Chapter Twenty-Four
Lonan
“That bitch thinks she can parade him in front of me like a trophy?” the Carlin seethed as she strode towards her throne.
The four of us followed in silence, taking our places once she’d sat. As I stared ahead of me at nothing, I tried not to think about the taste of Ash’s mouth. The feel of him pressed up against me, his strange new arm gripping me to him so tight, like his body wanted me close, even if he didn’t understand why.
I’d seen the pain in his eyes after he’d killed that seelie fae. The horror at what he had just done. I knew it well. And I knew he would be tormented now. She’d surely whispered his name in his ear to get him to do it, but that wasn’t his name anymore. He had his second name. He’d found Ogma.
So he had a reason for being there, and a reason for keeping her in the dark. But I didn’t know what that was, and terror for him filled every inch of me.
I blinked rapidly and made sure my cold mask was in place, feeling Balor’s eyes on the side of my head.
“She thinks she can taunt me?” the Carlin continued, her voice shaking with cold rage. “Ibrought him here.Ished his mortal skin. She didn’t evenwanthim.”
“And don’t forget his taunts too, mother,” Balor drawled, smirking over at me from his throne. “Killing all your guards. Striding into the Midsith where he knew he was untouchable. He was laughing at you then, just like his mother is now.”
The Carlin trembled with rage. “Little seelie pig.”
“Now that we know where he is, why don’t we just go and take him?” Bres sounded bored.
“We can’t remove him from her land, you utter fool,” the Carlin seethed. “Not alive. And we can’t set foot back onto seelie land without her invitation.”
“Well.” Balor’s slow drawl made me stiffen. “Oneof us can. If he flew over the border as a little bird.”
The Carlin went very still, before her one cobalt eye shifted to me, already gleaming. My heart started to pound, even as I gazed back at her impassively.
Fuck. No. No no no no no
“Come here, my little blackbird,” my mother crowed.
I couldn’t move. Her eye flared with rage. Balor and Bres both turned to stare at me from their seats, so I rose on legs I tried desperately hard to keep steady. Cethlen’s head cocked beside me, fingers pausing on his hellhound’s back.
My boots were the only sound that echoed in the throne room as I approached her. I clenched my fingers tight together behind my back as she gestured for me to lean close. I did, until her cold breath ghosted over my cheek.
“Eliatha-Tethra de Cailleach,” she whispered in my ear, too quiet for my brothers to hear. Dread made my vision go spotty, my stomach squeezing into a tight ball of fear. “Go to seelie land and kill sweet Prince Ash.”
My vision wavered entirely.
“Bring his head back,” she continued languidly, leaning back in her throne. “If I can’t have him, that bitch doesn’t get to use him either.”
I could feel the compulsion to obey her tingling through my limbs already. My fingers twitched for my blade. In my mind’s eye, no matter how much I fought it, I pictured the palace and Ash’s room—his window, where I had already been to watch over him. Because I was a fool.
No. No. I bit down hard on my tongue to stop the terrified whimper from escaping. Somehow I kept my face blank as I straightened up, and my eyes met Balor’s for a brief moment. He was already smiling widely.
“Get it done, Lonan,” the Carlin barked, standing up from her throne and sweeping towards the doors.
I couldn’t move at first. My heart was racing, pounding in my throat, threatening to choke me. Cold sweat beaded on my hairline as I fought hard to resist the compulsion. Fought hard to not immediately stride out of the room, shift into the crow and fly straight to seelie land to kill Ash.
I forced my legs to move, not knowing where I was going or what I was going to do. I heard Balor’s boots echoing quickly across the floor as he caught up with me.
“How was your little tryst with the seelie dog?” he murmured softly in my ear. “Did you make it count, seeing as it will be your last? Or will you get one more in before you saw through his throat with your blade?”
I was too terrified to even snarl at him in answer. I couldn’t breathe properly, sucking in tiny shallow breaths that I couldn’t control even when Cethlen’s head cocked from across the room.
Balor laughed, the sound like knives slicing into my skin as he followed me. “Look at that panic making you tremble like a little rabbit. Will you apologise before you do it, just to appease your guilt?”
I pulled open the door, terror making me blind.