Page 10 of A Bargain with the Fae King

“I’ll explain. Come with me.”

I want to go. To see this world with him, to know what’s wrong, and possibly linger in his embrace. So many mornings I’ve awoken wondering what it would be like to curl up next to him, to feel his strong body next to mine, to kiss him, to—

I shake myself. “I can’t leave May.”

Riven glances beyond me, the direction where May lies slumbering, but all I can see are the massive stones and odd trees.

“It’ll be safer for her, for all humans, if you come,” he says.

My brows pinch together. Words lose themselves on the tip of my tongue.

“The forest grows weak. Unseelie”—the word chimes from his lips like brittle glass—“threaten our land, our people.”

“Unseelie?” I stumble over the word, tasting the terror in the recesses of my mind.

“Dark fae. Wild. Animalistic.”

My skin turns clammy as my lips part.Like the bear?

Riven takes my other hand in his, snapping me from my shock. “Please, Lia.”

“But how can I help?” I shake my head, trying to reason out the concern in his features. As if I could help someone, much less a fae. It’s ridiculous, especially since he knows what I did to May. How I keep screwing up.

“You’re gifted,” he says.

A bitter laugh catches in the back of my throat. I’m anything but.

“You can see me, my world. You can help my magic, heal the land, give us a chance against the dark fae. But if we weaken, if they win…” Shadows cloud his eyes. The very trees stir and shake as if in terror.

Dark fae.Unseelie. A threat to him and to us. They shouldn’t be real, but if Riven exists, so could they. The world around me spins, closing in like a looming darkness. If not for his steady hand, I might stumble.

He shakes his head, and the look is gone. “You don’t know the horrors they’ve wrought against humans in the past, what they could do again if they get through this door or any other.”

I stare into his eyes, which almost seem to glow a soft, eerie green. It’s mesmerizing. Breathtaking. His hands flex around mine. Heavy breaths rise and fall from his chest as the full silence stretches. Riven’s gaze begs as much as his words from moments ago. This man, this fae, led me from my own darkness so many times. If I can help, shouldn’t I try?

An answer blooms from my heart, crawling up to the tip of my tongue.Yes, I’ll go. I’ll help.

“Lia?” a soft voice calls close by, but also far away.

May. I pull away from him, and once again, I’m in the circle of trees. I twist and turn, but no matter where I look, Riven is gone. Or…on the other side of the door?

“Riven?” A tinge of panic cracks through his name.

“Who?” May looks at me funny as she rubs the sleep from her eyes.

May. That’s right. How could I ever think to leave her here?

“I—” But I can’t answer her question either. She wouldn’t understand, and it’d be worse if she did. A kid knowing about Faery? No way. She’d want to go. She’d beg and whine and tell our parents all about it. May wasn’t one to quickly move on either. It’d be a mess. And if she did go there… Nope, no way. My little sister is not going to another world with people who aren’t even human.

“Let’s go. Mom and Dad will be worried.” I’ve known Elise more than half my life, but it’s still weird to call her Mom. It’s not that I don’t like Elise—I really do—but Mom isn’t a happy word for me, not since mine left ages ago. I like her better as Elise. I do it for May though.

I shoo May toward the path and glance over my shoulder, hoping to see Riven, to explain. But he’s nowhere to be seen.

May shrugs then straightens with a grin.

“Race you to the bottom!” She’s past the ring of trees before I fully register what she’s said.

“May! Don’t run!” Shit, if she falls—

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