“Desperation can weaken anyone’s loyalties or principles,” Cair said before releasing a heavy sigh. “I should know. I would have sacrificed them all if it had brought my mate back. I’d have no right to blame them if they turned on me the same way.”

“Your soul shattered into pieces,” Tee deadpanned. “I think you can be forgiven for your lapse in judgment.”

I sensed a hint of self-doubt trickling through our bond, and gazing into Cair’s eyes, I saw the same flicker of guilt I felt. “Even so, I⁠—”

“You would not have hurt innocent people, my love.” I laced my fingers with his, demanding his attention. “You would have seen reason, even if you couldn’t imagine it at the time, or now. You don’t deserve to be hated, so don’t even think it.”

After a beat of consideration, studying my face, a smile tugged at the edge of his mouth and he squeezed my hand. Waves of love and gratitude swept into me, filling me with comfort. “I initially wanted to resolve this peacefully.” He rolled his eyes at the very notion. “But Father has clearly run out of patience. He’s gone too far, involving the humans in our affairs.”

“Then… what happens now?” Alex looked to my mate, knowing that whatever steps we took next were entirely his call.

“First, we find Theodore,” he said. “Prove that we had nothing to do with his disappearance and publicly expose the true culprits. Hopefully that will return peace to Edenglas and cement the monsters’ loyalty to our side.”

“And second?” I asked, though I already knew the answer. There was only one way this could end. We’d fantasized about an amicable truce, had hoped we could all come to a mutually beneficial agreement and carry on with our lives in harmony, but the king was beyond that.

If anyone had told me the day I’d mated the heir to the Fae throne that this was where we’d end up a year or so later, I might have believed them, but I would’ve been too caught up in just-married bliss to take it seriously. I was just grateful the king had waited so long, because while we’d had to suffer a minor setback—or five—I felt less incapable and defenseless than I had before.

I could help protect us, and that thought was what had my heart beating a little steadier when Cair finally answered.

“We give him what he wants,” he declared, his jaw set and his gaze hard and unrelenting, looking every bit the seasoned prince he’d been molded to be. “We go to war.”

Epilogue

ZADOK

SIX MONTHS LATER