Page 13 of Hunted By the Fae Warden

My stomach bottoms out. Is there no hope for my people? Will we always live under the fae’s terrible rule? I can’t fathom it, and I fall silent again, uncertain how to respond to the devastating news Kaiden just imparted. I can only hope and pray that the fae priestesses are wrong.Please let them be wrong. Please let there be another way.

“Come,” Kaiden says with a nod at the passageway behind me. “It’ll be dusk soon, and I would like to see you safely home.” His gentle, caring tone nearly undoes me, making it difficult to keep those walls erected around my heart.

I don’t want to like anything about Kaiden. Ishouldn’tlike anything about him. Not only is he part of the enemy forces who conquered my city, but he’s the new Warden of Trevos. So why do I keep experiencing waves of warmth whenever he comes near? Why do I feel an attraction to him so powerful it defies logic? He’s sworn that he hasn’t glamoured me, and though I haven’t known him for long and we’re on opposite sides, I don’t believe he’s lied about it.

“Mira?” he prompts in an even gentler voice when I don’t respond right away. He nods at the passage again. “Shall we continue?”

“Right. Almost dusk. Of course.” I turn and head for the vines that conceal the other side of the passageway, and we soon emerge within the walls of Trevos.

No one witnesses our return to the kingdom proper, but once we make it further into the city, many people stop to stare. And whisper. My face heats as I realize I’ve become a spectacle.

What will my neighbors think? What sort of gossip will spread about me now? I hasten my pace, longing for the refuge of my house. I don’t have many friends, but those I do have might not want anything to do with me if they believe I’ve been intimate with a fae male. Well, all my friends except Yvette. She will understand, and she won’t believe any false accusations made against me.

Finally, we reach Sunflower Lane. I hurry down my street, and Kaiden keeps pace with me. Once we reach my home, he adds the new firewood to the stack beneath the overhang, then he opens my door and escorts me inside. He places the ax down carefully and turns to face me. When he takes a step in my direction, I back up and lift my hands in a defensive manner.

“Thank you for helping with the firewood, but please, you must leave. You must leave right now.” I need him gone before I lose my mind again. I need him gone before I’m tempted tolet him kiss me… or more. An ache pangs steadily between my thighs.

His dark eyes flicker with disappointment, and damn how it guts me. Why does it gut me? Why do I care if I’ve offended him or caused him any sadness? I swallow past the abrupt dryness in my throat and gesture at the door.

“Please, I-I don’t want any trouble. You must leave my home, and you must leave me alone from now on too. Like I said, I don’t want any trouble, and I doubt any good could come from us… spending time together.”Spending time together?I cringe at my own choice of words, but I’m not sure what else to call the rather unusual interactions we’ve shared.

The disappointment in his eyes is soon replaced by steely determination. “Distance,” he says in a deeper than usual voice. “Yes, distance. That’s probably for the best. You are right. No good could come from us spending time together. Goodbye, Mira.”

Then he’s gone. In a flash of light, he just disappears.

I’m alone. As I should be. As I need to be.

CHAPTER 8

MIRA

After a second successfultrip to Barry’s Trading Post, a day later than originally planned, I visit another creditor to whom I owe money and pay up. Two down with just two to go. I exhale with relief as I amble down the street, heading back to Sunflower Lane.

Things are looking better. Sort of. I have enough firewood to last until at least midwinter, and I’ll soon be able to pay off the remaining creditors without the need to work as a barmaid, which means I’ll keep my treasured homestead. Plus, Kaiden—Warden Valloc—shares my belief that we shouldn’t spend any further time together. Less than a day has passed since that tense conversion, but I haven’t glimpsed him on any rooftops staring down at me this morning, so perhaps he’s going to keep his distance. I can only hope.

Just before I turn down the road to my house, I spot a crowd of people headed toward the castle. My stomach twists. I suddenly have a very bad feeling. What’s going on? Surely notanother tribute. I stand on my toes and try to peer between houses, but I can’t see much.

I turn toward my house but hesitate, my curiosity about the crowd difficult to resist. Clearly, something big is about to happen. I can sense it in the air, an ominous buzz of anticipation.

Mrs. Clemmons, one of my elderly neighbors, exits her house as she hurriedly dons a cloak. She gives me a horrified look and tries to rush by me, but I step in her path. “Wait,” I say. “Where are you going? Why is there a crowd headed toward the castle? Do you know what’s happening?”

She pales and peers around, obviously wanting to make sure no one is nearby to witness our interaction, then she meets my eyes. Her demeanor is hesitant, and I can sense her agitation. Clearly, she must’ve heard about Kaiden escorting me home. Or maybe she glanced out the window as we were walking by.

“Well, I heard there’s going to be an execution,” she finally says. “The man who blew up that building yesterday and killed those poor servants has been sentenced to death by fire.”

Death by fire. Oh, my gods.

Nausea creeps up my throat. In all my twenty-two years, I’ve never attended a public execution, nor have I ever wanted to. I’ve never understood why people gather in crowds to watch. It’s completely perverse and messed up.

“Well, I’m headed off.” Mrs. Clemmons leans forward and whispers, “Stay away from the fae, girl. Trust me on this. Do whatever you can to keep from beingtaken. Run away if you must. Escape the Kingdom of Trevos and don’t look back.” She straightens and steps around me, hastening to join the crowd while I’m left reeling at her words.

Stay away from the fae.

It’s too late for that.

And if I run? If I escape Trevos? Well, I’m worried Kaiden might come looking for me. Even though we agreed it would bebest if we didn’t spend any more time together. I fear whatever force has been pulling us toward one another will only keep getting worse.

I peer at the sky as a large fae male flies overhead, but he possesses black, batlike wings. It’s not Kaiden.

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