Black mist poured out of Calix and wrapped around us both. I buried my face in his neck and held tight as I waited for the disorientation of teleporting, but it never came. His heartbeat thudded against mine, and the sounds in the hall outside the cells grew louder.

"Calix, what's going on?" I asked when he cursed under his breath.

"These cells are lined with iron. It's in the walls. I can't get us out."

"What do we do?" I searched the space for any other doors, but there was only the one.

"We have to fight our way out," he responded through gritted teeth, pushing me behind him as the door burst open.

Fae soldiers poured inside. Swords brandished, they watched us but didn't attack. Magic crackled in the air, sharp and sweet. I gripped Calix's arms as I held my breath, and the space between my shoulders burned.

The soldiers split into two lines, and Orla stepped in between them. A silk robe barely concealed her curves, and there were red lines marring her pale skin. Lover's marks.

"I would applaud your tenacity, but I'm far too irritated," she began, shaking out her dark red hair and sighing. "I was working on my sixth orgasm when the trees told me the cells had been breached."

"Only six?" Calix asked, backing up a step and pushing me toward the cells behind us.

The queen bared her teeth. "I assume this is where you would tell me you could do better?"

"No." I poked my head around Calix's shoulder. "It's where I tell you he can."

That earned a soft chuckle. One that cut short the moment she truly took in my appearance.

"What have you done?" She shouted. Roots beneath the packed dirt floors moved, causing the ground to buckle under our feet. "How?"

"Did you not think I would do whatever it took to save him? To save our bond?"

The queen seethed. "Foolish child. I was trying to save you both, and now that you cannot remove your bond, you have no value. Take them both."

The soldiers surged forward. Calix roared and tore into anyone that came too close. Blood sprayed as his nails ripped into a Fae's neck, but it did not deter the others. For every one he felled, another two stepped into their place. We had nowhere to go.

"Enough! If you make another move, Calix, she is dead."

We both froze, and he turned his head, seeing the danger I was in at the same time I saw it. Roots coiled around my feet, growing closer and closer to binding me, but it was the one rising toward my heart, its tip sharply pointed, that posed the threat.

"You can either come willingly, or I put that through her heart. Two birds with one stone that way."

His arms fell at his sides, and he did not struggle when they clamped the cuffs back over his wrists. Tears pricked my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. There would be no more crying in front of Orla.

"Your Majesty?" One soldier asked, pointing a pair of cuffs toward me.

"No need. Her face may be Fae, but I do not smell any real power on her." Grim satisfaction crossed the queen's face before she walked out of the room.

Instead of being tossed back into the cells, Calix and I were dragged out of the hall and back to the upper levels of the palace. When we passed the throne room, Cyra, Riven, and Lorcan watched us go by from the door. Both paled, but said nothing. I only hoped that they were free because Orla did not suspect them.

On and on we traveled, going as far up as I had gone down to find Calix. At last, we walked out onto the roof of a tower. The last of the day's golden light faded on the horizon, and storm clouds threatened from the other side. I shivered as the breeze turned cold.

"You'll understand later that what I'm doing is a favor," Queen Orla said, snapping her fingers at the soldiers holding Calix.

"No!" I screamed as they dragged him to the edge of the tower. The tower itself was at least two hundred feet, and it looked out over a canyon. With his magic bound, he could not survive such a fall.

"If he dies, your bond will cease to exist. You will mate with Riven, and you will at least live. Do you understand the gift I am giving you? If Niamh has her way, you will both die. So, who will it be? Your mate or you?"

She didn't look at me when she asked the question. Calix nodded and shrugged off the soldiers. They released him at a barked command from their queen. He took a step back.

"No, no. Calix! Please. What am I living for if you leave me?"

He smiled. It was so beautiful it ached to look upon it, and those tears I had denied finally broke free.

"You will live because it's what I want you to do," he said and then threw himself over the edge.

An unholy wail ripped out of my lungs. Orla threw her hands over her ears, and I could see blood leaking down her jaw and neck. The soldiers fell to their knees. Some vomited. Others fell unconscious. Lightning sliced across the sky.

With no one restraining me, I dashed toward the edge of the tower and threw myself after my mate. His dark shape was yards away. I willed myself to move faster, and it was as if the wind listened, pushing me closer to him.

Close enough to see his eyes widen. Close enough to see the fear and pain in his expression. And finally, close enough to wrap my arms around him.

"Luna, no," he sobbed, thrashing to free his wrists from the cuffs. Black mist erupted from his skin, but it receded almost as quickly as it appeared.

The wind burned my face, and the craggy gray rocks below grew larger with every passing second. If this was our last moment together, I would not waste it with an apology, so I kissed him.

The moment our lips touched, that tingling spot in my back burned. I ripped my lips away from Calix's and screamed. It felt as though my flesh was ripping and my bones were melting.

"Luna!" I only sobbed in answer. "What the fuck is happening?"

It didn't matter. We would be dead in moments, and I would be free from this pain. Free—I closed my eyes.

We jerked to a stop, and I thought to myself death was not so bad. The agony in my back was gone, and I had felt nothing when we struck the ground. And Calix's electric scent surrounded me.

"Little moon," he whispered. "Open your eyes."

I peeled them open, one at a time. We were hanging thirty feet above the ground, and it felt as though I was caught on something. Like a hook in my spine that held us aloft.

Craning my head, I looked over my shoulder. "Holy shit."