Chapter Fifty-Two
KIERAN
MASON LEANS AGAINST the bars of Lillian’s cell. She’s finally awake, but it doesn’t appear it has been that way for long. She rubs at her eyes, her movements slow and groggy.
I shift my weight from foot to foot, anxious for answers. Answers only she and her mother can give.
“Lilly.” Mason is the first to speak. “How nice to see you again.”
It’s odd hearing him use her childhood nickname. I forgot he used to call her that, especially considering I never did. Mason was closer to Lillian than I ever was.
Her arms shake as she pushes herself into a sitting position, and she winces as she scoots back and leans against the far wall. The lashes covering her back have yet to heal, and I imagine it will take several hours more until they do.
I applied some salve to them while she was unconscious, but there’s only so much I can do. There’s little magic in the cells, and I’m guessing she doesn’t have much stored inside her to aid her healing.
Lillian winces, finally looking in our direction. “Mace…”
Mason’s spine stiffens at the nickname. As far as I’m aware, I’m the only one who calls him that.
Lillian hugs her arms around herself, her gaze flickering nervously between Mason and me. She’s not wearing a shirt, and I purse my lips before tugging off mine and tossing it in her direction. She fails to catch it, and her nose crinkles as she leans forward and scoops the fabric off the ground.
I haven’t had the opportunity to change and freshen up, and I’m sure the shirt smells. Still, Lillian doesn’t voice any complaints as she slips my shirt on, covering herself.
I don’t like to expose my skin, but I’m willing to make an exception. Mason will ensure nobody touches me while we return to our quarters, and I’ll redress before meeting with Abby. She’s sure to be livid, and I don’t trust her not to try to physically harm me.
I clear my throat, taking the lead.
“Where is she?” I ask Lillian. “Your mother. Where’s Callie?”
Mason will deny it, but Lillian’s betrayal hurt him. He was angry for months after she disappeared, and I don’t want that anger seeping into his interrogation. We don’t have time.
Queen Gitta’s not known for her patience, and she’s been sending a guard here every few minutes to check in on us. I’m sure she’s eager to learn how my meeting with Zaha went and why I’m hiding a human woman in my home, which aren’t conversations I’m excited to have.
It needs to happen sooner rather than later, though. It’s already been announced that my coronation will occur three days after my return, and while we can easily prolong it for a few days, we’ll need to announce our change in leadership soon.
My people will not be happy.
I glance at Mason, silently communicating for him to keep a level head. He’s testy as of late, and it’s only a matter of time before my mother goes for Abby again. I’m afraid of what Mason will do when she does.
His instincts will be harder than usual to resist since he’s recently spent so much time in his animal form, and it will take several days for him to acclimate back into the faerie lifestyle. My mom should know that, and she needs to give Mason space before he loses control.
He’s hanging on to his sanity by a thread.
Lillian runs her fingers through her hair. Her skin is so thin, I can see every vein in the back of her hand. It’s unnerving.
“Callie’s dead,” she says.
Doubtful.
Lillian’s mom isn’t dead. Faeries live long lives, up to two hundred years if they’re lucky, and Callie was in her thirties when she and Lillian vanished.
I sigh. “Lillian…”
Mason pushes off the wall and steps fully into Lillian’s cell. I debate trying to stop him, but I want to see how this will play out. He won’t hurt her.
I remember how the two used to play, and how Mason would link his arm with hers and practically force her to accompany him everywhere he went. It made me angry, and I often felt he liked her more than me.
“Where is she, Lilly?” Mason sneers, crouching before her.
Lillian’s eyes dart down Mason’s frame. It must be a shock to see how he’s grown. Shifters are known to be large, but Mason’s the alpha’s firstborn son and his body reflects that.
“She’s dead, Mace,” she whispers. “There’s no magic in the human realm, and it killed her.”
Mason shakes his head. “We both know that isn’t true.”
Callie may have loved her daughter, but she wouldn’t have put herself in a situation to die. She would’ve left the human realm before getting to that point, returning to a realm with magic.
“How have you survived?” I ask.
Lillian should have died years ago. No faerie can survive that long without magic.
“Delysum.”
Delysum? I scoff.
She’s playing games with us. Everybody knows that delysum kills faeries, and it’s what she used to murder my father. Lillian snuck some into his drink while he was distracted, and it poisoned his blood within minutes.
I read every detail of his autopsy.
He suffered from major organ failure, and almost every blood vessel in his body exploded in the moments leading up to his death. He was actively choking on his blood when he died, but the mortician believes his heart stopped before the suffocation killed him.
His death occurred so quickly that nobody is quite sure of the order in which everything happened.
“Delysum amplifies magic. It overwhelms it, often to the point of combustion,” Lillian explains. I already know this. The effects of delysum are well studied. “There’s no magic in the human realm for delysum to react with, though, and I’m weak. It amplifies what little I have inside me, and I’ve been drinking it to stay alive.”
She pauses to cough. Mason inches back, avoiding the spray.
“I’m almost out,” she continues. “It’s why Abby came here. She thought she could find more and save me.”
I press my lips together, trying and failing to hold back my anger. Abby is a tiny, weak human who knows little to nothing about our world. I spent every minute of every day with her during our travels, and I’m positive of that. Lillian was selfish to send her here.
