Page 36 of Twisted Fate

“Good. I don’t want him coming around. Ever.” I put as much force behind my words as possible. “And speaking ofthat, what the hell was that dream invasion thing you pulled the other night?”

His lips pull up. “It gets a bit boring around here on the weekend.”

My jaw locks. For once, I consider my response before I open my mouth. “Don’t do it again,” I say, forcing my gaze to hold his.

“Did it bother you?”

It didn’t bother me as much as it should’ve, but I’m not about to tell him that. “It’s unnecessary. You want to talk to me, pick up the phone.”

“Are you asking me to call you?” The twinkle of amusement in his eyes makes my eyes narrow. “Aurora, you’re so forward.”

“Seriously?” I want to throw my pen at him. “Stay out of my dreams.” I decide not to tell him about what I experienced after he leftmydream. I can’t see him reacting well to the idea of me seeing him like that. Vulnerable.

He inclines his face in acknowledgment and stands. “How was your trip home? You must be concerned about your brother.”

I try to keep the shock off my face. The last thing I expected was for him to ask about Adam. “Yeah,” I say. “He’s the strongest person I know, but no one should have to fight a battle like that.”Or like the one from your dream. I quickly push the thought away.

“If he’s anything like his sister, I have a feeling he’s good at putting up a strong front.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. “He is.”

Tristan steps closer. “And the rest of your time away from the city? Was it enlightening?”

Shooting him a look, I say, “I couldn’t come out and ask my parents if they knew of any relatives that had freaky powers and never aged.”

He licks his lips. “That would’ve been amusing to watch.”

I struggle to hold back an eye roll. “The day we met, you said I wasn’t fae. So why do you care?”

“Consider it a mild interest.” He shoves his hands in his pockets. “I’ve not come across a human like you with such ties to my kind.”

“I’m not some thing for you to ogle or study. I refuse to allow this to affect my life anymore, so unless you’re going to give me some answers, don’t bring it up again.”

“I’m not sure what answers you’d like me to give you.”

I massage my temples with my fingers, squeezing my eyes shut for a brief moment. “Anything that would help me make sense of this.”

“Whatever fae ran in the Marshall line were alive before my time, Aurora. The extent of my knowledge ends with knowing that fae magic touches you and where it comes from.”

I sigh. “That’s it? You’re the leader of the fae. You should know more.”

His eyes glimmer with amusement. “My apologies. I didn’t expect I’d have an outspoken human to answer to when it came to the history of my kind in relation to her family.”

So much for answers.

“I can see you’re disappointed. For what it’s worth, I’ll look into it and see what information I can find that might put you at ease. Quite frankly, it might help my people feel more comfortable with your knowledge of them if they can hear about your connection from one of your fae relatives.”

My gaze lifts to meet his. “Really?” The optimism in my voice makes me cringe. I shouldn’t be asking him for anything, but there’s no one else Icanask.

He nods curtly. “You should get going. Not all my employees are human, and not all of them will be as tolerant as Skylar was today.”

I collect my things and stand, heading toward the door. I pause in front of Tristan. “Why do you all hate humans so much? Your kind are the ones who chose to live with us. I don’t care that you’re fae, Tristan. That doesn’t make you more or less of an ass—which you are—I’m saying that I don’t think it’s fair that you all look upon us as some lesser race because we aren’t like you. Evidently, your kind aren’t fans of diversity.” I remember what Allison told me—about the fae being jealous of the humans—I guess I thought there was more to it.

His gaze is unwavering as he says, “I don’t hate humans. I wouldn’t own a business that interacts so closely with them on a daily basis if I hated them.”

“I’m not talking about you, specifically. Not everything is about you. Shocking, I know.”

His lips twitch, but his eyes look tired. “You’re brave.”

---