Chapter 2

2

A s soon as I hauled myself out the Lake of the Dragon's Mouth—the portal to Faerie, located deep inside the Devon forests—a strange metallic scent burned my nostrils. Immediately, I was on my feet with my sword in hand, pulling myself up tall, like a bad-ass warrior—though I probably looked more like a drowned rat. My hair clung to my face and rivulets of lake water dripped onto my boots.

"Hello, noble warrior," a high-pitched voice rang out as a small green creature leapt through the air. "It is I, Uisnech!"

I lowered my sword, and a smile tugged at the corners of my lips. Lugh's second-closest advisor and oldest friend stood before me. He was about as tall as my waist with feet twice the size of mine, and he had long, curling ears and a snout that glowed green. I had not been fond of the creature when we'd first met. Hobgoblins were notorious for trickery .

"Uisnech!" My smile widened even more. "I'm sorry I aimed my sword at you. I didn't expect anyone to be here. What are you doing at the Lake of the Dragon's Mouth?" My smile dimmed. "Is everything okay at Castle Wraith?"

Is everything okay with Lugh? That was the question I truly wanted to ask, but I couldn't bring myself to say his name aloud. Hell, I could barely think it without wanting to double over from the gut punch it gave me.

His green eyes flickered. "Alas, it is not, my noble friend. That is why I have come all this way. To intercept you before you return to your Raven Court."

The Raven Court was the name that Clark had chosen for her new unified rule over the fae of the world. It had a nice ring to it, even if it was incredibly straightforward. Clark was half-shifter, and she could transform herself into a raven. She was also the Morrigan, one of the most powerful fae to have ever lived.

And she was my queen.

Axel's head crested the waters in the lake behind me, and he hauled himself onto the grassy shore. Uisnech's eyes narrowed as he glanced suspiciously from the sorcerer to me and then back again.

"Why are you here with this man?" Uisnech asked accusingly. "You are the king's mate."

Even though Clark was Queen of Faerie, Lugh had fashioned himself his own Court called the Court of Wraiths, and he was the king of it. It was meant for outcasts, runaways, former criminals, and those who had no home. He welcomed anyone who had nowhere else to go. At first, Clark hadn't been too sure about the whole thing. The entire point of her reign was to bring all the fae together. For everyone to get along.

But Lugh and his fae just wanted peace, privacy, and the freedom to live how they wanted.

So she'd agreed to give him a trial period. As long as he and his fae did nothing to threaten anyone else, then she would quietly let him continue with his secret Court. No one else was to know about it, however. If the other fae, who had once been members of other Courts, found out, they would likely stage a revolt. Obviously, no one wanted that, least of all Lugh.

"Don't worry, little goblin. I would never get involved with a fae," Axel grunted. "Too much drama."

"Right back at you, mate," I said before turning to Uisnech. "What's going on? Is… everyone okay?"

Uisnech twisted his little green hands together, his expression full of unease, his bushy eyebrows pinched. He glanced from the sorcerer to me, and then back to the sorcerer again.

"You can trust Axel," I said. "He's the one who helped save Lugh's life that night we got attacked in Barrie's Close."

Instantly, Uisnech relaxed. "Ah. Well then. You once said that you would return to Castle Wraith if the king needed you. That is why I am here. He needs you, warrior friend."

I frowned. I might have said something of the sort, but I was pretty sure I'd worded it very differently. Otherwise, I needed to give Past Moira a big kick in the arse. Because while Uisnech was unlike any hobgoblin I'd ever heard of, he wasn't a total anomaly. Hobgoblins took vows very seriously. If I'd once promised him something, I had no choice but to do it. He would bind me to my words.

I sighed and closed my eyes. "Just tell me what's going on, Uisnech."

"There is a new plot," he whispered feverishly, flicking his eyes to the sorcerer, clearly still uncertain about his part in this conversation. "One to steal the king's spear."

He gave me a meaningful look. A flicker of fear went through my gut. I wasn't sure what I had expected him to say…partly, I hadn't truly believed there was even a real threat this time. Uisnech had been trying to get me to return to Edinburgh ever since I'd left. I probably had a hundred texts from him about it.

"You mean the spear spear?" I asked around a lump in my throat.

He nodded vigorously.

