Tiernan returned the show of respect with a curt bow. “Lianan.”
The wisp’s opaque gaze fell on Maeve.
“Dawnbringer.” She tilted her head, and a tinkling sound filled the stillness of the air, echoing softly. “Lianan has come to call in her favor. For the stars have aligned.”
Tiernan looked up. The sky was a wash of blue and lavender, the sun was gone, but the stars had not yet revealed themselves.
The wisp continued to stare at Maeve, whose complexion had paled. “Are you ready?”
Maeve stole a fleeting glance at Tiernan, alarm reflected in her eyes. She faced the will ó wisp. “Yes…do we have to go somewhere?”
Tiernan reached out on instinct, grabbing her hand. He had no idea what sort of bargain Maeve had struck with Lianan, but he’d be damned if he was going to let her out of his sight again.
The wisp chuckled, though it lacked any humor. In fact, she lacked any emotion at all. “No, no. Travel is not necessary. Lianan will seek her vengeance here.”
“Vengeance?” Tiernan repeated, a knot of dread taking form in his gut. “Maeve, what sort of bargain did you strike with her?”
She looked over her shoulder at him, and regret haunted the soft planes of her face.
“Only that I would kill the one responsible for destroying all of the will ó wisp.” Her teeth sank into her bottom lip. “I was desperate, Tier.”
“I know.” He lifted her hand to his lips, kissed it firmly. That was the night he’d found her at the Autumn Ceilie. The same night she’d run into Garvan and Shay. The same night Rowan had abandoned her in a forest teeming with trooping fae. The same night Tiernan had marked her with a mating dance. Of course she’d been desperate, she’d been terrified as well.
“I know,” he whispered again, squeezing her hand.
“I don’t understand.” Maeve shook her head, her curls tumbling down her back. “You’ve come to ask me to hold up my end of our bargain. I know what’s expected of me, but that must mean the one who obliterated the very existence of the will ówisp is?—”
“Here.” A masculine voice cut through the strained silence.
Maeve’s entire body went still, her hand turned to ice in Tiernan’s grasp.
Shock reverberated through the courtyard, spreading like a turbulent tidal wave.
“Oh shit,” Merrick muttered, and when Tiernan turned around, he echoed his hunter’s sentiment.
Standing behind Tiernan was the one whose life Maeve would have to take in order to uphold her bargain with Lianan.
Casimir.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“No.” The word slipped out of Maeve before she could stop herself. “Cas.”
It was impossible. He couldn’t have been the one to do it, to wipe out almost an entire kind of fae. He wouldn’t…except he would, if Parisa had demanded it of him.
She took a step toward him, and Tiernan released her hand, letting her go. But she couldn’t bring herself to move any closer, she couldn’t believe any of this was true. Yet, she’d taken a vow, and the Strand imprinted upon her thumb burned hot in a fiery reminder of her past agreement.
Casimir stood before her, then spread his arms wide. He wore the same black vest knotted with bands of tan leather, and the same loose pants, just like he had in Kells when they trained together. Before the Scathing ripped apart their kingdom. Before Faeven. Before now. What was only months prior seemed like a lifetime ago.
Lines of exhaustion slanted across his face, aging him. His youth had been stolen long ago. He’d traded his soul to save a faerie princess once, but his love for her hadn’t been enough. By the time his soul had been returned to him, he wasalready empty on the inside. The years had worn him down, this esteemed warrior whose heart was too broken to ever be repaired.
“I’ve done many things that I regret, Maeve. Many awful things.” His dark brown eyes sought hers, and the sharp blade of regret chipped away at her heart. “But I will never show remorse for helping to shape you into the warrior you’ve become.”
Maeve shuddered as pinpricks of anxiety crawled up her spine. Goosebumps rose on her flesh. “Tell me it isn’t true, Cas. Tell me you didn’t do such a horrible thing.”
He shifted his weight, tugging his hood back so she could see the whole of his face. The remnants of his soul lay bare before her. “We’ve all done something we regret in the name of love.”
The same words she’d spoken to him in that damned arena.
