Chapter Fifty
MASON
MY STOMACH STINGS, and I rip out Abby’s knife as I walk out of Kie’s and my home. I wasn’t anticipating Abby actually stabbing me, and I especially wasn’t expecting my cock to twitch when she did.
I like it when the human gets angry, particularly at me.
Kie follows, his footfalls loud as he walks two steps behind me. I could feel his magic surrounding the guest room earlier, and I gathered it was where he locked Abby up when I saw the dirty shoe prints covering the bottom half of the door.
Queen Gitta’s guard must have broken Kie’s magic seal, which he shouldn’t have let happen. Even in Kie’s weakened state, his magic should have held up. I was initially concerned, but after hearing him utter the name Lillian Collins , I know what happened.
He was distracted, and he let his hold slip.
“Where is she?” I ask.
Lillian. Fucking. Collins.
I knew the human had secrets, but I never imagined it would be this.
Memories of Kie, Lilly, and me playing in the fields surrounding the estate flash through my mind, but I brush them aside. We were young, and I’m no longer the short, foolish kid I was back then. Everybody thought Kie and I would marry Lilly when we came of age, but those plans fell through when she murdered King Malcolm.
What was Abby doing with her?
I grimace as I push together the skin on my chest, urging the stab wound to finish healing. The human was close to piercing my lung. One inch to the left, and she would’ve succeeded.
“Where is she?” I repeat.
Kie sighs, like he doesn’t want to answer me. I can’t imagine why. He was just as hurt as I was by Lilly’s betrayal, and he should be just as angry as I am.
“Kieran?”
“In the cells.”
Good . Kie’s soft, and I’m pleased he didn’t put her in one of the bedrooms. As a titled lady and the daughter of the late king’s mistress, she’s technically entitled to one.
“What have you gathered?”
Zaha thought it would be fun to drop me off in the middle of fucking nowhere, and it took six hours of running in my animal form to reach Bellmere. I used to respect the gods, but now I see that Zaha’s nothing more than a frigid bitch. She fucks with us for entertainment, and I’m growing tired of it.
Not that I wouldn’t do the same if I were in her position.
“We can’t hurt her,” Kie says, quickening his steps so he’s walking alongside me instead of lingering behind.
Tradition states I walk behind him when in public, and Queen Gitta will throw a fit when she hears I’ve been walking in front of the crowned prince. She’ll be even angrier when she learns Kie’s agreed to give me his title. We should speak about that soon.
After we deal with Lilly.
I’m not excited to be the crowned king. I was looking forward to spending my days uniting with my family and fucking shifter women. Now I will be stuck in Bellmere, trapped by duty inside the royal compound. Zaha won’t be happy to hear I’m skirting my responsibilities, and I doubt Kie would let me do so even if I wanted to.
And I want to.
The brothels are full of faeries, and I hate how they’re whom I’ve resorted to finding release with. I’ve spent years fantasizing about the fun I’ll have when Kie’s crowned and I’m allowed back into the forest.
I’ll come to Bellmere to fuck our chosen wife and create heirs, but I want to spend my days with my kind. Zaha ruined that for me.
“Mason!” Kie huffs, grabbing my arm. “We can’t hurt Lillian.”
“And why not?”
Kie takes a long moment to respond, which tells me his reasoning isn’t sound. Lilly is the reason Kie’s father is dead, and I fully intend to squeeze every detail from her. Starting with figuring out where the fuck Callie is. She was working with the shifters, betraying her own people for a reason I can’t even begin to imagine.
“We just can’t.” Kie lets out a low groan. “Abby’s imprinted on her.”
Imprinted? Who the fuck says that? Abby’s not a fucking bird.
Besides, I don’t care what Abby thinks. If anything, she should be placed in the cells alongside Lilly. She was asking us about delysum, and now it’s discovered she was harboring a fugitive? I should put her in the cells myself. I should turn around right now and grab her.
Queen Gitta will demand it when she learns what happened.
I continue forward, still holding my stab wound shut. I’ll kill anybody who tries to put Abby in there.
“If we can’t hurt her, then why are you covered in her blood?” I gesture to Kie’s arm. “And don’t bother telling me it’s not hers. I remember what she smells like.”
People outwardly stare at Kie and me. I ignore them, too busy to deal with the politics involved in conversations with the nobles.
“I didn’t hurt her,” Kie says. “I placed her in the cells before taking Abby to our home. When I returned, I caught one of the guards trying to take advantage.”
Trying to take advantage?
“Did they rape her?” I ask.
I clench my fists, annoyed at the thought. Faeries pride themselves on being better than the barbaric shifters, and they frequently boast about being above rape.
When I first arrived here, despite being only a child, it quickly became a popular topic of discussion. Several noble mothers took it upon themselves to hide their daughters from me, the uptight snobs convinced that eight-year-old me was a danger to their children.
“They didn’t,” Kie confirms. “But a young guard thought he’d earn points if he got information from her. He whipped her before I got there, and she bled on me as I tried to patch it up.”
