Page 107 of The Shadow Path
“Go,” Carys said. “Find the unicorns. These woods won’t be safe for long.”
After they finishedtheir surveying run, Cadell flew Carys and Duncan back to Dafydd’s estate where Laura greeted them in the courtyard.
“I just got an update from the castle,” she said. “Dafydd told me to wait here for you, but it wasn’t like I had plans to go anywhere anyway.”
Cadell shifted into his human form and approached her. “What did the letter say?”
“It was from Dafydd. He flew over to meet with King Harold and Godrik at the castle,” Laura said. “Dylan is in Alba, but I didn’t get an update on stuff up there. And Anwyn and Demelza are in Caernarfon, overseeing the fae gates and forts in Cymru.”
Carys asked, “With Eamer?”
Laura shrugged. “I would assume so? She’s the queen, but her mother is also the one who… you know.”
Carys nodded. “Right.”
Queen Eamer was in a difficult position. Her loyalty was to the Cymric throne where she was queen, but it was her own mother who had initiated this attack on the rest of Briton.
“Has anyone heard from Lachlan?” Carys asked.
Duncan shot her a look, but she ignored him.
“Dafydd said he’s at the castle, but that was all.”
No sooner had Laura finished her update than Cadell shifted into his beast form again and took to the sky.I hear Mared.
“Mared is returning,” Carys told Laura. “That means Dafydd is on his way back.” She handed the rolled-up map with the new fae positions to Laura. “Can you make sure he gets this? I need to go clean up.”
“Of course. Go.” Laura’s eyes were fixed on Cadell as he circled the estate in his dragon form. “How is he?”
Carys sighed. “Angry.”
Just like the burly man towering over her, but Carys was emotionally tapped out.
The missing children.
The furious dragon.
The terrified fae in the woods.
Added to all that, a day of riding in a coracle had made Carys’s hair a bird’s nest, and her skin felt crusty and dry.
She passed a maid on the way up to her room and asked for a hot bath to be brought up when it was possible. She hadn’t had a bath since her night in Duncan’s room, and she was aching all over.
Halfway up the stairs, Duncan caught up with her. “Lachlan is doing his duty.”
“Okay.” She glanced to the side. “And I’m allowed to ask about him.”
He was silent until they arrived at her room and the door was shut behind them.
“Perhaps this isn’t the best time,” Duncan said. “But maybe I’d like to know if you have plans to continue… seeing my Shadowkin while you’re fucking me.”
Carys’s mouth dropped open. “You’re right. This is a really bad time.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’d still like an answer.”
“Wow.” She was honestly gobsmacked. “So you think I had plans to just… jump between beds maybe? Enjoy the Murray-brothers buffet for a while?”
He cursed low and under his breath. “Don’t act like I’m being unreasonable.”
