“Probably them then.” She reached out to take my arm. We were gone in an instant, and my body jerked in response. I had to grab on to the tree to keep from falling.
“Can’t he see through your magic?” I asked.
“He can, but the others can’t,” she whispered back.
We watched, and just when I was about to tell her I’d gotten it wrong, several figures moved into the space below us. An older fae with white hair trailed in the back. The one I’d recognized, that locked me in the prince’s room with his magic, had to be the draconian. He was covered in tattoos and his long, dark hair was pulled back, probably to keep it out of the way during the fight he was waiting for. Lackey three, the one with messy golden hair that thought he was funny, led them. I’d never noticed how attractive he was until now, seeing him in his element with keen eyes, helping his prince. They all were, really. Stupid fae bastards.
They were good though. Using hand signals to communicate movements and words. All armed and weapons out, the prince moved to the exact spot I had been injured, and he ran his hands through his hair. My anger flared just seeing him. Over and over, I heard the click of that damn lock on the door to my recent prison—at his own command. He locked his hands behind his neck, and his muscles strained. I grimaced. I wanted to hate him so bad, but hating someone you were also attracted to took a careful level of determination.
“Fuck,” he whispered. He made a few more hand signals, and then the one who I assumed was Kai made a vulgar one back.
Wren covered her mouth with her hands to smother the laugh.
Kai looked around frantically, trying to find where our trail continued, wiping his curls from his face. He pressed his finger to the side of his nose, and Fen shook his head. The four of them walked in a circle below us for a while, and finally, the prince yanked out a knife and haphazardly threw it into the half-dead tree across from him.
“I don’t know,” Kai said. “They were definitely here. There was a fight though. See all the scratch marks in the trees? And it looks like there was a horse also. There’s skid marks on the ground and...” His voice trailed off as he paced back and forth. “It smells weird. Like old Knocky right before his monthly bath.”
Wren snorted, and the gig was up. The prince’s head snapped to the trees, and his face was redder than that fae horse’s eyes.
“We are so dead,” she said.
I slid my hands along the rugged bark and leaned forward so I was laying like a feline across the heavy branch. I smiled and waved a few fingers to the asshole until he shook with anger. “Cat got your tongue?” I asked in a sickly-sweet voice.
“You’re hurt.”
“Oh, this old thing?” I held up my wrist and showed him the oversized bandage.
“What the fuck happened, Wren?” he sneered.
“We stopped for a nap,” I answered.
She turned her face so he couldn’t see the smile, and it only encouraged my desire to taunt him.
“A nap? Was that before or after the dullahan?”
How did he even know about that?
“It was after. We invited him to join us, but he was too busy dying. Care to join him?”
“Come down from the tree, Ara,” he commanded.
“Mmm. No thanks.” I stretched a bit farther and yawned. “It took you so long to find us, we’ve bored ourselves into exhaustion.”
“Hey!” Kai called from beside him, crossing his arms.
“I mean, it did take you two days, Kai,” Wren called down.
“You kept fucking turning in circles.”
“Maze forest,” I said, spinning my finger in the air. “That’s the point.”
“How long are you going to act like a child?” Fen growled.
“I think maybe ten more years. Give or take a few, probably. Fifteen max.”
“I can’t deal with this shit right now.” He stormed off.
“Time to climb back down, Ara,” Wren said, her face serious.
