Page 78 of Fractured
“Don’t blame me when you find out she died, then! Don’t blame me!” he called, but I didn’t even let myself turn.
“Don’t come after me again, Lyall. You and I are done, but if I see you again…” I wasnotgoing to stop myself from attacking him the moment he provoked me. That same second.
More laughter, but Lyall stayed back.
I walked and walked until I no longer felt his energy, the woods dark, silent save for my footsteps and the horse’s. With my eyes closed, I reached for my magic and I thought of Raja’s face, of the connection that we’d created a long time ago, something that could only exist between two Midnight fae—yet somehow I’d created it with Nilah, too, before. I’d been able to speak to her from the ground floor of the Queen’s Palace that day when she was accused of murdering Lyall, and I realized I couldn’t get to her in time.
Raja was there. She was always there, and she would hear the message I sent for her. Because Lyall might very well be full of shit, and he could be lying though his teeth about everything—that wouldn’t surprise me at all—but atthe same time, it made sense that my father would have Nilah. Raja had warned me of it, too, and the Midnight King had the power and resources to make her disappear the way she had.
It made more sense than her being in Blackwater, anyway, and so my destination had changed. Raja would know, and nobody else needed to, though Lyall could probably make a guess. Nothing was going to stand in my way.
After almost two decades, I was finally going back home to the Midnight Court—only now I was no longer a little boy, and I was no longer afraid. No longer forced away by the traitor’s mark.
Instead, if it came to it, I was ready to burn the whole fucking kingdom to the ground.
twenty-two
Nilah Dune
When Rune andVair saidthe Quiet,I imagined maybe a city, or a town, or even atemplethat was just very silent—but that wasn’t at all what I was seeing around me now.
A forest with empty branches and dark roots and no light coming from anywhere—and it wasn’t Mysthaven. We were just coming from Mysthaven, in fact, but we weren’t there anymore. I knew because the magic shifted from one step to the next. It wasverydifferent here—and it wasn’t just quiet.
It was…dead.
I looked behind me for possibly the tenth time to make sure that we were alone, and we were.
Strangely, ever since that group of Ice fae passed us by with their carriages in the Frozen Court when we first left the Ice Palace, we hadn’t come across anyone else. Not a single living being—fae or sorcerer or animal. And we’dgone straight into Mysthaven when we left the Frozen Court, too.
I’d been scared shitless, not going to lie, but Vair had insisted.
“No sorcerer will stop you again,” he told me, but he refused to elaborate, as usual. Since I didn’t really have any choice, I followed—straight into those forests that made my skin raise in goose bumps and brought back memories that made me sick to my stomach. Sorcerers and scratches and cages and pain—so much pain.So much fear.
Yet we hadn’t once come across a house with a garden full of moving plants or with cages in its backyard. We hadn’t once come across a town or even a sorcerer, and we’d been walking for possibly over six hours.
I could have sworn this woods wasdeadfor real, yet Vair’s step didn’t falter. He walked with his head up and never once looked back.
And then the trees stopped abruptly.
Ahead, there was only darkness. You couldn’t really tell if it was daylight or not beyond that black cloud that seemed to be hanging over this entire place. You couldn’t see the beginning or the end, either—just darkness and a deserted, dry piece of land ahead.
Vair didn’t even notice it when I stopped walking, didn’t turn his head to the side until I called his name.
“Are you absolutely sure this is where we need to be?”
My voice came out hushed. Vair finally looked at me. “Yes,” was his answer.
“There’s…” I shook my head as I looked around. “There’s nothing here, Vair.”
“But there will be,” the lynx said.
“I don’t know, I don’t know.” I fisted my hands tightlyto keep them from shaking. “Maybe we should go back. Maybe we can find someone who can?—”
“Nilah.” My mouth clamped shut. I met his eyes again and held my breath, tried to pretend for one last second that Iwasn’tfreaked out to be here.
“I know you’re afraid,” said Vair, and I would have laughed any other day. “But I need you to pick up your fear and carry it until we get there. Can you do that?”
Without waiting for an answer, he turned around and continued to walk ahead.
