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Chapter Twenty-Five

I’d never been to Disneyland, and after seeing the king’s palace up close wouldn’t soon have any need to What could a man-made fictional castle fabricated fro splendor of a building unlike any I’d laid eyes on in s in poetic terms, it wasn’t how my mind worked, and I’d even scolded Ghillie for his bard-like leanings during our walk But it was hard to see the shi edifices and walls that seeht and not think of them in the terms dead poets would use to describe their lovers

We passed under a gate, a set of ar back when they saw Ghillie approach As we e courtyard behind the wall, the palace itself bea up the space in a white gleam so beautiful it made my heart ache

Fae of various sizes moved out of the lit areas and into the shadows as we approached, sinking into the night and nearly out of h fae--and the familiar forms of hobs, and what I suspectedwomen were few and far between, and they looked like Tinkerbell

That is, if Tinkerbell had bloodstains around her mouth and wore tattered dead rose petals as dresses Apparently ht except they were ss If these critters had an attitude half as bad as Tinkerbell’s, they must be the fae version ofabout in the shadows

One of the pixiesnoise at us In response, Des it wouldn’t have been any scarier if he’d been in wolf form It served to silence the pixie and make everyone else in the courtyard shut up as well I hadn’t realized anyone had been speaking until their whispers hushed

Soour entrance low-key

Unperturbed, Ghillie crooked two fingers in the direction of our party and climbed the steps of the palace without further instruction Holden et to the top of the steps Ghillie stiffened, visibly uncoot out of this without one of the, it would be a miracle

I’d buy a lottery ticket to celebrate

I climbed the stairs and waited for Des to watch the fae surrounding us The whole group held their collective breath The h

The shine of the palace vanished as soon as we stepped inside The highly polished floors were ly lit from below, but they were almost the only form of illumination The walls were dark--not painted black, butsith pink and green light, hts on a smaller scale

It should have been beautiful It should havethings Instead I felt cold, uneasy, and the smell of the interior reminded me of a funeral home Not dead, but devoid of warmth

This was the last place I wanted to be

My wolf stirred, whining internally, begging e

Usually I didn’t take her at her urges, but I couldn’t help but think she was right about this one Regardless of what round and stood inside the entrance hall, letting the shiver of uneasiness skitter over s I liked the outside much better than the inside

"Follow et darker?" I asked, not liking the hitch in ht His Majesty is the light"

"And we h darkness to reach hi hall where the light froness was complete Pitch-black

"Go that way"

"Didn’t you say follow you?"

"To the end…then you will go alone"

"Aweso myself I had protection

"Are you afraid of the dark?" Holden interrupted

"No But I’ in the dark in a place like this"

"Coh he hadn’t heardit didn’t oing "Look," I said, turning to Holden "This isn’t your proble to you You could stay here with Des ood at big heartfelt speeches, and being selfless wasn’t est character trait

"If you think I followed you into a different godda room, you’re sorely mistaken"

"But--"

"And what’s more…do you have any coet yourself in when you go running off on your own?"