“When Karthick makes this portal, where in Faerie will we end up?” I doubted he’d be with Amiah, and I wasn’t sure if someone could create a portal and not be standing at one of the ends.
“Probably the Wilds,” Bane said. Which was the worst place for him to end up, since I doubted he’d have much time before Faerie started pulling out the fae magic Amiah had just given him. “Which means I’d appreciate it if we hightailed it to the aerie the moment we’re through.”
“We’re going to the Winter Court,” Titus said. “I’m not wasting time going to the aerie.”
“And find her how?” Bane shot back, grabbing the bag with his clothes from Titus, but the dragon didn’t let go. “Last time I checked, her concealment spell was still active, which means I won’t be able to find her through magical means, and we sure as hell can’t just walk into the Winter Court. Aside from the fact that none of us want my mother to get her hands on you so she can get the Heart, Amiah would kill herself trying to save you if you were captured.”
“If any of us were captured,” Cassius said, pulling on a pair of bright red, yellow, and green board shorts that were so completely out of Cassius’s character it would have been comical if the situation hadn’t been so serious.
Bane tugged on the bag again but Titus still held tight. “Let go. I’m not going into Faerie in a robe. I have no idea what we’re going to be walking into.”
“We’re walking into nothing if we waste our time going to the aerie,” Titus snarled. “We know she’s at the Winter Court—” Titus frowned. “Where’s the hybrid?”
“He went through the portal with her.” Bane yanked harder, ripped open the bag, and pulled out a pair of tan shorts and a black T-shirt. “And no, we don’t know that she’s in the Winter Court. For all we know Rin has decided to take her to Deaglan.”
“He’s what?” The dragon head in Titus’s aura grew brighter and actual scales slid up his neck. “If the hybrid hurts her— If Deaglan even thinks about touching her—”
“It’s more likely the brand compelled him to go through with her,” Cassius said, shrugging into a pink, blue, and purple Hawaiian shirt, not looking at all confident about his statement. “Even if he wants to take her to Deaglan, he has to know what will happen to her. He’ll have to fight the brand to do it.”
Which I prayed was true.
“That assumes the brand is powerful enough,” Titus snarled back.
“It’s powerful,” I said, fear and hope churning in my stomach. He’d barely been able to resist his desire for her. I could only pray he’d be unable to resist protecting her.
Chapter 3
Amiah
I grabbed at the Winter Court’s frozen magic inside me, even as everything within me screamed that I couldn’t take much more and I wouldn’t survive. My body was already too heavy and I couldn’t feel my fingers and feet. But I couldn’t let the Winter Queen kill Rin and I had to — please, God! I had to — get back to my guys.
Command me.
Mine. You’re mine. Your wind is mine.
I seized the wind from her, but a force snapped inside me and the gale burst out of my mental grasp.
The Winter Queen sneered. “This is my court and my throne, and he’s my heir. I don’t care how good a fuck you are. You won’t take him from me and you won’t stop him from doing his duty and giving me a grandchild.”
A barrage of ice shards hurtled toward me and Rin leaped onto the dais in front of me.
My pulse stuttered. He didn’t know me. He couldn’t be throwing himself in front of danger because he wanted to protect me. It had to be the bond, either because it was forcing him to protect me or because he thought he’d be better able to take the attack so both of us could live. And neither option was acceptable.
I wrenched my hands up and clenched at the ice in my heart. “Stop.”
The ice shards clattered to the floor and the wind vanished as the frozen magic inside me screeched against my soul.
Let me in.
You are in.
Deeper. I need to be deeper.
I strained to relax, to let it in fully, but the screeching turned to howling and the court’s powerful second heartbeat pounded through my whole body, stealing my breath.
Let. Me. In. It sliced a deep gash in my soul and heat exploded in the delicate gold lines of my mating brand with Rin. Light blazed from the intricate pattern that trailed from the middle of my left thigh, over my hip and waist, and curled around my bottom ribs to my back, and a matching glimmer of gold light, too weak to notice unless you were looking for it, bled through Rin’s wrap tunic.
“The marriage vow wasn’t good enough? You branded him too?” the Winter Queen snarled, and she blasted more ice at me and Rin.
I shot my own blast of wind and slammed the shards to the floor, but the effort left me gasping and trembling.
Let me in. You have to let me in. Now. She’ll kill you if you don’t.
Except it wasn’t me blocking the court. It was my angelic mating brand.
Oh, God.
My stomach bottomed out with horrific realization. The brand wasn’t letting the court in because it wouldn’t allow any other bonds. My soul belonged to Rin’s and his to mine.
Which meant we had to get the Heart no matter what. It wasn’t just the only possible way to break my bond with Rin, but the only way I might be able to add Hawk. And if I couldn’t add Hawk or get rid of the brand, it would make me fall out of love with him and he’d starve himself to death or go crazy.
“I will have my heir back,” the Winter Queen said, and she strode toward me with her guards at her side. “And I will have that dragon.”
Two more ice men stepped into the doorway and Rin grabbed my elbow. He jerked me to my feet, but I was shaking so hard I had to cling to him to keep standing.
“The Shadow King can’t have her,” the Winter Queen said as the two guards in the doorway entered, following the first pair, and another pair took their place, making it six guards and the Winter Queen against the two of us.
Please, you have to let me in. You have to take me from her.
I can’t control my soul bond. I can’t be your queen. And I wasn’t going to tell it there was a chance I’d be able to be its queen once we had the Heart. I didn’t want to be queen and getting the Heart didn’t guarantee anything no matter how much I placed my hopes in it.
You have to be queen. The court clawed at my soul with a wild desperation. You have to be.
“Give her to me, hybrid, and I’ll give you a place in my court.” The Winter Queen’s lips curled back in a wicked smile. “I have an opening in my harem. There are many pleasures for those who are close to the queen. Leave the Shadow King and join me.”
“Except he’s no longer with the Shadow King,” a feminine voice said from the small door that stood behind and to the right of the dais, and another icy, bright life force thrummed against my senses seconds before Padraigin stepped into the throne room. “Isn’t that right, hybrid?”
She wore a white leather jerkin and pants similar in cut to the clothes Deaglan wore, and her long black hair was pulled back in a tight braid. A large vortex of water whirled around her, skimming her clothes and tugging on her hair but never leaving a drop.