Page 113 of This Vicious Dream

They’re truly here.

Asinia wraps her arms around me. And I’m suddenly sobbing again, limbs weak, tears rolling down my face.

“Madinia?” Her arms tighten, but I can hear the shock in her voice. I don’t blame her. I’ve never fallen apart in front of her like this. I don’t even recognize myself.

Rythos grins at me, holding out his arms. He seems surprised when I step into them.

“How…I don’t understand.”

“Your bird,” Demos says wryly, and Eamonn flutters down to sit on his shoulder.

“You…how did you know?”

Eamonn angles his tiny head. “You talk in your sleep. And when you were fevered, you raved. I found it unlikely that they wouldn’t have looked for you. We can talk about this later. First, you need to destroy that stone.”

We all turn to look.

It’s still sitting on the ground where Haldrik left it, the color of fog.

I test my flames, and the fire licks at the stone.

Nothing.

Demos steps forward. “Allow me.”

His power shaped him to be Prisca’s right hand—and to be a lethal threat on the battlefield. He’s faster and stronger than even some of the fae. So I don’t argue when he pulls a hammer from his saddlebag and slams it against the stone.

It shatters into tiny pieces. And the moment that silver glow disappears, something settles deep in my chest.

“How did you find me?” My voice is hoarse, and Asinia reaches for Demos’s hand, the movement easy, natural. He presses a kiss to her knuckles, but his eyes remain on mine.

“When we didn’t hear from you, Prisca began sending out groups of soldiers.” He shakes his head. “But foreign kingdoms don’t take too kindly to that. Eventually, we realized you must really be in trouble, which meant we needed to be more discreet with our search.”

“Prisca went looking for you herself,” Asinia says. “With Lorian. They left the kingdom in competent hands, but then…”

My hands shake, and the world turns blurry. “What happened?”

Asinia gives me a gentle smile. “No, nothing like that. Prisca’s pregnant, Madinia. At first, we searched together. And then we took turns so Demos could keep an eye on things while she was gone.” I stare at her, and her smile deepens. “Lorian finally put his foot down, and even Prisca was forced to admit she needed to stay in our kingdom to protect her heir.”

Demos nods. “Eventually, one of our spies returned with a story about a red-haired witch who was killing men and displaying their corpses in a garden of thorns. We knew that couldn’t be you, but we figured…”

He trails off, staring at me. Asinia’s mouth drops open. Rythos lets out a booming laugh.

I wince. “It’s not as bad as it sounds.”

Rythos throws his arm around my shoulder. “I’m sure they had it coming.”

I grin up at him, my throat suddenly too thick for me to speak.

I was so, so sure they’d abandoned me. I was certain that after I left, they’d never thought of me again.

Instead, they’ve been searching for me for three years. Prisca even left her kingdom to search personally.

“I don’t know what to say.”

Asinia leans against Demos, her eyes on mine. “How about you start with what happened to you?”

I take a deep, shaky breath, and Rythos tightens his arm. “That bad, huh?”

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