She set Abby up for failure, and the human almost died because of it. If it weren’t for Mason and I finding her in the woods, she’d undoubtedly be dead right now. A shifter would’ve found her within hours.
If—by some miracle—she managed to avoid them, the trolls would’ve gotten to her.
Lillian glances between Mason and me. I can’t see Mason’s face, but judging by how she refuses to look him in the eye, I assume it’s not friendly.
“I’m not lying to you,” she says. “I have no reason to.”
Of course she does. She has every reason to lie to us. She wants to protect herself and Callie. I’d do the same if I were in her position.
Still, I’ll send a few scouts to the wall to collect some wild delysum. It would be foolish not to test what Lillian says.
I tap my foot against the ground, waiting for Lillian to ask about Abby. Lillian is the first thing Abby has been asking about, and I’m annoyed Lillian hasn’t done the same. The human has so much love for her friend, but the faerie cares only about herself.
“My mom and I came to the human realm with several canisters of dried leaves,” Lillian says. “There wasn’t enough for us both, though, so she rarely drank any. She died almost ten years ago.”
Lillian’s eyes fill with tears. Her act is almost convincing.
“You can ask Abby,” Lillian continues. “She’ll say the same thing.”
I’m not going to ask Abby. She risked her life to keep Lillian’s existence a secret from us, and I doubt her loyalty ends there. She won’t hesitate to lie if she thinks it’ll save her friend.
I wonder how much Abby knows, though. Has she been lying to us this entire time? I find it hard to believe, but I also can’t let my soft feelings for the human cloud my judgment.
“And what’s your excuse for murdering my father?” I ask. “I’m sure you have several already thought up.”
Lill shakes her head. “I—"
“The princes have asked for privacy.” A voice from outside travels into the cells.
I turn and peer down the corridor, annoyed my mother has sent another guard to check on us. She shows no trust, no restraint, and it’s frustrating.
“I’m acting on the queen’s orders,” a second voice says.
I turn back to Lillian. Mason continues staring down the hallway, his nostrils flaring before he rises and heads toward the door.
“Shit,” I mumble. “Mason!”
I know he’s on edge, but he can’t attack every guard who annoys him. I understood why he knocked out the one who took Abby earlier, but this one has done nothing wrong. He’s following Queen Gitta’s orders, which is precisely what he’s trained to do.
Mason leaves Lillian’s cell door wide open, and I begin to shut it before a pained yelp draws my attention. My feet move before I give them permission, following Mason outside.
My magic may be weak at the moment, but I’ve been funneling everything I have into the locks on my doors. Nobody should have gotten through it, at least not without alerting me.
I can think of only one faerie strong enough to do such a thing, and I curse as I realize that likely means my mom retrieved Abby herself.
I didn’t think she would make another attempt for Abby so soon, and I especially didn’t think she’d take it upon herself to fetch the human herself. That’s a job well below her station, and my mother loves her public image too much to risk tarnishing it.
Abby lets out another loud yelp just moments before Mason shoves open the door leading outside. She sounds like she’s in pain, and I force myself to remain calm as I join Mason outside.
The faeries expect the shifter to be angry. They’re accustomed to it, and it’s nothing unusual when he loses his temper. I haven’t been raised with the same luxury, though, and I must remain composed.
Mason has a faerie by the throat within milliseconds, and he tosses the queen’s guard aside before reaching for Abby. It takes her a moment to follow his movements, her reflexes slow, and Mason already has her in his clutches before she realizes what’s happening.
She flinches, her entire body shooting backward before her gaze falls to where she stabbed him earlier. The skin is already healed, which Abby seems to realize as she frowns and tries to wiggle out of Mason’s grasp.
She reeks of blood, which must’ve been what Mason was smelling earlier. It’s coming from her thigh. The fabric of her leggings is wet, and I press my lips together as I eye the trail of blood seeping down her leg and soaking into her sock.
I knew she cut herself when she attacked Mason, but I didn’t realize the wound was this bad. Stupid fucking human.
Mason grunts. “I’ll return her to her room.”
Her room? I don’t think she’ll be pleased to hear him referring to it as that, nor is it true. Abby doesn’t have a home here, or a room. We’ve yet to figure out her living situation.
“I’ll do it,” I say.
I don’t trust Mason.
He shakes his head. “You’re not wearing a shirt, and Abby tends to flail.”
I frown, looking down. He’s not wrong.
“Fine, but remain with Abby,” I say. “We don’t need my mother making another visit to our home. I’ll stay here and speak with Lillian.”
Mason shoots me a look, then begins pulling an angry Abby away. She fights him every step of the way, creating a scene. By the end of the day, every faerie in the capital will have heard about her. They’ll want to know who she is and why we’re protecting her, and they’ll call for public punishment when they learn about her ties to Lillian.
I’m not going to let that happen. I feel protective over the human, for reasons I can’t even begin to explain. I treated her poorly inside the forest, I know that, and a small part of me is desperate to prove I’m not the monster she believes me to be.
I refused to let myself feel guilt over my actions when I thought I was giving her away, telling myself it was what needed to be done to save the kingdom, but guilt has been settling heavily in my chest since Zaha’s rejection.
I don’t particularly enjoy the feeling of it.
I turn and retreat into the building, but the moment I reach the entrance to the cells, a frail, veiny hand darts out and smashes against my exposed chest—touching my bare skin.