisnech's side and pushed him behind me, pulling the sword out of the sheath at my back just as Quentin pulled the spear from its case.

The gold gleamed and flickered in the darkness, the magic inside of it roiling with dread, as if it knew it was now in the hands of the enemy.

"You may have gotten your prize," I said in a low voice, twisting my palms around the golden hilt, "but you won't leave here with it."

The fae chuckled, darting to the side just as I swung my blade at his head. The steel whistled as it missed contact. "Unfortunately for you, you are very, very wrong."

Shadows flickered around him, engulfing his entire body until it was completely obscured from view. Growling, I rushed toward him, my sword raised. I swung hard at where he stood, but my blade only whistled when it once again made no contact.

The shadows cleared in an instant. I stepped back, my heart pounding. Quentin no longer stood before me. He had vanished.

And he'd taken the spear.