“What actually happened to Ixana?” Okay, yeah, maybe I’d stop after this question got answered, since the last time I’d asked, he’d deflected me rather cleverly.

“She was interrogated and disposed of.”

Oh… okay then. “Short, sweet, and to the point, I see.”

He shrugged. “Sweet might be a stretch, but in the end, her crimes were beyond redemption. And she held no remorse—not even as broken as she was after losing the stone she’d been bonded to for a thousand years. She said she would still do it all over again.”

“How did she even find the stone in the first place?” I asked as we started to move through the jungle.

He took a second to answer, focusing on widening the path as we walked. “During her last confession, she admitted that it was her bond with me.” His fury spilled out in his tone. “She kept tabs on me during my years exiled, knowing whom my friends were and what alliances she could manipulate. Apparently, I grew more powerful than she’d expected, and that was to be used to her advantage.” A few trees singed around us, but he managed not to burn the forest down. “I have full access into Len’s territory in Faerie; Ixana could tap into that through the bonds we had with each other from birth. Using my bloodstone as added backup, she figured out how to infiltrate and steal the sunburst stone during one of the Faerie festivals.”

Probably another sex festival because they were all-consuming when they hit Faerie.

“How is it that no fae was guarding the stone?” Even during a festival, an object that important had to have been secured.

Shadow paused, his face almost unreadable in the shade of nearby trees. “There were fae guarding the stone, but they disappeared when the stone did. Ixana wasn’t too coherent in the end, but the general vibe of her plan was seduction followed by betrayal. Len was relieved that she hadn’t taken the rest of his stones, but I knew she wouldn’t. She only needed one weapon and would not waste her time on anything else.”

He recognized the single-minded focus of his former chosen mate now.

“It’s hard to believe she had the brains and fortitude to do everything she did.”

No doubt there was more to the story that she hadn’t revealed, but it really didn’t matter. The end result was the same, and now we had to deal with the fallout.

He scoffed. “Her family helped her plan it in the early days, until she went rogue. She’s the entire reason we even made it back into the Realm. She released the spell and opened the doorway.”

I stumbled, since that was the first I’d heard that. “Seriously? I didn’t break through when I called the mists and creatures?”