“Right, yes. I know. Sorry, but honestly, I didn’t mean to kill him. I was just going to stab him a whole bunch until you were ready.”

He grinned, and she paused.

“I knew you weren’t going to settle for half.” He straightened again. “I also knew you weren’t going to settle for standing down.”

“I…would’ve…”

“You were intentionally egging them on, Daisy, I saw you. You can’t tell Lexi about this. She would kill me if she knew I let you fight a shifter twice your age, size, and experience level. Kill me!”

Daisy couldn’t help laughing. “Who’s the good kid now, huh?”

His eyebrows pinched together. “You’re still not the good kid.”

“Yeah, okay, fair enough.” The panther still panted, bleeding heavily, not trying to get up. “I mean…should we just throw them into the ocean, or… Zorn will keep the secret. I still vote we go get him.”

“Yeah, okay,” Mordecai said quietly, heading to his clothes. Though he was clearly ready to take challenges from experienced shifters, he was not ready to hide a body. Nobody was perfect.

A strange feeling rolled over Daisy. They weren’t alone anymore—a…presence had joined them. Beautiful and wicked, like a unicorn had slid down a rainbow, trotted over to her, and then crapped on her shoe. The dichotomy delighted her. Excited her.

Called to her.

This wasn’t the first time she’d sensed this particular…thing watching. She’d felt the same presence yesterday before the courtyard battle. It had stood just off to the side, noticed by absolutely no one, a spectral brilliance that not even Zorn could manifest on his best day. But this being was one of Zorn’s people—she knew that much. Dark fae.

Not many people knew about Zorn’s magic. He didn’t speak of its origins, not ever, and neither did Kieran. There were plenty of Jinns in the magical world, after all, and Zorn was connected to water, so why should anyone question his link to Poseidon? But a little research had revealed the truth: if you went far enough back, all Jinns originated from the land of the dark fae. A twisted place where nothing was as it seemed.

She still didn’t know how Zorn had come to be in Ireland all those years ago, but he or his parents must have made it across the fae borders that had been erected to protect the human world. The fae weren’t supposed to cross those borders unless they had a binding contract that permitted them to carry out their business in the human world. They were incredibly dangerous, she’d heard. Treacherous. One might befriend you, save you, make love to you, only to turn around and stab you in the heart.

Who in their right mind would employ the dark fae?

Lydia had made a pact with them, but that pact had surely been broken, had it not? Lexi had gotten away, and so had Kieran.

The panther lifted its long tail, distracting her, before laying it down again. His paw slid across the sands. The bleeding had slowed.

“He’s going to make it,” Mordecai said, shrugging into his shirt. “I clearly have more control than you.”

“Fine, yeah…” She’d meant to say hurry up so they could get Zorn and deal with her faux pas, but the words wouldn’t come. If anything, she wanted Mordecai to slow down so she could think. So she could continue to observe that transparent rainbow sheen in the air. She was sure someone waited there, watching. Analyzing. Thinking he/she was hidden behind the glamor of their magic.

Would it be bad to bring Zorn out here when one of his kind was hanging around? Probably, since she got the distinct impression the being lurking at the Summit was there for a reason—and that it wouldn’t be pleased if she got in its way. That was the main reason she hadn’t mentioned its presence to anyone else. She wasn’t trying to get on the bad side of the fae.

“Should we cover up the blood in the sand before we get Zorn?” Mordecai asked, slipping into his pants. “In case someone else is going for a stroll? Or…maybe we need to just pull them into the garden to get them out of plain sight?”

The panther’s breathing had slowed to normal. It wouldn’t be long before he could hobble away. His friend wasn’t going anywhere. At least he wouldn’t tattle on them—he wouldn’t want to admit to instigating a fight with two teenagers.

“It doesn’t really ring as accident if we hide the body in the garden,” she said, debating the wisdom of turning away from that shimmer. It wasn’t wise to turn’s one back on the fae, but they needed to get help. This wasn’t something they should probably hide from Kieran, as horrible as that conversation would go.

Daisy glanced at the sparkling shimmer. For just a moment—a brief, mind-confusing moment—a pair of vivid green eyes, with a burnished gold ring around the pupil, flared into existence. She saw a flash of sharp cheekbones but nothing of the body. Even still, something about the presence rang male.

Her world lit up, sparkling with gold and color and light-like confetti. It dazzled and danced in her vision, exploding through her middle. Something deep inside of her sparked and then burned, her breathing fracturing. She couldn’t tear her eyes away, wishing a body would manifest. Wanting him to speak.

The arching black brows pinched together, as though confused. The face tilted, a nod of sorts. A subtle kind of hello.

Her belly danced. Breathing became difficult.