Page 61 of A Bargain with the Fae King

“I’ll see you again soon,” he promises, a little too loudly.

He stole that kiss, and I don’t even have to ask why. My attention is glued to the other king, the annoyed and disappointed one a few feet away from us, as I undo the bracelet about my wrist.

“Get me out of here,” I mumble, my jaw stiff and set.

Galen and Sylvie hold out their hands to me, and I take them. After one backward glance over my shoulder to Riven, who’s not even looking my way, we’re gone.

Solona talks me into spending the afternoon with her in the library. For one, it’s an excellent distraction from…well, everything. More importantly, though, if Ambrose and the others can’t find May, we need to have something of value ready to trade for her on the seventh day, a deadline that grows closer with every passing minute.

“What are we looking for exactly?” I pull another heavy tome off the shelf.

“Something of value. Beyond jewels or food or weaponry. Humans can restore their magic, even just a little bit. They’ll expect something equally effective.”

My stomach bottoms out.

So pretty much a miracle. Or the holy grail. Or something equally impossible to find in a handful of days.

I drop the large book, three times the size of ones in my local bookstore back home, on the table with a huff. It thumps open to a random page, sending the scent of old paper wafting into the air. Just like all the others. The books aren’t written in English or any language I’ve ever seen.

Some have been spelled to allow humans to read them but only a few. The magic terrified me the first time. My mind processed the shapes into words, making sense of what I could not and should not understand. It happened so suddenly and unexpectedly that I’d dropped the book onto my boot, earning a bruise in the process.

Whatever spell they crafted is imperfect, causing a slight headache to throb behind my eyes after a few pages. Better than nothing though.

I frown at the tome. This one, sadly, hasn’t been spelled. Lazy librarian. Guess they didn’t see the point when there weren’t many humans around to read them anyway.

“I’ve got another one,” I say. “Same color and symbols on the binding that you told me to look for.”

Books of spells, she’d said. No wonder it’s not human-friendly.

Solona looks up from the book laid open in front of her and purses her lips. “Add it to the pile. I’ll get to it eventually.”

Alone in my room—well, Riven’s room—later that night, the weight of the situation threatens to crush me. I hug my knees to my chest, pulling the covers over my head as tears leak down my face.

No news from Ambrose means no May.

No success in the library means nothing to trade for her once the clock runs out.

And Riven’s still working on the wards, leaving me alone in the still, silence of his—our—room.

I miss him, much more than I expected to. Yes, we’d kissed a few times, shared a bed…

My thoughts halt completely as scenes from the other space we’ve shared flash through my head. I enjoyed it, my bath with him. I wanted him, and a part of me, which I try so hard to ignore, wants him now.

You’re lusting over an old man who isn’t even human.

The logical half of me knows that. The passionate side doesn’t care.

My fingers trace my lips, wiping away the tears resting there while I remember the feel of his skin on mine. Somehow, despite the horrors of the past few days, things aren’t so bad when he’s with me. The impossible challenges ahead seem doable. Not to mention he knows me in a way no one else does. He understands my pain. I don’t have to hide it from him.

And I need that, someone who truly knows me and still wants me anyway. I’ve needed it so much longer than I ever realized.

Come back to me. Soon.

Sylvie arrives over breakfast and offers to continue my training with Galen. First though, we decide to try out the new running pants and shoes Karin scrounged up for me somewhere in Arbrean.

Fresh air in my lungs, that sweet ache in my legs, adrenaline pumping through my veins… Wow, I’ve missed it.

During the days after the accident, after I’d stayed with my family as long as I could stand without breaking down in full-body sobs, I’d lace up my running shoes and set out on the trails. Cold as hell, windy, a light drizzle? Didn’t matter. The rhythmic motion and pushing myself to the limit let everything slip far, far away. It was the only escape I had during the day when I couldn’t drift off into a peaceful slumber with the hopes of seeing Riven, if only for a minute or two.

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