Page 164 of Lifebound

“Those masked men in the tunnel,” I said, both because I was curious, and because I wanted to distract myself a little bit. “They were Seelie fae, too. Right?”

“Yes,” Rune said. “But Delias and his unit are trustworthy.”

“I don’t mean aboutnow,Rune. I just mean in general.” Nobody was going to attack me here, I thought, even if they knew who I was—this place was crawling with fae, and I doubted they’d stand by and do nothing if they saw the prince’s Lifebound being attacked.

“Right now, I don’t want you to worry about anything. We will catch those men, whoever they are. They will be brought to justice. It’s over, Wildcat. They can’t hurt you anymore.”

Again, he believed in that wholeheartedly.

I didn’t.

And it no longer mattered.

The queen’spalace was possibly the size of a skyscraper. All those pointy golden tips of the towers, over twenty of them, pierced the sky like they were defying the darkness, daring it to spread farther. Stairs and railings made of gold, flowers, real and engraved every few feet, thick purple carpets and men and women impeccably dressed all around me.

I walked up the main stairs with my head up, feeling just slightly better about being in Miriam’s dress and Raja’s boots. And Rune walked right by my side, hooking my hand around his forearm, giving me energy with his warmth.

Everybody turned to look at me as Delias and his two friends led us toward the gates of the palace, which could have been just as big as those at the entrance of the Court.

I got dizzy so fast by all the colors and the richness and the scents in the air. Flowers and colognes and sweets—they all made me sick when combined together like that, but I bit my tongue and held it in and just let Rune guide me forward.

Run,the voice in my head said, and it said it with every step I took.Run, Nilah, run—yet I continued to walk ahead because I knew where the voice came from. Where the fear came from. The reason why I didn’t want to see the end of this journey.

He was walking right beside me still.

Tears pricked the back of my eyes as people stopped and looked and whispered at one another, some even smiled at me and waved.

Soon, everything turned blurry, the paintings on the walls and the lights and the crystal chandeliers. The flowers and all thatgold, gold, gold—it all turned blurry to my tearful eyes and I was thankful for it. I’d had enough. I didn’t want to see, not until I no longer had a choice.

And that moment came much too soon.

A large hallway was in front of us, the wall on the left lined with soldiers, their helmets on, their hands on their sword handles. The right side was open, a beautiful golden railing slithering around the edge.

The hallway opened into a round area with flowers all around, and with only one set of doors on the far right. It was like a huge round balcony, the floor made of black and white marble, the high ceiling held up by thick pillars that connected the golden railings together. The view outside was breathtaking—the entire city drenched in golden light. The water of the river that wrapped around the palace like it was trying to hug it glowed golden, too. The lights were motionless, though, so I knew they weren’t fish. Probably lights placed somewhere in the bed of the river.

As much as I wanted to just stay there for a minute, breathe and take in the view, I couldn’t. Rune moved and my legs followed, and then I was in front of the doors.

Delias knocked and stepped aside, andit’s over, it’s over, it’s all as good as over.

The door was opened from the inside by another guard. I sucked in a deep breath and waited—I don’t know what for.

Delias said something, but my ears were blocked by this white noise all of a sudden, so I didn’t hear it. I couldn’t focus on anything, and when the guard stepped aside, if Rune hadn’t pulled me through the door, I’d have just stayed there, frozen in place like an idiot.

But the door behind me closed. Rune stopped walking a few feet in, and then I had no choice but to blink the tears away. No choice but to breathe in. No choice but to force that noise out of my ears and focus.

Yes, everything was over—but I still had to heal the prince.

Three things I noticed when my focus was mine again, and I could actually see where I was.

The vastness of the room we were in. The large bed at the far left corner. The people inside it all watching me with eyes and mouths wide open.

Velvet and gold and low lights in the corners of the ceiling. The chandelier in the middle twice as big as me was off. Windows in the wall across from us, twelve of them, the frames painted gold. Furniture made of velvet, thick and colorful carpets.

The bed, big enough to possibly fit ten grown people comfortably, was occupied by only one, lying on the very edge of the right side.

The man seemed to be sleeping, and near him was a woman with a crown on her head, and a dress that could have been made out of liquid gold.

She stood up, eyes on me—no, no—onRune.

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