"Put him down!" I screamed.

My bones vibrated, and my skin pulled tight. If the magic in the human realm hadn't been subdued, I wasn't sure what would have happened. My wings would most definitely have emerged, but I had a suspicion there was something more lurking inside of me. The rage and grief for my mate urged it to rise, and if it did, this weak male in front of me would pay first.

Clearly, Luke sensed the same thing as he stumbled backward, putting more distance between us. His eyebrows roosted in his hairline, and he held his hands in front of him like a shield. Every so often, he peered around me, as if debating whether he could make a run for it.

We both knew he wouldn't make it.

"That was a poor choice of words."

Leaves crunched under my boots as I stalked toward him. Wisps of red curls that had escaped my braid cut across my vision as a gust of wind howled through the trees. I had to look like a madwoman right now, all wild hair, bared teeth, and heaving chest, but if I looked mad on the outside, it was nothing compared to what I felt on the inside. Calix had been here all along, and I had failed him.

What was left of my human self fractured, and a whispering voice in my head issued dark, seductive promises. We would burn this place to the ground, taking out anyone who had a hand in our mate's death. If we survived that... Well, for every human's sake, I prayed we didn't.

"You better find the right words before you lose the ability to speak."

"We have a Winter Court female here."

"What the fuck does that have to do with the price of tea in China?" I snarled.

Luke's expression scrunched as he tried to decipher the human saying. When I growled again, he shook off the confusion and said, "Dream magic is prominent in the Winter Court. Kinley is a Dream Weaver, and she put him to sleep!"

I halted and blinked. Asleep. Calix was simply sleeping.

Luke shouted for me as I sprinted ahead of him, my eyes locked on the largest building in the small village. From its shape and the flow of Fae going in and out of it, I suspected it was a community building. A perfect place to house an imprisoned Fae.

"Luna, wait one fucking minute, and I'll take you to him," he called out, sounding out of breath.

Ignoring him, I wrenched open the front door, nearly taking out a male who was exiting as I bolted inside. He flashed as set of fangs, obviously intending to intimidate me.

"My mate's are bigger," I said, laughing when his irritation at me ramped up to anger.

"Nas, who the fuck is she?"

The male grabbed Luke as he entered. Okay, so Luke's true name was Nas. It certainly sounded more Fae-like.

"No one for you to worry about Bylur." Luke—Nas—looked at me pleadingly. "She's a new intake."

Bylur raked glowing white eyes over me. "Someone needs to tell her there are rules here."

"Rules? For a bunch of Fae?" I scoffed.

A crowd had gathered around us now. This building was just as I had suspected: a large community center. A dozen long tables filled the room we currently occupied. Some ate their meals here, while others had been engaged in games before we interrupted.

"Rules are necessary in the human realm. Otherwise, we would be exposed," Bylur explained, twisting his mouth to the side as if he found it distasteful to admit that.

And because I was still half enraged over what had happened, I couldn't help myself. "I was told the only rules Fae lived by were fucking and fighting. You might as well call yourself a human now."

I had to hand it to Bylur. He moved so fast I never saw his fist coming. Blood filled my mouth as my head snapped back and my feet came off the floor. Pain ripped down my spine as I crashed into one table so hard it snapped in half.

Dimly, I heard Nas shout for someone to go get Kinley. When I peeled open my eyes, Bylur stood over me with his hands clenched at his sides. I stared at his arms. I couldn't tell if I was concussed or if his skin was actually growing white hair.

"Stay down, you halfbreed bitch," he commanded, putting his foot in the middle of my chest and pinning me in place.

I grabbed his foot with both hands and fixed him with a glare. "That's such an asinine thing to say. To be Fae literally means you're a halfbreed."

The pressure on my chest increased. "You don't know when to keep your mouth shut, do you?"

"I'll shut my mouth when you lot let my mate go," I replied, opening myself up to the buzz of magic in my veins and praying it offered something useful.

Bylur let loose an agonized howl, and I looked down to see blood bubbling up through his shoes. Right where my nails had sunk through the material. As soon as he pulled his foot off me, I jumped up. Golden talons had replaced my fingernails, and right now, crimson stained the tips.

"I'm going to kill you!"

"Bylur, stop!"

"Eira?" I gasped as a female with sleek red hair and electric blue eyes stepped between us. It shouldn't be possible, but there was no denying the similarities. From her coloring to the shape of her face to the slight upturn of her dainty nose.

Her already pale skin went even paler. "No. I am Kinley."

Bylur faded away as all my focus went to her. "You're the Dream Weaver who put my mate under."

Kinley nodded. "He's resting, but we will be happy to bring you to him. I think you both need to rest."

I wiped a streak of blood from my chin. "That's sweet of you, but I think it's best if you wake him now."

She smiled. A sweet melody filled the air, and my eyelids fought to stay open. Nas grabbed Kinley's arm.

"Don't put her under. She's a Changeling, Kin. She can get us home."

The music stopped. Everyone in the room stared at me, their expression shifting from anger to hope. But Kinley finally shook her head.

"She's dangerous in this state. Let her Dream for a little while, and we will wake them both when their feral beasts have calmed. We've waited this long. What is a little longer?"

Once again, the music filled my ears. It was so heartbreakingly beautiful, and I fell to my knees. Tears pricked the corners of my eyes, and I felt so, so tired.

The music pushed beyond my ears. Elegant notes weaved through my mind like a crystalline thread. Wherever they touched, pictures bloomed. A starlit sky and a mountain in the distance. The heady floral scent of summer in an open bedroom. Calix's body wrapped around mine as he—

My eyes flew open as his face appeared. It wasn't quite right. A little more flawed than it should have been. Without thinking, I reached for the threads in my head and yanked hard.

Kinley grabbed her temples and screamed, falling to the floor. She writhed and bucked as I broke each strand she had woven, and when the last one snapped, she finally stilled. Foam bubbled around her full lips, and she stared at the ceiling with vacant eyes.

"Kin!" Nas wailed, pulling her head into his lap and stroking her hair. Her lashes fluttered as she tried to come to.

"That's it." Bylur stepped toward me with his hands raised. "There's more than one way to put someone to sleep."

"Enough."

My heart fell into my stomach as I recognized the new voice. It shouldn't be possible. I turned around slowly, those tears that had only threatened before now falling impossibly fast.

He crouched in front of me and cupped my cheek. "Leave her be, Bylur. This is my daughter."