Page 104 of Wings of Snow

“But your wound?—”

He cut her off with a smile and a sly shake of his head despite his pale complexion. “If you think a belly wound is going to kill me, then you don’t know me very well.” He nodded toward me. “I take it my work is done here?”

“Yes.” I gave a grim nod. “Thank you for everything you did, and thank you for...not leaving us.”

The Fire Wolf inclined his head, and it struck me anew that the hunter had chosen to save us. He could have left at any time with his portal key, but he hadn’t. He’d known that would have sealed our deaths.

“I owe you a life debt,” I added.

The hunter smirked. “I may call in on that someday.”

Before any of us could respond, the Fire Wolf held a new portal key in his hand, and in a whisper of words, he vanished.

* * *

Since my magicwas so depleted, I couldn’t hide us from Whimseal’s fae under an illusion spell or mistphase us back to the Nolus continent.

“We need to conceal Ilara,” I growled as the fae in the streets began to notice us. I shielded her with my body the best I could.

Luckily, the Fire Wolf had portal transferred us to an alley just east of the clock tower, but we weren’t entirely hidden from sight. More than a few passing fae on the street had glanced our way. It was bad enough that some had seen us arrive with the foreigner, worse when a few recognized me just as the Fire Wolf had disappeared.

I had no doubt word would return to my father. He’d inevitably put the pieces together—if his hired warlock didn’t report to him first—and realize that we’d foiled his plan by defeating his warlock’s magic with the help of a subject from another realm.

Nish gave a curt nod and disappeared around the alley’s corner as the rest of us stayed as hidden as possible. Butfuck, I still felt so depleted, so weak.

A snarl tore from me.

Ilara placed a hand on my arm, her cobalt gaze piercing and her grip strong despite our vulnerable state. Black hair tumbled around her shoulders. She looked fierce and defiant.

Pride surged through me just as she said, “We’re alive, and the veil that’s been suppressing ouroremis gone. We won.”

Despite loving her so much in that moment that I wanted to crush her to me, I suppressed that instinct and shook my head reluctantly. “We haven’t won even though we fixed the suppressedorem. There’s no saying my father won’t hire the same warlock to enact that horrible spell once more and create the veil all over again. He may not be able to do it anytime soon since he’ll be starting with nothing, but until my father is dead or that warlock is gone, we’re still vulnerable.”

“What about the looking glass?” She peered toward my pocket. “Did it record everything?”

I pulled it out and whispered the spell to activate it. The mirror began to glow, and then replayed what had just occurred within the Isalee field. Ilara shuddered when the warlock appeared in the lifelike rendition. “It’s intact.”

“Thank the gods.” Her jaw clenched, and she picked at a fingernail. “Do you think it’s enough proof to convince the council of what the king’s done?”

“It’s enough proof to show that theoremdidn’t die by natural means, but I don’t know if it’s enough to implicate the king.”

“Will they believe us anyway?”

I pressed my lips into a thin line and worked my jaw. “They might or they might not, but right now, it’s all we have. We’ll have to hope it’s enough.”

A fierce breeze flowed through the narrow street just as Nish rounded the corner.

My guard held out large hooded cloaks to all of us. “Bought ’em at one of the market’s stalls. Same fellow I’ve bought cloaks from before. Long hoods on ’em. This’ll hide Ilara and all of us until we’re somewhere safe.”

Ilara gave him a grateful nod and donned the garment, bringing the hood up completely until her face was entirely hidden.

Once satisfied that my mate wouldn’t be easily identified, I pulled her close. “We’ll need to find an eating establishment and lay low. Once we’ve rested for a few hours and consumed sustenance, we should have enough magic to mistphase back to the Nolus capital.”

Ryder gave a grim nod, his cheekbones razor-sharp. “And then what, my prince?”

My arm wrapped tighter around my mate. “Then I marry the true rising queen, and...” My lips pressed together as anger stirred within me. “Then we tell the council what’s occurred and confront my father.”

CHAPTER 31 - ILARA