Rainn glared at the Nymph. “When did you get so wise?”
“I’ve always been wise.” He sniffed. “You underestimate me because I am a Nymph.”
Rainn felt a blow in his chest, formed from the words. Shay had been right. A single statement, and Rainn felt his mind awakening in a way he didn’t entirely like. A veil peeling away from his eyes, revealing to him the folly of his own youth—petty and superficial.
Rainn opened his mouth to speak, but found his words died in his mouth.
He clasped his chest again, feeling the same blow, only more insistent. It wasn’t just an emotion, making itself known by making his heart pound twice as fast.
“Do you feel that?” He gasped, winded.
Shay frowned before realization dawned on his own expression.“Maeve.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Maeve Cruinn
My chest was too full. I couldn’t breathe.
Every inch of my skin prickled and burned, too exposed, too much sensation.
A scream locked behind my teeth.
My eyes opened, and I inhaled, choking on the damp forest air. The morning dew was still fresh on the leaves above. The sunlight filtered through the branches of the canopy.
We were not in the Night Court.
The floor felt solid, in a way I hadn’t experienced in weeks. My body ached from hunger, every cell vibrated as if excited to be put back together after a journey through the cosmos.
I reached out and grabbed a handful of rotten leaves, but found the Dadga’s staff in my fist, the wood brittle in my grip.
Cormac let out a low groan, and I spotted him a few feet away—face down in the rotting leaves. He sat up, brushing the dirt from his chest, but his golden hair was snarled and sported several twigs buried in the strands.
“Where are we?” He squinted at the trees. “Because I feel like I’ve been thrown from a slingshot.”
“The Dagda said something about the Court of Teeth,” I murmured. “But there isn’t such a place.”
Cormac shook his head and banged his ear. “Day, Night, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter.” He rattled off. “All within the Unseelie and Seelie kingdoms, respectfully.”
“Perhaps it is a court within a court.” I bit my bottom lip. “Like the Esteemed Undine Court.”
“Perhaps.” Cormac agreed, pushing himself to standing.
I cradled the Dagda’s staff, feeling anger flare in my chest. “Whatwasthat?”
“Hmm?” Cormac held out his hand to help me stand, but I did not take it.
Instead, I shook my head, as if I could clear the burning rage from my body. It did not work. Anger worked itself up my gullet like burning bile. I rubbed my chest, feeling the familiar lines of my mating mark with Shay Mac Eoin—but it did little to calm me.
I felt my bonds, like golden ribbon. Cormac and Shay Mac Eoin were strong, but Tormalugh and Rainn fluttered in the wind. There, but for a single thread.
Balorhaddone something.
With each breath of the Aos Sí, I felt my memories returning. Hot fat tears welled in my eyes, and I threw my head back, but it did nothing to stop them as they rolled down my cheeks.
Cormac rushed to my side and wiped my tears, but I made no motion to explain.
Balor had stolen something vital from me.
