Page 13 of A Bargain with the Fae King

Elise’s response is a cry of frustration.

Another gust of wind slips through the window, carrying with it a whisper of sound. It may be nothing, but I hear the voice that’s whispered to me so often lately. “Come.”

The lump in my throat plummets to my gut as a flash of pink snags my attention. May’s teddy bear pokes out from under the edge of the bed, flopped onto its stomach. It’s her constant companion. She would never leave it behind.

“Was that window open?” Elise charges toward me, frantically pushing me out of the way to look herself.

“It was when I opened the door.”

“May!” Elise doesn’t bother to acknowledge my response.

Dawning terror grips me in a vice.

He couldn’t have. It’s not possible.

Riven was there for me when I was at my lowest. He listened as I spilled all my hurt, my pain. He told me the accident wasn’t my fault, that I was valued, important. He wouldn’t—

“I’m calling the police,” Dad says from the doorway.

A sick certainty settles into my heart. It had been quiet when I woke, as it is every time Riven is around, as if all life fled in the presence of fae. Riven or…The Unseelie?

A shudder wracks my form.

Dark fae. A threat to humans. He warned me, but I never thought he meant so soon.

Elise pulls her head in, tears streaming down her face, and rushes back out of the room.

“Yes, John Ashmore, 545 Bent Pine.” Dad snaps into the phone, demanding the police get here as soon as possible.

I have to find her.

It’s my fault she was there. That they… they must have followed her scent like Riven said he did mine the first time he found me alone in that circle of trees.

My fault. Mine. Again.

My hands fist in my hair, tugging at the roots.

She can’t get hurt because of me again. No. Never.

I bolt to my room and grab the first thing in the top of my drawer, my favorite yoga pants and an athletic tank. After the quickest change in my life, I shove my cellphone in the pocket of my pants.

Dad paces near the top of the stairs, still on his phone. He reaches out for me as I hurry past.

“I’m going to find May,” I snap, brushing off his arm before I slide past him and down the stairs.

“Amelia,” he calls.

But I can’t stop, not now. I have to find May.

“Amelia!”

I grit my teeth at the panic in his voice, but I have to go.

Now.

Can’t stop.

The door rattles on its hinges as I throw it open and sprint down the steps and into the woods.

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