Tried? Lilly comes from a powerful family. She should heal within minutes, no patching needed.
I’ve seen her do it before.
We were hiding from Kie in a tree when she told me she thought shifters were dirty. I pushed her out of the tree, naturally, and she broke her leg in the fall. Despite her young age, she healed in the time it took Kie and me to carry her to the healer.
“She’s not healthy,” Kie explains. “She’s been surviving in the human realm, without magic, this entire time.”
That stops me in my tracks. Lilly’s been gone for over twenty years. There’s no way she could survive that long without magic. It’s impossible, even for a faerie from a strong bloodline.
“How?” I ask.
Kie walks in front of me. His movements are slow and calm, but I know what he’s trying to do. He will be sorely disappointed if he thinks he is going to physically stop me from getting to Lilly. I don’t care what she means to Abby.
The human’s feelings don’t matter to me. She already hates me, so it’s not as if I have anything to lose. Even if she didn’t hate me, I still wouldn’t care.
“I don’t know,” Kie admits. “She’s sleeping, and she has been for hours. I haven’t had a chance to speak with her.”
I blink. He’s found the woman who murdered his father, and he’s letting her rest? Kie’s father was a shit husband, nobody doubts that, but he was a good parent and leader. Even I tolerated him, which is more than I’d say for most.
Kie should be livid, and I should’ve known he’d wait and make me be the bad guy. Kie’s too soft, always trying to see the best in people and give them the benefit of the doubt. I move to walk around him, fully intent on getting to the bottom of this myself, but Kie sidesteps to keep himself in front of me.
“Mace…” he says. “We should talk to my mother first.”
We should speak to the queen soon, preferably before she sends another one of her guards to collect Abby, but I can’t think of one good reason why we should go to her first . Lilly is the number-one priority right now, and afterward, we can sort things out with Queen Gitta.
I’m sure she’s heard that I knocked out the guard she sent to collect Abby, and I doubt she’ll send another. She doesn’t like it when I hurt the faeries, and she won’t risk their lives just to collect a human from our private quarters.
I also know she won’t bother collecting Abby herself. That would be beneath her.
“ You can talk to your mother,” I tell Kie. “I intend to speak with Lillian Collins.”
I place a hand on Kie’s shoulder and shove him aside. He hardly moves, the man a fucking statue when he wants to be.
“Do you wish to fight? Here?” I ask, eyeing the men and women unsuccessfully pretending they aren’t eavesdropping on our conversation. “Because I will, and I will win.”
Kie purses his lips, hesitating, before shifting to the side just enough that I can slip past him. Smart choice.
One of the noble ladies of court, Kie’s favorite, stops in her tracks as she rounds a corner and spots us. She’s immaculately done up, her white hair perfectly styled and her makeup pristine. She’s also wearing a blood-red dress, which tells me she’s already heard about Kie’s return.
Kie’s always loved a woman in red, and I hope Jackie manages to distract him as I make my way around her and continue toward the cells.
“Kieran!” Her heels click as she rushes for him. “I didn’t realize you were back.”
“Not right now, Jackie,” Kie says. I can practically visualize how he’s brushing her aside—firm, but polite enough not to ruffle feathers. “Mason, slow down!”
He stomps after me, but he doesn’t attempt to stop me again. We try not to fight in public, especially since I usually win. It doesn’t look good for the future king to be bested by a shifter, even one with whom he shares a forked bond.
It doesn’t take me long to reach the building where the cells are housed, and I don’t hesitate to open the door and step inside. There are three guards down the long corridor, all of whom straighten up as they take notice of Kie and me.
I gesture for them to open the cement door behind them. They rush to do so.
The potent scent of Lilly’s blood hits me first, and I scrunch up my nose as I walk inside the room. There are only three cells in this building, and Lilly’s in the one on the left. The other two are empty, as usual.
I pause outside the door to Lilly’s cell. The last time I saw her, I considered her a friend, and I suck in a deep breath before pulling the door open.
Kie stands beside me.
In the center of the room is a woman, her white hair spewed around her shoulders as she struggles to climb onto her hands and knees. Her impossibly thin arms collapse under the weight, and I press my lips together as I see the lashes covering her bare back.
I count them, my heart pounding. One. Two. Three. Four . She was whipped four times before Kie got to her.
I’d ask Kie where the guard who did this is, but I have a feeling I already know. Queen Gitta may approve of this type of punishment, but Kie doesn’t. The guard went against his wishes and tortured a woman who was in no position to fight back. He’s long gone.
Tired, violet eyes meet mine, and I lean against the doorway to the cell as Lilly struggles to rise. I’m glad she’s finally awake, and I take a minute to look her over as I collect my thoughts.
Why is she so skinny? She can barely hold herself up, and her entire ribcage is exposed. It must be painful, and I’m surprised she’s still alive. I’ve seen corpses who look better.
“Mace?” Lilly asks.
Her voice is scratchy, like she’s been screaming, but I don’t let it bother me. I cock my head to the side before speaking.
“Lilly…” Her name feels foreign on my tongue. “How nice to see you again.”