Any hope I had for getting answers sooner rather than later was dashed when the brothers led me to the three horses—correction, unicorns—waiting for us. Flora bid me farewell with a long hug and a promise to see me again soon before scampering off into the woods, blending in seamlessly with the moss and trees.

"We need another," I said.

Jones shook his head and gave me a sad smile. "I'm afraid this is as far as I go for now. My allegiance lies with the Winter Court, and it would do more harm than good for me to go with you all."

"But that's stupid." I'd only just gotten him back, and now he was going to leave? "We're basically outlaws now. You can join us."

"He's right," Lorcan said. He had already mounted the large white unicorn. Reins in his hands, he jutted his chin toward Jones. "Tensions are already high among the Courts. There are too many ways Eira could use this to attack. Our best bet is for Jones to return and work for our best interests from the inside."

"You would do that?" I asked. He nodded. "That sounds dangerous."

"Maybe for the best friend you grew up with back in the human realm, but I promise...here, I am more than capable."

He hugged me tight and walked away in the opposite direction from the one Flora had taken. A shot of cold air followed him, and I gasped as frost formed on the trees as he walked by. What else had he been keeping from me?

"Where are we headed?" I asked as Calix mounted the silver stallion standing beside my lavender mare.

"To the Middle Lands. For now."

I shivered as we spurred the unicorns forward. The last time I'd been in the Middle Lands, I'd nearly died from a magical winter storm, and there were gaping holes in my memory about that night. But then, I'd been alone. This time, Lorcan and Calix would be by my side.

Unable to help myself, I dragged my eyes over Calix from top to bottom and back again, cataloging every feature and sound and coming to the same conclusion each time. It was truly him.

He'd been by my side the entire time, but not once had I suspected the soldier I called Smith was Calix. Yet...when he had spanked me with his bare hands, my body had reacted. I guess I could discard the shame I'd felt for lusting after yet another man. It had always been Calix.

"How?" I blurted out.

"You're going to have to elaborate." The smirk he gave me was enough to boil my blood—with anger and desire—but he softened its effect by taking my hand and pressing it to his warm lips.

"How did I not know it was you?"

Calix tensed. "Why would you have any reason to recognize me?"

From the corner of my eye, I saw Lorcan ease closer to listen to the answer. I opened and closed my mouth. Why should I have been able to sense that it was him? But I'd known something was off with the False Calix. And...

All the times I'd thought I was reacting to False Calix, I'd been responding to Smith's touch. Often a light touch against my arm, elbow, or back. Given in comfort, but it had been enough for me to respond to, and now that his disguise was gone, it was like he was inside of me. If I closed my eyes, I could point to him no matter where he went.

Frustrated at my inability to explain it better, I finally said, "Isn't that something mates can do? Sense one another? Or was Niamh lying?"

Strange how calmly I had accepted that fact. After the initial shock of hearing it wore off, I knew it was true.

Lorcan was the one who responded. His lips puckered around his words as if they were sour. "It's something the Fae can do. Humans rarely feel the bond as intensely as we do."

"The moment Calix removed his mask, and I saw him, it was as if he was part of me. Like someone had flipped a switch."

Calix's dark hair fell into his eyes as he fiddled with his reins. Then he raised a hand to his ear and unclipped an earring I hadn't noticed earlier. He offered it to me.

"Lunasta? Is this the earring I wore at the ball?"

"It is. I used it to mask my power and essence from the others, and it worked well enough to hide the bond while I was with you. There were times I wondered if it was failing, but—"

"When you touched me?"

He nodded. "It would have been a disaster—a bigger one than the one we actually ended up creating—if you had figured out who I was at the palace, but there were times I hoped I wasn't just imagining it. When you told me you were leaving Faerie, I thought you must not be able to feel it all."

"It's not been sealed, so it wouldn't be unheard of, brother. Especially for a human." Bitterness laced Lorcan's kindness.

"But I'm not human. Not entirely." They shared a look I reminded myself to ask about later. "After I returned to the human realm, I grew very ill. I thought it was because I returned after the allotted thirty days, but then Jones revealed the truth about me being a Changeling. He said I should be able to come and go from Faerie without consequence. But...but could it have been the bond that made me sick? Being so far from you?"

Calix's eyes gleamed bright enough that I had to look away. Anger radiated off him, and he jerked the reins hard to turn his steed to face his brother. My unicorn pranced to the side and whinnied.

"You let me think the reason I couldn't feel the bond was because she had died!" Lightning cracked across the now cloudless sky, and black vapor rose from his skin.

"I thought she was as good as dead," Lorcan responded. "When I found out they had taken her back to the human realm, I believed she would die. It was better for you to believe it, mourn her, and move on. Your bond isn't sealed! I thought I was doing you a favor."

"You fucking bastard." The brothers glared at one another. "You never even wanted her. She was a part of your sick plans until you realized what she was to me."

"That's not true—"

"And the irony of the situation is that we wouldn't even know for sure if you hadn't poisoned her."

I gasped. It wasn't as though I hadn't suspected Lorcan had a hand in the Druil blossom debacle, but hearing it confirmed made me want to vomit.

"I-I don't understand."

A stricken expression crossed Lorcan's face. "It wasn't my idea. Niamh did it before I could stop her. She suspected you and Calix might be mates, and we needed to know."

"How was that going to tell you anything? I could have died!"

Calix ground his teeth together and said, "The Fae Court used to feed Druil blossoms to humans as sport. They would pass them around, fucking them senseless, on the off chance that one of them was the human's mate. If they were, that lucky human didn't die because only a mate bond can overpower the flower's magic."

"Is..." I swallowed and fought back tears. When I told Calix I wanted to know everything, I hadn't expected this. "Is that why you didn't want to sleep with me that night? Because you were scared you would find out we were mates?"

"No." He brought his horse up to mine and cupped my face. "It was because the feelings I already had for you were driving me out of my mind, and I couldn't imagine finding out that you weren't meant to be mine."

"Oh."

"Oh," he repeated, leaning in to kiss me, only to be interrupted by Lorcan clearing his throat.

"We're here."

I looked to where he pointed and recoiled as I spied the familiar stones of a temple. One that haunted the few memories I had of that night in the woods.

"What is this place?"

Calix narrowed his eyes, his jaw clenching. "It's where the Vow was created."