As if in a trance, as if both in awe and seeing something I could not, he explained, “Eventually, those with such mythical powers might spend themselves recklessly. A glowing, ancient and time rectifying, can very well render them powerless. It will weaken them to the point of death should they desire to heal someone.”

“Then what could the mortals want with a creature that will inevitably lose its value?”

“All the gold they can collect before it happens, I suppose,” Rorn said evenly, his lashes steady and his finger now tracing the condensation upon the glass. “The two fae kingdoms of Nodoya are at war, but while they’ve been squabbling, it would seem the lone little human kingdom by the name of Errin in the south has been making plans of their own.”

“Human kingdom,” I repeated, blinking fast as I recalled the mention of it. It seemed so long ago that it was but a dream. Yet it took only a moment for me to garner just what those plans might be. The knowledge settled like rocks within my stomach. “The Errin royals have asked for Marvis’s help?” I blurted, then shook my head. “To move against the two fae kingdoms?”

“One in particular,” he said, tone absent, unseeing eyes upon the wine. “Though I suspect the kingdom of Vordane and its tyrant ruler are merely just an excuse to collect themselves a fuck ton of gold and a chance to do what they enjoy doing most…” His eyes rose, and he straightened to his full height in his chair as they dropped upon me with startling force. “Hunting faeries.”

My lungs tightened beneath his cool gaze, the assessment of my every feature as he leaned forward and placed his elbow upon the table, a finger stroking over his clean-shaven jaw.

Even after all this time, I could still feel it. Not Rorn’s, but Scythe’s. The bristle that had grown thicker during my stay. The way it had felt beneath the pads of my fingers, scraping against my neck and shoulders, the delicate skin of my stomach and inner thighs…

I stood, rocking and knowing I could no longer mask the thundering echo in my chest. I couldn’t just sit. Not here. Not anywhere. Not now. Not when I had to do what I’d silently sworn to never do again.

I had to leave. I had to go back.

Rorn’s amused question trailed me to the doors. “Where are you going?”

I’d almost forgotten I’d been dining with him amidst his reveal of all this fear-fueling information. “I’ve something I need to do.”

“Such as?”

His airy tone warned that it would be futile to lie. “Rorn, we need to inform them. I’ll—”

The doors closed.