“We leave,” Leoni said, chest puffing out.
“We find her.” I moved toward the door, but Leoni stepped in front of me, blocking my path.
“I like her. I do. She’s wonderful and smart and kind, but...” She bit her lip.
I stepped back. “You’re saying we should just go to Sorrengard and forget about her? Absolutely not.”
Driscoll sighed. “I don’t like to get in the middle of these things—”He paused. “Okay, that’s a lie. I absolutely do. But I think shorty might be right.”
I looked down at my opened shirt, the blue lines inching just a little farther, now dipping in between my pecs. “It’s only been a few months since I escaped the shadow court.”
Leoni shook her head. “You don’t know how long it takes before those blue lines reach your heart. We can’t keep taking that risk. Let’s get your shadow and then we can find Poppy, and you can do whatever you wish.”
My jaw locked. “Unless she’s dead by then. Or the shadow king has taken her. No, no, I’m not leaving here without her.”
Leoni threw out her arms. “Prince Lochlan, she clearly doesn’t want our help! She ran away. From us. From you.”
I stepped back at those last words like I’d been sucker punched. I’d always been the one to run away. Now that I was on the receiving end of it, I didn’t like it.
“I don’t think Leoni meant it exactly like that,” Driscoll said.
Leoni’s face softened. “There are plenty of women out there, and they adore you. If you’re finally feeling ready to explore a relationship, do it with one of them. Not someone who is emotionally scarred and having an identity crisis. She needs to heal. She needs to find herself. And you need to give her the space to do so.”
“A relationship?” I scoffed. “That is not—you are so far off—” I stopped, taking a breath and gathering my thoughts. “That’s not what this is about. I know that my shadow is with her gran. I feel it in my gut. And I also know that my best chance at finding my shadow is her.”
Leoni raised her brows. “That’s it? Are you sure that’s it?”
“I don’t think that’s it,” Driscoll muttered.
“Yes, it is.” I balled my fists, wanting them to stop questioning me, especially when my head was pounding and my stomach turning. “I need some food. And water. And preferably a bath.”
“In that order?” Driscoll sniffed the air, wrinkling his nose. “Because maybe the bath should come first.”
Leoni elbowed him.
“Oh, like that’s the worst thing he’s heard after everything you just said,” Driscoll whispered.
“He can hear you,” Leoni said through gritted teeth. She looked atme. “As a royal guard of Apolis, I swore an oath to protect you, your parents, your sister, and your brother. Even if that means protecting you from yourself. We can’t stay here any longer.”
I ground my teeth so hard they hurt. I hated what she was saying. I hated even more that she was right. I was being a fool. Poppy had run away. The message couldn’t be clearer. She didn’t want my help. I’d done what I set out to do. I’d found her. I’d rescued her from that tower. A snort escaped my mouth. No. No, she’d rescued me. Either way, going and dying while chasing after some woman who wanted nothing to do with me wouldn’t exactly be a fitting end.
It felt like a knife twisting in my heart, but I finally nodded. “Let me bathe. Then we can eat and discuss our next steps.”
Relief washed over Leoni’s face, and she and Driscoll turned and left the room.
I stood there a moment longer, staring down at the ashes in the hearth, remembering how Poppy had sat there just last night, laughing and talking with me while she’d been planning to run the entire time. She’d let me go, and now I needed to do the same.
Chapter Twenty-Three
POPPY
My head throbbed as I sat up, and I blinked a few times. I rubbed my eyes but couldn’t seem to focus my vision, everything a blurry landscape of darkness.
A gusty wind raged around me, throwing me against a wall. My head banged into metal. Not a wall. My vision cleared, and I stared in horror at iron bars. A cage. I was in a cage.
I gripped onto the bars, heart pounding in my ears, my throat, my stomach. I was going to be sick. I hunched over, having a hard time catching my breath. Panic seized me. I’d left a perfect night with Loch for this. To sneak out and immediately get captured by... well, I didn’t know. I stuffed my head in between my knees, dragging breath into my lungs in short spurts.
Calm. I needed to remain calm. Gran’s song popped into my mind, her voice melodic and soothing.
