He didn’t flinch from my gaze. “I never planned to kill you. Just because I’m capable of doing a thing doesn’t mean I’m going to do it. As for playing you…” He shrugged. “You made a deal with the one and only King of Faerie. You can’t possibly have expected to come out of that unscathed. In fact, I know you didn’t expect to. I played my part, and you played yours. And for all that you feel that I’ve deceived you, I did release Ethan from the Hunt.”

“But you didn’t release him from yourself.”

“Which is a good thing,” he countered, “else tonight would have ended very differently.”

I let my shoulders sag, tired of arguing. “The bottom line is you’re not going to let me sneak back home and keep everything under wraps, right?”

Arawn leaned his back against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. His eyes looked far away, like he was thinking hard about something. He stood like that for a good minute, long enough for the silence to start getting on my nerves.

“You are not of the Wild Hunt,” he finally said. “It is not for me to declare whether you should or should not share your … adventures with your guardians. But as your ally, I can advise you, and it’s my advice that you not keep so many secrets from those who have the power to help you. Your father and your bodyguard are substantial assets, and you would do well not to keep secret things that could destroy their trust in you when the truth inevitably comes to light.”

Unfortunately, I feared it was a little too late for that. Finn had forgiven me for sneaking out with Keane, and he’d done me the huge favor of not telling my father. But if he were to find out I’d snuck out two more times after that, he’d be massively disappointed in me. Most likely he would never trust me again. Also, he would probably tell my dad about the first incident, and that would cause all kinds of problems. Dad would be mad at me, of course, but I bet he’d also be mad at Finn, for not telling him in the first place, and at Keane for being my accomplice. And let’s not even talk about what they would think if they found out about my magic!

I could totally see Arawn’s point that keeping such massive secrets from them could come back and bite me in the butt. But I’d crossed the point of no return long ago, and if I was to have even a modicum of freedom, I would have to keep those secrets hidden.

“I can’t let them know I snuck out,” I told Arawn. “Please just point me in the right direction and let me use the charm to sneak back in.”

He frowned at me, like he was displeased with my decision. Then he shrugged. “Very well. If that’s what you wish.”

“It is,” I said.

At the very last moment, I could have sworn I caught a glint of satisfaction in Arawn’s eyes, and it occurred to me that he might have played me yet again. But I was too exhausted and wrung out to care, so I just let it slide.

Chapter twenty-seven

We didn’t talk anymore as the Erlking guided me through the twisting labyrinth of the tunnels. He never showed a moment’s hesitation, though I was hard-pressed to tell the difference between one tunnel and another.

Eventually, the tunnel we were traveling along led to a lighted section, and soon we arrived on familiar ground, the entrance I habitually used to go into the city proper. From there, I could find my way back to the safe house with ease.

I dug the Erlking’s charm out of my pocket. I desperately wanted to get home to the safety and security of my bed, but to tell you the truth, I wasn’t looking forward to plunging into the darkness on my own.

“I don’t have to leave you here,” Arawn said, once again reading my thoughts. “I can accompany you farther without announcing myself to your bodyguard.”

I took a deep breath for courage. “I appreciate the thought, but I can take it from here. I’ll be home in just a few minutes.”

He smiled and shook his head. “Such a stickler for independence.”

Yeah, that was me all right. But I had a feeling that if I let myself chicken out of navigating the tunnels by myself now, I might have trouble letting go of my fears later.

“Thank you,” I said, though the words seemed awkward in relation to the Erlking. “You saved my life tonight. I won’t forget that.”

He waved my gratitude away. “You needn’t thank me for acting in my own best interests,” he said, and the reminder that he hadn’t saved me for my own sake helped me put the situation back into perspective.

I opened up the brooch, exposing the needle-sharp point. This was only the third time I’d used the charm, but I was already getting sick of jabbing myself. I did it anyway.

When I’d used the charm before, there had been no outward sign that anything had happened, no tingle of magic to let me know it was working. This time, however, I felt a tingle just above my left shoulder blade, a tingle that quickly turned to a sting. I looked up at Arawn in alarm. He reached out and took my hand, giving it a firm squeeze.

“It will pass in a moment,” he said soothingly as the sting intensified until it brought tears to my eyes.

“What have you done?” I asked through gritted teeth. There was plenty of accusation in my voice, but even so I was gripping his hand like it was a lifeline.

“Nothing to be frightened of,” he answered, and the pain faded as quickly as it had come.

I finally woke up to the fact that I was holding his hand, and I let go with a jerk, taking a step backward. “What have you done to me?” I asked again, and this time it was almost a yell. After everything I’d been through that night, I’d begun to think my body had used up all the available adrenaline, but my suddenly speeding pulse proved to the contrary.