Page 97 of Faerie Hunted

They’d glamoured themselves on instinct. Of course.

Only there were no passing cars on this stretch of road to worry about. Maybe our luck was holding. The private gated community had always seemed cut off from the rest of the world due to our need to access the forest. The national park backed right up to the place and the gates and high walls kept our pack safe.

Outside of the neighborhood, the tree-lined streets would slowly become a city, the traffic increased, and the buildings crowded each other.

Not here.

I hadn’t appreciated it before.

You’re marked for greatness. It is destiny. It isfate. And therefore, it is out of my control.

That’s what Will said to me once.

Had he known, then, what Livvy knew about Faerie?

I trembled and bent down to re-tie the laces of my old Converse, one of the only things I’d asked Mike to help me magic at the bed and breakfast. The slippers Dorian Jade made me wear were a not so distant nightmare

Now, we had to sidestep the guards patrolling the community.

“We can’t use magic here. We’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way.” Livvy rolled up her sleeves and buttoned them at her elbows. “We’ll scale the wall.”

“You really think that’s the best course of action?” Laina questioned.

“We need to get inside, don’t we? This will be the fastest way as long as we do not get caught.”

Which was the name of the game.

Our superior strength allowed us to climb the wall and scale the metal points atop it with ease. Those kinds of things were mostly a deterrent for humans, while the guards made sure those likeuswere kept at bay.

There was no stopping us, though. No matter how my knees turned flaccid and my mind wavered, I hopped down on the other side of the fence and braced.

“I know where we can hide.”

The community was vast but there was a place I’d always gone to get away from everything. Even when it felt impossible to escape myself, I’d known how to disappear. This time I led the way through the familiar streets.

For the first time, my unease shifted into anticipation.

The community green space had felt like a home away from home even when the mansion should’ve been large enough to accommodate my uncle’s ego and mine. During the day, the pack members and rich moms walked the trails there and complained about the minutiae of their lives. It would probably be packed right now.

I’d always waited for night to go.

Still, we kept to a methodical march up to the black iron fence around the park and slipped through the gate. Up ahead, willow trees marked the entrance to the walking trails and beyond were swing sets and jungle gyms and meadows strategically planted.

Beyond the park, a secondary gate led out to the forest.

My heart skipped a beat.

Would she still be here?

“You’re looking for someone,” Laina put in.

“You’re too perceptive for your own good.” I pointed ahead to the sound of wheels over cement. “Will you guys give me a minute, please? There’s someone I have to talk to.”

And I hoped she would still be around, still willing to talk to me.

Tension kept my shoulders notched up to my ears as I walked further into the park alone. I stepped between large oaks which kept the path shielded during the day, and slipped unnoticed through the shadows.

Elfwaite had been the one person in the world who knew about me and hadn’t cared. Well, she cared about my feelings, my well-being, and my safety. No judgment and never any condemnation.

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