“You can still see the thread, right?”
“Are you thinking she’s in Evorsus?” The panic in her voice was undeniable, but it quickly dissipated as her eyes glowed bright green, then simmered down to their hazel hue. “If the realm isn’t messing with my magic, she’s still here.”
I forced a tight smile. The twin realms weren’t like others. I had no idea if the thread would feel different if her sister had somehow crossed into the other realm. Eversus and Evorsus were the same, and yet not, but both were filled with tricks and illusions.
I gestured for Meera to lead the way, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t just Sadie we were following. That someone, or something, was either tracking her too or ... I glanced at Meera and reminded myself that she wouldn’t be able to find Sadie if she were dead. It was the singular thing that kept me quiet despite wanting to voice my concerns. Meera wasn’t listening to reason right now, her concern for her sister outweighing anything else.
We continued in uncomfortable silence. The only sound to be heard was our heavy breathing as the atmosphere took its toll on us. In the far-off distance, the ground was glassy, and the air seemed to ripple.
I prayed to the gods it was nothing more than a mirage ...
The gods weren’t listening.
Chapter 6
Meera
Heat shimmered in the distance, turning the jagged ridgelines into illusions that danced just out of reach. My boots crunched on sand and something else—black pebbles? No. Another of Sadie’s stones, strategically placed as makeshift markers . Each one settled deeper in my gut, a silent warning wrapped in a breadcrumb trail.
Something was wrong. Not just with the terrain or the oppressive dual suns that beat down on us like punishment. No, this wrongness clung to the magic in the air. It hummed, but not in the familiar way Faerie did. There was dissonance here. A tear. I wondered if this was the feeling of the twin realms that Vareck had described, but he never said he could sense the magic, just that its ability to split existed.
I swallowed past the dryness in my throat, pretending the tension in my chest was just dehydration. Vareck looked just as uncomfortable as I felt, which made me think we were both bad actors and couldn’t hide it from each other.
“You said earlier you don’t think these rocks are for me,” I began quietly. “But you do think it’s Sadie, right?”
Vareck didn’t answer at first. His eyes swept the horizon, every inch the Dark King—tactical, restrained, simmering justbeneath the surface. “I don’t know. There’s a discernible pattern and it doesn’t feel like a coincidence. They’re too deliberate and evenly spaced. That doesn’t sound like a creature from this realm. That sounds distinctly human or fae. Someone wanted them seen, but I don’t know for what purpose.”
I shivered despite the heat. “Let’s hope it was her. Otherwise I’m following these stupid rocks right into a trap and we’re gonna die.” Gods, wouldn’t that just be my luck? Some hell-bound demons, giggling right as a dumb fae walks right into their bubbling cauldron of potatoes and carrots. Fucking Amelia.
“I won’t let that happen.”
“Well, we may not have a choice. If whatever wants to eat us decides to boil us first, please kill me. I’m hot enough already. Just end it.”
He stiffened, clearly not liking my casual comments about impending death. Most of it was a joke. I was walking through hell. If I didn’t laugh, I’d cry, and I was so dehydrated, I probably couldn’t even cry if I wanted to.
We kept moving in silence, but a few paces later, I heard him sigh, and the sound of it put me on edge.
“Meera, we need to talk.”
I groaned. “I’m not talking about the mate thing right now.”
He growled softly. “This isn’t about that.”
I turned to face him, squinting as the bright light bearing down on us skewed my vision. “Unless you’re about to magic up a canteen of water and air conditioning, I’m really not in the mood to have a serious conversation about anything.”
His eyes flicked over me and I felt the weight of them. “You’re burning. Your skin; it's going to blister if we don’t find shade soon.”
“I’m not a porcelain doll, Vareck.”
“No, you’re a fair-skinned ginger resembling a lobster,” he said evenly.
“Hey—”
“And you’re about to collapse from heat exhaustion. Something I can’t treat here. So maybe take it easy?”
The worry in his tone caught me off guard. I blinked, and for a moment I didn’t see the fury who took me to bed or the king who’d collared me. I saw the man who’d watched me sleep like it meant something. Who laughed at my sarcasm and held me like I was something worth holding on to.
I tore my gaze away. “We keep moving. If Sadie left a trail, she had a reason. That means she’s close.”
