Page 111 of A Bargain with the Fae King

“How are you his? Why would he help me?” I whisper. Better not to say his name, just in case someone is listening. In case the memory of this place can somehow give us away to Riven later.

“He didn’t tell me why.” Galen shifts in his seat, unable to meet my eyes. “As for me, I’m mixed. Forest and Air.”

“Does Riven know?” That’d be a huge thing to overlook.

“He knows of my lineage but not my father’s loyalties.” A deep frown etches across his features as he shakes his head. “It’s hard. I respect them both a great deal, but I was oath sworn to Sigurd before Riven. My father is of the Air, you see, sworn to serve Sigurd. But he fell in love with a woman of the forest. He gave up his claims in the Court of Air by appearance but never in reality. He raised me to be the same. Living in the Court of the Forest but serving the Air as well.” Various emotions flicker across his face. His hands clench and unclench as he speaks. “I never expected to have to betray the King of the Forest. I don’t want to. You have to believe that.”

He meets my gaze at last.

And I do. The grief and heartbreak in his eyes, the way it eats at him just to share that knowledge with me… A fae of two courts torn between two kings. I understand the feeling of being pulled between two places. I understand it too well.

“I do.” I cover his hand with mine, just a brief touch before retreating. “I believe you.”

Galen rubs his earring between his fingers. Panic flashes in his eyes and he drops his hand.

“We need to go, and go now, if we’re going to do this.” The urgency in his whisper slips into me like a shard of ice. “He’s fled for the border, but I can shift you to him.” His gaze dips to the pockets sewn into the skirts of my dress. A blue dress in Sigurd’s colors. “You brought it?”

I swallow the lump stuck in my throat.

“And you’re sure?” His hand wraps around mine and squeezes tight, painfully so. The hard planes of his face beg me to change my mind, plead with me in silence. He doesn’t want this, any of it.

My confidence falters, my hands shake.

Sister.The witches eerie voice echoes through me.

One last chance to back out, to forget this whole plan. I might never be sure, but for May, I have no choice. “Yes.”

Galen’s eyes slide closed. His hand clenches around mine.

With a sigh that holds all the world, he rises to his feet. I join him and begin unclasping Solona’s bracelet from my wrist.

A figure appears in the entranceway to the courtyard. “Galen?”

His eyes widen as my heart sinks. Galen hunches in pain as he takes my hand and turns his head to glance over his shoulder at the woman staring at him in shocked confusion.

“I’m so sorry,” he says.

Sylvie’s attention snaps to the bracelet sliding off my wrist. Her eyes grow wide. Her mouth gapes.

My fingers go slack, the bracelet almost sliding from my grip. Her pain is palpable, a double-edged blade slicing me open all over again. Another person I’ve hurt. Destroyed.

Galen sends out his magic.

The air bends and warps, more jagged and skewed than when Riven shifts us. The air around us thickens like high humidity, closing us up in a cloud of magic. The courtyard fades from view as Sylvie runs toward us, and a small part of me wishes to be lost in the void forever.

But tall trees rise up to replace Sylvie’s vanished form as Galen closes his eyes against her pain and panic. The scent of pine rushes in as the magic pops, leaving us standing in a forest clearing.

A slow clap echoes through the air. Chills run down my spine as I grip Galen’s hand, looking for the source of the noise.

“Very good. And faster than I expected.”

We whirl toward the voice as Sigurd approaches from under the canopy of trees. Sweat dampens his hair, his clothes. His chest still rises and falls with deep breaths. He really has run here.

“We were spotted. He will be here soon,” Galen says.

I slip my hand from Galen’s and fumble with the bracelet, hastily trying to re-secure it. He helps, holding the metal firm so I can clasp it shut. A humorless laugh claws up my throat. He helps me, after all I’ve done to him and everyone. All I will do.

“Smart but unnecessary.” Sigurd swipes a hand across his brow, pushing away sweat-matted locks. “Now, the key?”

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