My palms went slick with sweat. The five-pointed spear. It was a weapon of infinite brutality. I'd wielded it once, and it had shaken me to my very core. It could take on anyone and anything, and it hummed with so much magic that it felt as though it could rip apart an entire world.

If the wrong person got ahold of it, they could do a hell of a lot of damage to anyone they deemed an enemy. They could very well turn it on Lugh himself, or even the Morrigan, my queen.

That was one problem with this whole spear plot, but it wasn't the worst.

There was a second, far greater problem than that. The spear held Lugh's soul.

And if someone stole it and snapped it in half, Lugh would lose the very thing that made him who he was. No longer would he stand tall as the king of the damned. He would transform into a nightmare wraith once again.

And he would become the very thing that could destroy this entire realm.

F or weeks, I'd been telling myself that nothing could get me to return to Edinburgh. No amount of pleading from anyone, whether that be Uisnech, Saoirse, or Lugh himself—not that he'd done any such thing. Lugh might be many things, but a beggar was not one of them.

And yet, I now found myself packing my things and saying my goodbyes to my queen again. Axel drove us back up to Edinburgh, Uisnech in the back. The drive went by faster than I liked. And soon, I was standing outside of Castle Wraith once again.

The castle was an imposing set of buildings that sat high on the jagged cliffs above Edinburgh. Two towers squatted on each side, an arresting display of the southern and northern defences. Once, those defences had been manned by soldiers protecting the royal inhabitants within, but no one had tried attacking Castle Wraith for years—until a group of fae loyal to Nemain had tried to take Lugh down.

My dread grew as we drove up Castle Hill and across the cobblestone esplanade. Stomach twisted in knots, I peered through the front windscreen at the imposing gates that grew larger and larger with each moment that passed. Lugh would be on the other side of those metal bars, waiting. I wasn't ready to see him yet.

I wasn't sure I would ever feel ready to see him.

The last time he'd stood before me, I had run. As fast as I could. Away from the only love I had ever known. And I'd done it even when I'd seen the pain flickering in his hooded black eyes.

He'd been so hurt that I hadn't heard from him since.

Until Uisnech had shown up at the Lake of the Dragon Mouth, I'd half-convinced myself that Lugh would never want to see me again, even if I did find a way to undo the prophecy.

The gates swung wide before us, and Axel inched the car forward until we were on Castle Wraith grounds. I peered out the window as we passed the towers. The guards nodded to us from their perches above and waved us through. Frowning, I glanced around .

"Where's Lugh?" I hated that I asked, but I couldn't stop myself from voicing the words out loud, either. I'd braced myself for this moment. I'd come here to help him. Plus…I was his fated mate, for fuck's sake. Where the hell was he?

"The king is otherwise preoccupied," Uisnech piped up from the back seat.

I twisted toward him and gave him a sharp look. "Otherwise preoccupied? With what? I came all the way up here from London to help him with this spear thing."

"Yes." Uisnech wrung his hands. "The king has been very busy recently. Much is happening in the Edinburgh supernatural world…"

I scowled as Axel quietly drove the car into the expansive garage at the northern end of the castle. When we'd climbed out and grabbed our bags, Uisnech gave me a strange little grin. "You're going to be excited when you see your room."

I glanced toward the residential building that loomed large in the dark. It was where the fae of the Court of Wraiths slept, lived, and hung out—for the most part. Last time I'd been here, I'd stayed in the only available room—a tiny, freezing rectangle with dodgy heating on the very top floor.

"It's a nice enough room, Uisnech," I said slowly, "but I have to admit, I haven't missed shivering in bed at night."

"You won't be staying there." He grinned. "You'll be staying close to Lugh."

S taying close to Lugh did not mean what I thought it meant. Images had immediately sprung to mind. Me, forced to walk down the stairs every morning and see Lugh's sleep-rumpled hair. Lugh, walking through the hallways topless, his corded muscles begging to be touched.

But Uisnech did not lead me to the Royal Palace like I feared—and half-hoped, if I were being honest. Instead, he took me to the building next door. When he led me inside, he smiled as I gaped at the towering shelves that lined the mahogany walls, the glistening oak tables with tiny green lights hanging above them, and the deep crimson carpet that stretched across polished hardwood floors.

"This is the library," Uisnech said.

"No kidding," I replied.

"Normally, we do not allow guests to stay here. These tomes are priceless, and the information contained within is too valuable to let just anyone near them."

