Chapter 30
TAUREN
Iglare at the pine trees through the window like they’re bars on a cage. It’s been hours since she left, and I haven’t moved a muscle.
Kennix visited once, sticking his head inside the carriage to give me a patrol report. His men watched Dahlia get escorted by Elheart’s guards through the salt barrier, so we know she’s inside.
But otherwise we’re completely blind, and I can’t fucking stand it.
All I can think about is her shivering body tied up in a cell beside a broken demon girl that was once my sister.
He has them both now.
I’ve given him both.
My baby sister. My wife. Magic crackles in my palms. I never should’ve let Dahlia go.
She’s mine. My fucking wife. The carriage rumbles with the force of my power. And I handed her to that pig dressed in a silky white gown that was way too low-cut to let her out of my sight—
“Tauren?” The door swings open, and whoever is standing there is thrown from the carriage.
“Shit.” I flex my fingers until the magic fades. It’s been a while since I’ve lost control like that.
I charge outside the carriage, expecting to find one of my soldiers sprawled across the grass. But then I freeze. “Claren?”
My little brother peels himself off the ground, groaning. “Damn it, Tauren. What did I do to deserve that?”
I run over to him, helping him up. “Sorry. I’m tense today.”
“Yeah…” He smacks the dirt from his tunic. “Tense.” He shakes his head.
“Why are you here?” I notice a basket tipped over by his feet.
Picking it up, he shuffles nervously. “I came to bring you some food. The servants said you didn’t eat this morning, and I didn’t think you’d pack anything to eat while you waited.”
I study his awkward stance. “You sure that’s the only reason?”
Wincing, he glances at the trees. “No… I’m worried about Dahlia.”
There it is. Gesturing towards the carriage, I take the basket from him. “I hope you didn’t bring anything too delicate.”
Claren laughs shyly. “It’s just sandwiches.” We walk towards the carriage. “And I packed some chocolates too for…” His voice trails off as we duck through the door and sit down. “She’s not back yet, is she?”
“It’s still early.” I dig through the basket and pass him a sandwich. “We can’t expect her to find the way out with Maeve so quickly.”
He watches me, but I can’t meet his gaze. “Tauren?”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
“Are you that delusional that you won’t even consider—”
“Watch your tone,” I warn. “I am not just your brother, remember? The castle you skip about in belongs to me. The clothes you wear were stitched by my people. I am your lord.”
“Is that what you said to Maeve before she left us?”
Pain stabs at my heart.
“You might’ve convinced everyone else that Elheart stole her from us, but I haven’t forgotten.” Claren shakes. He should be shaking.
“Elheart did steal her from us.”
“He didn’t, and I know that deep down you know the truth.”
A swallow lodges in my throat. I don’t like to think about the night before she left. I’ve spent so many years being angry that the memory is nothing more than an awful dark mess in my mind.
Claren’s fingers twist in his lap. “I never told you this, but… I spoke with Maeve right before she left.”
“What?” I breathe.
“She visited my room and told me that you and her had another fight about Elheart, and that she’d had enough of it.”
“You knew she was going to run away and you didn’t warn me?” I bite out.
“She was old enough to make her own choices,” he replies, but I barely hear him through my rage.
He could’ve stopped her, and he didn’t. This whole time…
My fist slams into the wall of the carriage. “She’s in there because of you!”
“She’s not!” Claren yells, standing up. “She ran away from us because you were so damned jealous that Maeve had found happiness with someone other than us that you drove her away for good.”
Guilt slashes at my chest, but through the pain, my lips part. I’ve never seen Claren like this before. So furious. It’s like looking in a mirror.
Taking a breath, I reply, “The salt barrier—”
“The salt wall would’ve never stopped Maeve, and you know it.” Claren sits back down. “You always talk about her like she’s just some lost child, but she’s strong. There’s no way she’d let Elheart keep her trapped in there for so long.”
“But what if she was drugged when he put the initial line of salt down?” I argue. “Or if he’s been keeping her in the dungeon?”
“Did you never see them together?” he scoffs.
“He wouldn’t have done that to her. Even if he had, Maeve is clever.
She would’ve found a way to break the barrier.
” His gaze hardens on me. “That’s the reason you never just took this to the faeries, or found some other way to break through the wall, isn’t it?
Because you’re scared that if you were to do something so drastic, that Maeve will hate you more than she already does. ”
“Enough,” I snarl.
“No, I’ve had enough of you!” he yells. “Why couldn’t you just accept that they were in love instead of making her run away from us just to get away from you!”
I push the thought away, my heart pounding. But the memory crashes over me like a wave.
That’s what we were fighting about that night. I’d caught Elheart with his hand up her skirt in the castle gardens. I would’ve killed him had Maeve not used her magic to protect him.
The worst part was, it wasn’t even what he’d done that had bothered me. It was how she was looking at him. The love in her eyes. Powerful love I’d not seen since before our parents’ deaths.
Clenching my jaw, I focus on the new dent in the carriage wall. “Even if she loves him… that doesn’t explain why we’ve had no letters.”
“Perhaps she doesn’t want to speak to you.” Claren looks away.
My lips part. “Have you heard anything from her?”
“No. But then again, I wasn’t exactly nice to her either when she said she was running away.” Regret dips in his tone. It seems I wasn’t the only demon who made mistakes that night.
Silence falls between us until Claren speaks again. “There’s something else that doesn’t make sense, either.”
My brow lowers. “What?”
“Dahlia,” he starts. “If Elheart and Maeve are still in love, why would he want another wife? Maeve would never let him take a second wife. She was obsessed with him.”
I nod slowly. It’d surprised me when I found out that Elheart had purchased one of Sol’s daughters at the ball. It’s part of the reason I’d been so desperate to offer him a trade. If he was done with my sister, then I wanted her back.
“I don’t know why,” I reply honestly. “And then there’s the fact that Dahlia says she met her at the inn. Why was she there? Why didn’t she just come home?”
“We’ll find out when Dahlia gets out.” Claren nods, finally taking a bite of his sandwich.
I glance at the basket between us, the chocolates he’d brought still untouched. I’m not angry anymore. Only fear eats at my thoughts while I stare into the basket.
Fear that something far worse than love has happened to Maeve. And fear that when Dahlia finds out the truth about all this, she’ll run away just like my sister.