Page 23 of A Bargain with the Fae King

Riven cups my cheek, forcing me to look at him. His green eyes are solemn. “Yes.”

My heart skips a beat. I want to be pissed, to yell at him some more. But the anger of moments ago is washed away by that word, that vow all its own. How long I’ve wanted someone to want me, even with all my broken parts.

Forever. All my damn life.

It’d be so easy. To lean in and kiss those lips I’ve fantasized about more than any woman should, especially since I didn’t know he was real until…today? Yesterday?

May. Her name hits me like falling into an icy bath.

I pull away and nearly collapse on a nearby sofa. So soft. The plush, dark green fabric pulls me in, and I let it, pressed down by the weight of my thoughts. “How are we going to find May?”

“You’re worried for her.”

“Of course I am,” I snap and gesture wildly with my hands. “I should be out there looking for her now. She’s alone. She could be scared or hurt or…” I choke on my words. A few seconds and all my worries are back, drowning me. “And you! You could have been out there looking for her! You know what she means to me.”

Riven looks away, and his lips dip into a frown. “I…I’m where I have to be. My presence would not go unnoticed.”

“What the hell does that even mean?”

He ignores my question and wanders to a nearby table laden with various crystal pitchers and glasses that would probably cost a fortune in the human world. Red liquid tumbles from the pitcher into a glass.

“Drink this,” he says, handing the glass to me.

I eye the drink skeptically. If I take a sip, will I be like Persephone, doomed to live forever in the underworld?

You promised a year, Lia, the last rational part of my brain reminds me.

“It’s just wine to calm your nerves,” Riven says like he can read my thoughts. “It’s likely stronger than whatever drink you are used to, but it shouldn’t have any ill effects.”

Fine. Whatever. I’ll have to eat something while I’m here. He watches as I lift the cup to my lips. I nearly sigh as the liquid slips over my tongue. Fruity. Rich and light at the same time. Divine. So many times better than the cheap boxed wine I’d had at parties in college or the bottles from the local liquor store that Elise sometimes opened at holidays.

Riven sits next to me, a respectful distance between us. Even Grandma would be proud. “My guards are searching for your sister now, following the captors. They have been since she came through.” His voice is considerate, comforting, and soft like a breeze through the leaves. “They won’t hurt her. Humans are too rare and valuable for that.”

“She’s just a young girl. What if…” I can’t name the worries choking off my words. Speaking them would make it too real. “What if all this breaks her mind?”

He shakes his head, that beautiful golden hair swaying with him. “She’s too young for her gift to have matured. Likely they put her to sleep before they even took her and have kept her that way. They wouldn’t want to damage her.”

“What gift?” I take another sip, savoring the flavors on my tongue that ease the tension radiating through my body.

“The ability to see the fae runs in your blood. It’s rare. It was more common in ages past when the trait was recognized and intentionally bred into family lines. However, most humans seem to have forgotten the gift, or so we believe.”

The wine sours on my tongue. Intentional breeding. Now that’s some straight sci-fi stuff. Though, in a way, it makes sense that humans did that, at least many years ago, when only the strong and fit could easily survive. Despite the thread of logic, I can’t help but shift in my seat. Many of the fae had looked at me as if I were the fairytale creature, not them. Given their earlier reactions and Riven’s statement on the gift, humans must be rare here indeed. At least now I know what he really meant by being gifted.

I wring the glass in my hands. Riven is quiet, but I can’t mistake the feel of his eyes on me or the slow trace of his fingertips across the back of the sofa near my shoulder. “I want to be out there, with your guards.”

He stills and stiffens. “It’s not safe.”

My head snaps in his direction. The wine sloshes precariously near the rim of the glass. “More reason we have to find her. Now!”

He touches the back of my hand with his.

I flinch.

Riven retreats. It’s a dance of touches and silent words.

“We will,” he says, and his hand settles on my leg.

This time, I don’t pull away.

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