A Kiss of Shadow (Court of Starlight and Darkness #2)(53)

“I know.” Meria rubbed my shoulder. “There’s something strange about it.”

I looked up at the stars, happy to see them again. Confused, too. “I can feel them more strongly now.”

“That’s a good thing, right?” Eve asked.

“Maybe. I hope so.”

“Let’s go.” Meria took my arm and led me from the clearing.

We’d only gone a few steps when I realized the rest of the maze had been destroyed.

“What happened?” Eve’s voice was low with shock.

I spun in a circle, taking in the devastation all around. It looked like the greenhouse—utter destruction. The hedges had been flattened, the statuary destroyed.

All that remained was the hedge around the small clearing in which we’d stood and the statue of my parents. Almost as if I’d created a protective bubble over the part that mattered and destroyed the rest.

“I think it was me,” I whispered.

Shouts sounded from across the lawn, and I turned to see people spilling out of the palace and onto the grounds. One of them shouted and pointed at us.

“Oh, shit,” Meria said.

“There’s nowhere to run,” Eve said.

She was right. With the maze destroyed, it was open fields and gardens for miles. Nowhere to hide.

And the people who’d spotted us were nearly to us.

Last night, I must have staggered away from the destruction before I’d been seen.

Tonight, I wasn’t so lucky.

Lore was nowhere in sight as the palace guards stopped in front of us. There were half a dozen of them, each in a perfect gray uniform. The King of the Irish Fae stood behind them, along with the leaders of several other courts.

“What happened here?” King Fionn demanded.

“I don’t know,” I said. “Everything just…went crazy. But we didn’t see whoever did it.”

Skepticism flashed across his face, and I swallowed hard. It was probably too much to hope that he would believe me. I looked at Meria and Eve out of the side of my vision. They both looked pale with worry. Guilt.

“It was me.” I stepped forward. “I did it. Not them.”

Meria hissed at me and grabbed my hand.

King Fionn smiled, and the cunning in his eyes sent a chill through me. When I looked at the fae behind him, I didn’t see any of the support I’d hoped for. And Lore was still nowhere to be seen.

“The place reeks of a unique sort of magic,” said King Fionn. “And she stinks of that same magic.”

Shit. It was the magical equivalent of a fingerprint. I looked back at Eve and Meria. The worry on their faces cemented the idea in my mind.

They had me.

“Take her to the prison,” King Fionn said.

“No, please don’t! I didn’t mean to do it.” Fear iced my skin. “It was an accident, I swear.”

Two of the guards grabbed me, one taking each arm. Together, they dragged me toward the palace.

Oh, shit.

I looked back at my friends.

King Fionn pointed to them. “Them as well. Until we know if they are innocent, they can’t be allowed to roam.”

No.

No, no, no.

This couldn’t be happening. I couldn’t be the reason my friends were locked up. I craned my neck backward to look at them. They were being dragged the same way I was. Eve looked pissed as hell, but Meria’s expression could melt iron. She glared at King Fionn with a look that made a chill run through me.

Behind them, the destruction of the maze was horrible evidence of what I’d done. Of what I was capable of.

The guards dragged me down into the depths of the palace and tossed me in a stone cell. The room was barren and cold, echoing with despair. There wasn’t a single window or piece of furniture, and the door was thick wood with only a tiny window.

The bigger guard turned to me before he left and said, “It’s enchanted, so don’t try anything.”

I just stared at him, horrified as the door closed in my face.





20





Lore



* * *



“Sia is responsible?” I stared at Dain, dumbfounded.

Last night, I’d stormed away from Sia and found more whiskey in the library. I’d drunk myself to sleep in quick order, and spent the night passed out on the couch. The dreams had been the most intense of my life. Over and over again, I’d relived the time with Sia. The feel of her. The taste of her.

It had been incredible but letting my guard down like that was one of the most shameful things I’d ever done. I was supposed to protect my people. Instead, I’d been with the woman who threatened them. While I’d been unconscious, Sia had revealed herself to be the witch with the deathly magic.

Dain had just found me on the couch and told me the news.

“It can’t be true.” I shook my head.

“I saw it myself.” Dain said. “Her magical signature matched that at the greenhouse and the maze.”

“But it doesn’t. I know her magic, and it wasn’t present at the greenhouse.” I hadn’t seen the maze yet, but I was sure it couldn’t be her.

“Her magic changed, Lore. The dark clouds have all gone, and her magic has changed.”