Circle of Shadows (Circle of Shadows, #1)(73)

Fairy buried her face back into his chest and clutched him harder. “Am I glad to see you.”

“Same,” Daemon said. He closed his eyes. Even here in the middle of the desert, Fairy’s hair managed to smell like plums and sweet cream. He didn’t know how she did it, but he was glad for the familiar comfort. Also, he was happy to let her hold him for a minute, because he really was about to fall over.

“Wolf,” a boy said. “Pleased you could join us.”

Daemon opened his eyes. Broomstick stood before him, a crooked, if somewhat solemn, grin on his face.

Fairy released Daemon.

“Did you ask him to come?” she asked Broomstick.

“We need him.”

Daemon and Broomstick slapped each other on the back. “I’m rather pleased to join you too,” Daemon said. “Although what would really make me happy right now is some cold water. And a spot in the shade to lie down for a bit.”

“Maybe I could lie down with you,” Fairy said, winking.

Daemon laughed. “I’ve missed you.”

She faked a pout, but quickly dropped it and laughed too. “I had to try.”

“I do love your persistence.”

“It might be my last chance.” There was an unexpected seriousness in her voice.

Daemon frowned. “What do you mean?”

Broomstick slapped him on the back again. “Don’t listen to her. We’ll catch up in a little while. But let’s get you some water first.”

Daemon watched Fairy for a few seconds more before he shook his bleary head. “Right, water. Also, I need to report to the empress about everything I saw firsthand about her brother. I could only fit a fraction of it on my message.”

Fairy kicked at the sand. “About that . . .”

“No,” Broomstick said. “Let him rest for a bit. Wolf is about to keel over.” He tried to steer Daemon toward the oasis.

Daemon anchored himself to the ground and crossed his arms. “What are you keeping from me?” There was something about Fairy that seemed different, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Dehydration and the heat made thinking difficult.

She walked up to him, put both hands on his shoulder, and pulled him down so she could whisper in his ear. For a moment, he was taken again by the sweet smell of her hair.

But then she said quietly, “Empress Aki didn’t come. If she did, she might die or be subjected to Prince Gin’s magic.”

“So then . . .”

Oh gods. Fairy had always been the prettiest of the Level 12s and this wasn’t the first time her resemblance to the empress had been noticed. Fairy smelled so good now because she wasn’t here as a warrior.

And her hair was dyed gold.

Daemon’s stomach sank into the blistering sand. Stars, how had he not noticed her hair? Was he really that exhausted?

“You’re here as a decoy for the empress, aren’t you?” he asked weakly.

“I’m not supposed to be out here,” she said. “I’m supposed to stay in the tent. But it’s boring in there, just books and makeup. There aren’t even any boys to play with. You’d think that, as empress, I could at least get my own harem of strapping young men. Especially if I’m about to die.”

Daemon gaped. “How can you joke about that?”

Fairy shrugged, but it wasn’t as casual as she hoped it would look. “Besides trying to convince myself that dying for Kichona really is an honor, joking about it is all I can do. Help me by not moping over it, all right?”

He swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. He saw her in a different light now, and it wasn’t just the desert sun. She held herself taller, those birdlike shoulders more eagle than sparrow. Her lips had a determined set to them too, which was somehow more entrancing than the normal pink pout that all the other boys wanted. And that flash of vulnerability in her eyes made her more real. In the past, Fairy had been almost all show. Now she was courageous but also afraid, and that made her not merely pretty, but beautiful.

Daemon had known Fairy was strong, but offering herself as a decoy for the empress, risking almost certain death, was a magnitude of devotion and duty many could claim to possess, but only a rare few actually did.

“Don’t worry,” he said to Fairy. “We’re not going to let the Dragon Prince capture or kill you, if we can help it. He’s already taken Sora. We’re not going down without a fight.”

“Thank you.” Fairy wrapped her arms around Daemon and leaned heavily against his chest.

It was his turn to hold her up.

That evening, Daemon paced the edge of the bluff, keeping watch as the wind made the sand ripple like an ocean. Prince Gin and his ryuu were coming. He could feel it, even though his gemina connection with Sora was silent, and even though the Imperial Guard lookouts hadn’t seen movement on the desert floor below.

There was a small chance that the Dragon Prince would actually want to negotiate with Empress Aki. If that was the case, the taigas hoped that Fairy resembled the empress enough that the decade that had passed since the Blood Rift would be explanation for the changes in her appearance. Then the burden would be on Fairy’s acting skills. Empress Aki had given her a crash course in her mannerisms and, more important, on terms that were acceptable for a temporary cease-fire.

But honestly, the chance of that happening was very, very slim, and Daemon and the others here were just buying a little more time for the Society to move the rest of its warriors into place to prepare for a showdown in the Imperial City. Most likely, the Dragon Prince was going to kill his sister. Why leave her alive if he could take over the kingdom in one fell swoop?