Devin created a new court to be with Ani.
Why couldn’t she have that same sort of devotion?
ChapterThirty-One
Katherine
Being brought to Faerie was, in fact, the worst thing ever. Before they could head off to the world to rescue Urian, Callisto said, “One quick stop.”
“I don’t have time to—”
“Nonnegotiable. Rules are rules.” Then she twisted her fingers into Katherine’s in a childish handholding. “Can we skip?”
“No.”
Callisto looked at Ani. “You?”
Ani took Callisto’s other hand in hers, and they skipped. Katherine walked, faster than normal to keep up with the skipping faeries.
Next lesson. They’re all a little bonkers.
Katherine had a stray thought that she and Urian would need to talk about normal life before they ever had a kid.
She stumbled at that thought.Kids? She wasn’t sure he was even still alive. “What if he’s dead?”
Callisto squeezed her hand. “He’s not.”
“How can you know that? He could—”
“Prisoner at the Summer Queen’s home,” Callisto said. She gave an exaggerated face-scrunched up sniff. “I can sniff him out.”
A wave of fear fell away from Katherine. “What did he say? How is he?”
Anything else she could have said faded away as a man stepped from nothing into existence.
“Doorway,” Callisto whispered.
Ani screamed and launched herself at the intruder.
And Katherine drew a knife with her free hand, eying the intruder. He was . . . an older version of Urian in face and form, but he looked like he shopped at a shop catering to rock stars and billionaires. She might not have money, but a lifetime in seclusion gave a woman alotof time to read online catalogues and celebrity magazines.
“Iri!” Ani cried as the man caught her mid-leap and spun her around in the air like she was a small child.
“Pup.” He looked at Katherine and Callisto as he lowered Ani back to the ground. “Introduce me?”
Ani gave him a look. “As if you don’t know . . .”
“Irial, right?” Katherine said, not stepping forward or lowering her blade. “Were you involved in Urian’s capture?”
“Inadvertently.” He looked poised even as she took several steps forward. “But I spoke to him . . . and when I returned, I met a lovely young steed”—he gestured at Callisto—“who suggested I visit Faerie.”
Callisto giggled. “I remember when we roamed, Dark King of Before.”
She appeared to be acting coquettishly. She tilted her head and held out some sort of fat, dead lizard. “Fed you and the scarred one. Watched you . . .”
Irial bowed his head. “Being near wild magic is always an honor, Callisto.”
“I raised your pup as well as I could,” she said softly. “Took him to see the best sex workers, great art, museums, read to him when Tam was napping, and he slipped out of the house.”