Page 6 of Twisted Desire

I suddenly feel as if I’ve been punched in the stomach. “Fuck that,” I snap.

“Sky... hey, I was kidding.”

My brows knit, and I finally manage to get a breath in. “Yeah,” I mutter, “you’re hilarious.”

He frowns. “I’m sorry.”

The waiter comes to our table with the rest of our food, and I don’t think I’ve been so happy to see a human in a long time.

We sit in silence for a while as we eat. After a few bites of my salad, I end up pushing the greens around my bowl.

“We should talk about tonight,” I say, breaking the silence. If I’m going to spend time with Nikolai, it’s going to be productive. It’s time to get this conversation back into safe territory.

“Okay,” he says in between bites. “We’re having the meeting in the same hall as this morning. Security will make sure no humans stumble on it and overhear things they shouldn’t.”

The place is already soundproof, but I’d rather be too careful than have eavesdropping humans to deal with.

“Derek and Marni said they’re expecting a decent turnout based on the fae they’ve been speaking to over the last few weeks,” Nik comments. They weren’t at the training session this morning, but I’m confident they have the ability to take care of themselves and each other. They’re the representatives the fae elected before Tristan and Aurora left, the ones we used to smooth over having leaders with no light or dark affiliation. They’re the voice of their peers. Derek and Marni aren’t fae leaders, but they have the best interests of their people in mind with every suggestion or bit of information regarding the fae that they pass along to us. They’ve been on the road for weeks, helping us pass on information about The Experiment to the fae as well as reminding them how important it is, now more than ever, that we work together.

“Good,” Nik says, “we’re going to need numbers.” He takes a drink. “How much do you think we should divulge to everyone? They deserve to have information, to know the risks associated with the operation, but do we tell them everything?”

“Is there something you think we should keep from them?” We can’t be sure all of the fae know about The Experiment. Word travels fast, especially considering the risk they pose to us, but there’s a good chance some fae aren’t aware of the danger. We’ve been trying to spread the information we have, but it’s hard to tell how far our reach is.

He shrugs. “This entire thing is stressful enough for everyone as it is. I’m concerned about piling it on thick to the point we lose volunteers.”

“They deserve the whole truth. If we lose them, boo fucking hoo. I’d rather that than have weak fae putting up a half-assed fight.”

“Okay,” he says, “so we lay it all out and hope for the best.”

The Westbrook Hotel banquet hall fills quickly. With fae—and tension. The suffocating sense of fear is making it clear the fae are struggling to hide their emotions. The energy surrounding most is dark, muddy. Their expressions look pretty much how I expected: unsure and scared shitless. But at least they’re here. I’m grateful for that.

Earlier this afternoon, we had the hotel staff set up the room with tables and chairs for two hundred people. It’s looking as if we’re going to fill every seat and have people standing, too. Pride fills me. Scared as they are, they showed up for us—for their people.

Nikolai and I are standing at the front of the room, and Allison is sitting with some of the Westbrook Hotel fae at a table close to us, chatting with them about a party Oliver invited them to.

Oliver wanted to be here for the meeting, but I put my foot down. A human in a room full of fae about to fight humans—it wouldn’t end well even with Oliver on our side.

Once everyone is inside and the doors are closed, I walk forward and stand behind the podium. I tap the mic and clear my throat before starting. “Thank you all for coming. I understand it’s been difficult since Tristan and Aurora left, and it’s going to get a hell of a lot harder before it gets any better.

“In the last eighteen months, over two hundred fae have disappeared and are presumed dead. We believe these disappearances to be the work of The Experiment, which was designed to remove fae characteristics from us and make us human. This number is almost certainly wrong. There are undoubtedly far more who have disappeared. We’ve seen this “experiment” at work, and it’s torture. They don’t care whether we turn or die—they only care that there is one less fae in the world.

“You’re all here because you want the same thing: to live peacefully, doing whatever makes you happy.” Many of the fae nod along. “And you should be able to. I’d like nothing more than to make that possible for you. But we’re going to need help. A lot of it if we’re going to pull this off.”

“What can we do?” a doe-eyed, young-looking fae asks. She can’t be more than sixteen or seventeen.Fuck, she should be worried about applying for college, not about humans trying to kill her.

I want to commend her for speaking up. For as afraid as she looks to be here, she wants to help. “You’ve already started. You’re here. You’ve been working together to train in defense so you’re able to better protect yourselves and each other. These are all good things, steps in the right direction.” I take a deep breath. “It’s all led to this moment, though. We’re getting ready to retaliate. To find the people who have been hurting our friends and family and stop them.”

“We’re going to kill them, right?” someone shouts.

“They deserve to die!” another voice adds. A few people holler in agreement.

“No,” I cut in firmly. “The point of this mission isn’t to kill. It’s to put an end to The Experiment. We’re going to find their facilities and destroy them. Without killing the humans.”

Allison interjects, “If we go into this with the intention of killing, we’re no better than they are. In fact, we’re exactly what they say we are if we do.”

“That’s not to say there won’t be casualties. We’re not going to make a point of protecting them. If some of the humans get caught in the crossfire,” I shrug, “shit happens.”

Some of the fae near the front chuckle.

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