It was all starting to make a bit more sense now. Where Lugh's constant stream of books came from. How he so easily swapped out the stacks on a weekly basis. He was combing through this library, looking for answers to impossible questions.

I wondered if he'd searched these stacks for information about me.

"However, my dear noble warrior," Uisnech said, his voice rising with glee. "You are special. You must stay in these rooms."

I dragged my gaze away from the books to meet the hobgoblin's gleaming eyes. "You want me to sleep in the library?"

It was clearly a level up from the frigid room, but there wasn't a bed in sight.

"I have found you a very special room for your visit this time." Uisnech led me upstairs and pushed open a door. Inside, a large guest room sat empty. A fire flickered in the corner, casting orange hues across a four-poster bed. It was a hell of a lot nicer than the place I'd stayed before.

But I'd been a spy that time. And Lugh had known I was a spy.

Hell, he'd probably given me the coldest room in the castle just for shits and giggles.

Uisnech stopped just inside the door and opened his arms. "What does the noble warrior think?"

I smiled down at him. "You know, as much as I love the nickname, you don't have to call me that."

His eyes flashed. "I know I don't. Which is why I will continue to do so. Now, the room. Are you pleased by the fire?"

I twisted on my heels to gaze around the guest room. A crimson carpet stretched across the hardwood floor, trapping in the soothing warmth of the fireplace.

"It's perfect, Uisnech. Thanks."

"Good." He gave a nod. "Settle in. Get some sleep. Explore the library if you like. The plotting begins first thing in the morning."

Uisnech disappeared through the open door and left me staring after him. Suddenly, I felt very alone, even if I was now in a castle full of fae. I hadn't expected to be led straight to bed and given the goodnight. I'd thought Lugh would be waiting for me. We'd bicker and we'd glare, but at least we'd once again be in the same room.

Instead…he'd avoided seeing me.

With a sigh, I dropped my bag on the bed and decided to give myself a tour of the library, even if no one else would. Maybe I would even be able to find a book about erasing prophecies. Yeah. I nodded to myself. That sounded like a brilliant plan. Squaring my shoulders, I headed back downstairs and began to browse the shelves.

As I walked down the first aisle, I ran my fingers along the spines and drew in a deep breath of musty, bookish air. I imagined the stacks strewn across Lugh's bedroom. His love of the written word had been the first thing that had drawn me to him, and it was impossible to see a book now without remembering the way he made me feel. A hollow ache took the place of my heart. Lugh hadn't been lying. Fate was cruel.

"Moira," a voice growled from behind me. I whirled on my feet, heart banging against my ribs. Lugh stood before me, his dark blue hair falling into his eyes, a book tucked under his arm. With a sharp gasp, I stepped back and slammed into the bookshelf. He strode closer, a slight smile playing across his devilish lips. With cheekbones that could rival a Greek God statue and eyes that were as dark as night, he emanated power. I found it impossible to do anything but gape.

"I didn't expect to find you in the library," he said as his piercing gaze roamed across my body.

I hadn't expected to find him here, either. Although I should have. The King of Wraiths practically slept with a book in his hand.

"I, um." I cleared my throat. "I thought I'd take a look around."

A frown tugged at his lips. "You're angry."

A flush of irritation filled my gut. "A bit, yeah. I haven't heard anything from you. At all. No texts. No calls. Not even a damn email."

His hooded eyes darkened. "You were the one who left, Moira. And you made it clear you did not wish to be chased."

I fisted my hands. "And yet you had Uisnech track me down so that you could summon me to your Court again. What, you couldn't come yourself? Even though it's you who needs helping?"

Very slowly, as if preserving all of his energy, Lugh slid the book back onto the shelf. "I did not summon you here. It was Uisnech's idea, and I tried to stop him. When I realised he had run off unannounced, I knew where he had gone. I would not turn you away at the gates, even if the very sight of you makes me want to tear this room apart."

My heart thumped. "You should have called me, Lugh."

Narrowing his eyes, he strode closer, power and magic rippling off his body in waves. My own body ached to respond, to arch toward him and give in to the need brewing inside of me. Our mating bond sparked to life, storming through me with an intense magic that filled my ears, my head, and my heart.

I could barely breathe.

"You," he said in a low whisper as he dragged his thumb across my chin, "did not contact me, either. Enjoy the library."

And with that, he turned his back on me and disappeared into the night.