Page 41 of Twisted Fate

I clench my jaw until my teeth ache. “A couple of fae ambushed me in the elevator on my way up here.” I swallow, casting my gaze down as embarrassment floods through me. “The woman started feeding on me.”

Tristan tilts my head back up as the familiar warmth of his healing magic shimmers across my cheek. His gentle touch is a stark contrast to the hard, violent expression darkening his features.

“Can you chill?” I don’t want to look at him anymore.

He pulls his hand away from my face. “You’d like me to allow my people to threaten you?”

“That’s not what I’m saying. I just don’t want to make a bigger issue.”

He chuckles. “Since when?”

I scowl. “This is exactly why I wasn’t going to bring it up.”

The smile fades from his lips. “I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“Okay.” I tug at a tiny loose thread on my dress for no reason other than to have something to do with my hands. “Thanks for the healing,” I mumble.

He nods.

“Is everything okay? I mean, apart from what I just told you.”

“Why do you ask?” He clasps his hands together and pins me with his intense gaze. You’d think I’d be used to it by now, but the endless blue makes it hard to look away.

“When I came in, the tension in the air was enough to suffocate a person, human or otherwise.”

His lips twitch. “You’re worried?”

I blink, ignoring the dip my stomach does when I look at his mouth. “Well, yeah.”

“That’s interesting,” he muses.

I ignore his comment. “What’s going on?” I can’t help but wonder whether it’s related to those fae I saw fighting the other day.

“Nothing you need to worry about.”

Images of Tristan’s nightmare scene flash through my mind. Yeah, Iamworried.

I set my cup on the coffee table and cross my arms. “Skylar isn’t here to boss me around, so I’ve got nothing else to do but sit here until you talk.” I shoot him a fake smile.

He laughs like what I’ve said is humorous.

“What?” I snap.

“I find it amusing that you think you have control here.” He points at the door. “The moment you stepped into this office you lost it.”

My pulse races as anger bubbles in me. Every time I think we’re making progress, that he’s going to treat me like something more than a toy for his amusement, he goes and ruins it with a line like that. “Were you not validated as a child?”

He tilts his head to the side.

“I’m curious,” I say. “You couldn’t have been born an asshole, so I’m wondering when you picked it up.”

“Ah, Aurora, you’re as charming as ever.” He stands and walks back to his desk.

I follow, leaving my coffee behind. “Should I go ask Max why you have an entire tree up your ass?” I push.

His eyes snap to mine as he walks around the desk to stand opposite me. He towers over me, but I don’t back down. “Enough,” he growls. “I don’t want to talk about this. End of discussion.”

“There was never any discussion. You upended my life, and now you won’t tell me anything,” I shoot back, my voice rising with each word. I shouldn’t care, and I had no right to ask, but something inside of me—maybe my concern for Allison and my curiosity about the light and dark fae—made me ask anyway.

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