A Strange Hymn by Laura Thalassa

Chapter 15

Karnon only ever took the women. Now that Des killed him, those disappearances have stopped. The paper in my hand says as much.

But the men …

“So you think there’s more than one person behind this.” I stare at Des across the table, dumbfounded. “But … why? And how?”

Des runs a hand through his white blond hair, his arm muscles rippling. “I’m working on that.”

Just then, Malaki comes into the room, his strides long and powerful, looking every inch the pirate with his eye patch and scruffy cheeks.

He drops a large, waxy leaf on the table. “Solstice invite—the third one they’ve sent, for the record.” He crinkles his nose. “Ugh, what’s that smell?” he says, grimacing at the plates of Indian food scattered across the table.

Did he actually just scorn my dinner?

Des leans back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. “We’re not going to Solstice this year.”

Malaki takes a seat, a plate and place settings appearing in front of him. A moment later he reaches for the tray of samosas.

“Really?” I say derisively to him, raising my eyebrows. A moment ago he’d been hating on my dinner, and now he’s about to eat it. “That’s how you’re going to play this?”

He gives me a confused look as he adds the samosa to his plate. Turning his attention to Des, he says, “That’s a really bad idea.”

Des lifts a shoulder. “Last time Callie visited another kingdom, she was someone’s prisoner.”

“And then you killed that kingdom’s king,” Malaki says smoothly. “I think everyone knows not to fuck with your mate.”

“We’re not going,” Des repeats.

“Being a mate does not mean you stop being a king.”

“Careful.” Des’s words cut through the room like a whip, his power riding them.

Malaki sits back in his seat, bowing his head. “Apologies, my king.”

The Bargainer’s body seems to ease, and the power that thickened the air moments ago now recedes.

“Loi du royaume,” Des says quietly.

Malaki mouth goes grim. “I know.”

I glance between the two men. So far I’ve been somewhat able to follow the conversation, but now they lost me.

“What’s that?” I ask. “That phrase you just said.”

Des nods to his friend. “Tell her, Malaki. If she’s to go and subject herself to Solstice because you think it’s a good idea, then you tell her what she’s going to have to sacrifice.”

Malaki sighs, then turns his attention to me. “You know the human saying, ‘When in Rome do as the Romans do’?”

I squint at him. “You actually know that phrase?” He doesn’t strike me as the kind of fairy who hangs out on earth.

“Do you know it?” he presses.

Looking from him to Des, I hesitantly nod.

“That’s the law here in the Otherworld.”

I’m still not following.

“When in the Night Kingdom,” Malaki explains, “a fairy must follow their laws. Des here doesn’t want you to leave the Night Kingdom because you’ll both be subject to another fae kingdom’s laws.”

“That’s pretty much how it works on earth,” I say, confused as to why this is an issue.

“The Flora Kingdom enslaves humans,” Des cuts in.

Ah. And therein lies the true probl—

BOOM!

The room shakes as a wave of magic washes over us, throwing me back into my seat. Our plates and utensils rattle on the table, a few falling off the edge and crashing to the floor. In the distance, I hear muffled gasps.

The three of us look at each other.

What in the—?

All at once, we’re moving, my chair toppling behind me in my haste to figure out what’s going on. Malaki, Des, and I rush from the room, dinner, missing men, and slave-holding kingdoms forgotten.

Out in the halls, fairies are dashing around, trying to find shelter. One of the palace officers runs to us, bowing hastily to Des.

“There’s been a security breach,” he explains, his voice breathless. “One of the portals is down—something’s crossed over and collapsed it.”

“Gather a hundred of my best soldiers and have them meet us in the air.”

As soon as Des gives the order, the officer is off, running back the way he came.

We begin to move again. Rather than heading down to the main floor of the palace, I follow Des and Malaki to one of the castle balconies.

My eyes scour the horizon, looking for something, anything to explain that violent wave of magic. It had felt so familiar …

Des tears his gaze from the horizon to look at me. His lips part, and I’m pretty sure this is where he tells me to get back inside.

Instead, he closes his mouth and squares his jaw. Striding over to me, he clasps the back of my neck. “Do you wish to join me?” he asks.

“Always.” It’s less thought than it is instinct. Where my mate goes, I go.

