“And if someone can lead me to him?” Malaki asks.

“Report back to me first. I don’t want to chance losing him. Oh and by the way—” Des’s eyes inadvertently land on Temper, “be discreet.”

“Why are you looking at me?” Temper’s voice is several octaves louder than everyone else’s.

The Bargainer arches an eyebrow.

“I’m as motherfucking discreet as they come,” she says.

I’m trying really, really hard not to laugh, but the struggle is real.

Malaki manages a sharp nod. “We will be discreet,” he assures Des.

The sorceress huffs. “Y’all need to get your heads checked. I am not the problem.” She turns on Malaki. “And you don’t need to go making promises for me. I never even said I was coming along.”

“And you don’t need to.” The Bargainer stands. “But if you imagined staying behind so that you could have fun with Callie, then you’ll be sorely disappointed. The future Night Queen has official business that will take her away from the palace.”

It takes me a second to realize Des is referring to me.

“Wait,” I say, “I haven’t agreed to be queen.”

“Yeah,” Temper agrees, “my girl hasn’t agreed—what?” She turns on me. “Bitch, have you lost your mind? Take that crown and wear that shit like it’s your birthright.”

Ignoring Temper, Des’s gaze falls on me, his features sharp. “I apologize, the Night King’s consort has official business that will take her away from the palace.”

I narrow my eyes at my mate. I might not have jumped onboard with this whole queen business, but I sure as hell don’t want to be known simply as someone else’s consort.

“Hoooo!” Temper whoops, falling back into her seat. “You better sleep with one eye open, Desmond. I’ve seen my girl make men pay for less.”

He’s still staring intensely at me. “That’s odd. For as long as I’ve known Callie, she’s the one who’s paid for my services. I admit, it’ll be nice to not be the prostitute in our relationship for once.”

Temper snickers, appraising Des all over again. “Fuck one eye. Sleep with both eyes open.”

I shake my head at Des as I stand, my eyes slitted. “It’s time to go.”

We give curt goodbyes to Temper and Malaki, then slip out of the library.

“You do realize how close you were to getting glamoured, don’t you?” I say as we head down the hallway.

Des’s eyes seem to be laughing at me. “You say that like I’d mind.”

Most men do. Then again, Des isn’t most men.

“So, what is this official business?” I say, changing the subject.

The Bargainer’s face turns grim. “Now that the kingdoms of Flora and Fauna have fallen, the Day Kingdom is our one remaining ally. You and I are going to pay them a visit.”

Chapter 14

I smell the bodies before I see them.

Des and I have barely stepped off the ley line and entered the Kingdom of Day when the scent of burnt flesh assaults me.

I don’t know what I was expecting from the Day Kingdom when Des told me we were going to be visiting, but this isn’t it.

I shield my eyes against the blindingly bright overhead sun until they adjust to the sight before them.

All around us, the world is on fire. Pyres as large as houses stretch as far as the eyes can see, and they roar as they burn. Thick, oily smoke billows off of them, twisting into the air and turning the sky into a reddish haze.

We skirt around them, one by one, the oily smoke coating my skin. I begin to sweat from the heat wafting off of them. It’s stifling, suffocating.

Around us, the flames reach high into the sky, as though they were trying to touch the very sun itself. As blazing as each inferno is, I can still make out the bodies within. There are dozens of them piled on one another, their forms blackened to a crisp. Their uniforms have long burned off, but I don’t need to see them to know these are the sleeping soldiers who invaded the Kingdom of Day.

So this is how Des’s final ally defeated the enemy. They simply killed them all off.

My eyes sweep over the landscape again. Des and I have arrived at the edge of a large floating island. Here, where the land gives way to sky, the pyres sit like grim sentinels. Beyond them, I can only make out the hazy outline of a tangle of flora what appears to be a looming mountain range.

The sun glares down at us through the haze, and on any other day, I’m sure this kingdom is a glorious sight, but right now, the place is like spoiled wine.

Next to me, the Bargainer squints up at the sun, which now burns blood red through the haze of smoke.

“I’ve always hated this place,” he says. “Too bright for my taste. But this …” He shakes his head. “This makes me wish for those insufferably bright days.” He takes my hand, and with that, the two of us head towards the looming mountains.

“We’re not walking the entire way, are we?” I glance above us as we pass under a bright green tree, violet flowers growing from its branches. Around us, the vegetation presses in from all sides. I can only see about fifty feet ahead, and it’s all jungle.

“Cheer up, cherub, you have me as company, and I am an excellent conversationalist.”

Crap, we are totally walking the entire way. That sucks extra balls when the air smells like a graveyard.

I wince. “The smell might legit kill me first.”

Des plucks a deep blue flower from a nearby vine, sliding it behind my ear. “We can’t have that now,” he says.

He leads us to a stairway I almost miss because it blends in with its surroundings so well. It’s woven from vines and leaves and it winds up a tree trunk and ascends high into the air. Once we’re level with the canopies of trees, the stairway levels, turning into a bridge that sways as we walk along it.

“What’s with the bridge?” I ask.

“What about it?” Des asks, disappearing only to reappear yards away at the end of the bridge, arms crossed.

“Ugh, you never ‘walk’ to the palace, do you? You simply pop into existence there.”

Des’s eyes twinkle. “Sometimes—okay, most of the time, but that’s because Janus hates it so much.”

Just as I reach him, he disappears, winking into existence farther along the bridge, where it twists between trees.

“Are you going to do this the entire way?” I complain.

“Maybe.”

“Well, can you make me disappear with you at least?” I ask, waving away some of the hazy smoke that’s hanging in the air.

“It doesn’t work like that—not unless we cobound our power.”

“But I thought that being bonded meant we shared magic.” As I speak, I reach down our bond and tug on Des’s power.

“We do, cherub, but it doesn’t quite work the same way and—” I see his teeth set on edge even as he lets out a little laugh, “you’re trying to use my magic.”

Can you blame me? I mean, the dude can teleport. I want to do that. The rope bridge is cool and all, but I don’t want to walk.

I pull on our bond one final time, feeling Des’s magic slip into my veins and travel down to my fingertips. For the briefest of moments, the air subtly darkens. Then it dissipates, along with my mate’s powers.

“Fine,” I say. “I’ll stop, but I’m not thrilled to be walking.”