Page 96 of A Bargain with the Fae King

I raise my hands. “Yes, it was yours.”

She lowers, appeased. “I had to protect them, my sisters, until the fae could love again.”

My brows wrinkle.

“Until they became worthy of love.” Her words are a whisper. The translucent form wavers, almost completely disappearing. “Stay true, sister.”

Her words still ring in the quiet space when she fully fades into the statue like a mist settling across the grass.

I wait, each heartbeat the only sound in the clearing, but she doesn’t return.

A woman scorned. For her vengeance, she doomed a whole people to wither and die. It’s a horrible, selfish act, but… I hug myself. Part of me understands too. If only she could have doomed that terrible king and not them all. I chew on my bottom lip. But maybe…

I twist around, looking down the various identical paths. If I can find the stone, not only can I save May, maybe I can fix this too. Goosebumps race over my skin. Right now, I’m the only one who can. Me, the screw-up who hurts everyone she loves. A humorless laugh carries through the clearing. No pressure.

“Human girl.”

I turn with a squeak.

The Unseelie fae who took May, Katiya I think they called her, stands at the entrance to one pathway. Her tail flicks behind her like a cat ready to pounce.

“Searching for the child?” Her ears twitch.

I pull the dagger Riven gave me and angle it at the woman. “Where is she? Where’s May?”

“What would you give me to save her for you?” a velvet voice asks from behind me.

I twist around to see Sigurd leaning on the hedge at the end of another pathway. His characteristic smirk is present, as is the simple yet elegant attire he wore at the ball.

“How?” I all but scream. “How are you here?”

Riven tried and failed, yet here these two stand. Adrenaline surges through my veins as I twist between them, pointing my blade at each in turn.

“What would you give, human girl?” Katiya slinks closer.

Each breath is shorter than the last. My heart thunders.

“Come with me, Lia.” Sigurd advances, a hand outstretched. “Let me help you.”

The dagger shakes in my hand.

How, how, how…

“Lia.” Riven’s calm voice washes over me.

Tears slip down my cheeks as I turn and run toward his open arms.

“Thank, God, you’re—” I skid to a stop where he lingers in the threshold of one pathway. The heel of my palm wipes away the tears as I take in the man waiting before me. Too calm. Not the cocky fae king, nor the protective man who would have bounded into the clearing to keep me from harm. “You’re not—”

“Lia?”

This new voice cracks my heart in two.

I almost can’t bear to look. Tears blur her form when I finally turn around. She’s still wearing her blue bunny pajamas and rubbing at her eyes as if she’s just woken from a long slumber.

“May!” Finally! I race for her, ignoring the fae kings and the Unseelie woman who glare my way.

I trip over something and go down hard on one knee. The impact echoes up my body.

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