“Desmond—” Malaki protests.

“This will be dangerous,” he warns me, ignoring his friend. “Either of us could die. Are you still sure?”

My heart thumps like mad. Had I ever thought that Des’s love would be stifling? That it would coddle me like a security blanket? Because this isn’t stifling or coddling. It’s dangerous and all-consuming, and right now it leaves a taste in my mouth like blood and smoke.

“I’m sure.”

Behind us, Malaki throws up his hands.

Des nods to me, his face foreboding. “Follow my lead and keep yourself safe. That’s an order.”

His wings unfurl behind him, blossoming like some twisted, thorny flower. In response, my own wings stretch wide.

With a burst of magic he leaps into the night air, his wings propelling him up. My own take off isn’t nearly so graceful, but several seconds later, I too am airborne, trailing after the King of the Night, Malaki at my back.

I don’t see what caused the commotion until well after Malaki, Des, and I have joined up with Des’s soldiers.

Far below the floating island of Somnia, on the main landmass that makes up the Otherworld, a massive fireball is unfolding, thick, inky plumes of smoke already rising from it.

Flakes of smoldering ash drift around us the closer we get. I squint down at the flames as the smoke burns my eyes.

My brows furrow.

Right in the center of the inferno, right where I’d assumed the heat would be the hottest and the fire would burn the brightest, there’s a blackened pathway that the flames don’t dare touch.

One of the guards points to something along the singed trail, and I follow his finger. There, amidst the charred earth, are what appear to be two figures.

It’s not until we’re about a hundred feet away from the ground that I recognize one of them.

Well, fuck me good.

Temperance “Temper” Darling, my best friend and colleague, is marching among the blaze like she controls it, dragging a very frightened looking fairy along with her. Her dark eyes glow like coals, bolts of electricity snapping from her.

Uh-oh.

She’s officially lost control of her power. I’ve only ever seen her like this two other times, and neither ended well.

Around me I can feel fae magic building in the air. I don’t know if it’s all coming from Des, or if his soldiers are also adding to it, but throwing power at Temper when she’s like this only ever leads to one thing—destruction.

I glance over at Des, who’s studying Temper. There’s no recognition on his face, and why should there be? For all I’ve told him of her, he hasn’t actually met Temper in the flesh.

Sometimes I assume my mate is omnipotent and infallible, that he knows everything and everyone at every moment in time. That nothing can truly sneak up on him.

But it can and it obviously has.

He begins signaling to his men, who adjust their positions, their bodies tense and ready.

If I don’t do something now, they’re going to firebomb my friend, and that’s going to end badly for everyone.

Coming to a hasty decision, I tuck my wings close to my back. My body dips, beginning to dive for the earth.

“Stop!” someone shouts behind me.

There’s no way I’m stopping.

I glance over my shoulder. My eyes meet Des’s, and for a moment, all we do is lock eyes. Right now I’m neither following his lead nor keeping myself safe like he instructed. He has every reason to use his magic to stop me in my tracks, but he doesn’t.

That small show of faith bolsters my own courage.

There’s no way for me to communicate to him that this woman is actually my best friend, or that I might be the only one who can salvage the situation before someone gets hurt. The only thing I can do is nod to Des.

I know what I’m doing, I will him to understand.

Even though he can’t read my thoughts, I think he must glean them from my face. He stares at me for another moment, and then he puts up a fist. In response, his soldiers hold steady, their bodies still poised.

That’s all I have time to notice before I face forward again.

Beneath me, Temper stares up at the group of us, her normally warm eyes foreign and blistering as they land on mine.

This is the Temper that people feared at our boarding school, and here is the power that ostracized her.

The terrifying reality of her existence, the one she stares down each morning when she wakes up and closes her eyes to each night, is that she is capable of this carnage. She’s capable of it, and a part of her craves it.

There is a seductive power that she can tap into, and it lures her in whenever it can. Most days, she tells it to fuck off.

Today, she gave into it.

I know what the soldiers looking down at Temper are wondering. It’s the same question that’s plagued many of our clients.

What is she?

I stare at my friend through the haze, the heatwaves making her form shimmer and bend. There’s only one type of supernatural whose magic is this powerful, this frightening, this intoxicating—

A sorceress.