Page 58 of Twisted Gift

“No,” she snaps. “The fae are the killers. We’re the ones fighting to protect humankind. The fae are a danger to the human race. They must be eliminated.”

Realization hits me like a ton of bricks. The missing fae. They aren’t missing—they’re dead.

“So you brought me here to kill me?” I swallow hard. “Seems like a waste of time to string me up to your concoction of drugs and lock me in here if you’re just going to get rid of me.”

“No,” she says. “I’m not going to kill you.” A smile touches her lips, and it makes my stomach sick. “I’m going to fix you.”

My brows shoot up. “Fixme?”

“I’m going to reverse your transition,” she explains. “We’ve been researching and testing the process for years, long before you were even introduced to the world of the fae.”

“You’re insane,” I say through my teeth. “I won’t let you do this to me.”

She frowns. “Oh, honey, you don’t have a choice.” Her tender, motherly tone makes my eyes narrow. “Look on the bright side. If it works on you, you’ll have your human life back. From what I hear, you’ve been struggling to adapt to fae life. This is a blessing.”

I cough out a brutal laugh. “You’re kidding me, right? Do you want me to lie here—strapped to this bed against my will—andthankyou?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t expect anything from you, Aurora.” She steps away from the bed after turning a dial on one of the machines above me before heading toward the door. Her form starts to get fuzzy, and she pauses a few feet away. “If it brings you any comfort, I’m sorry you have to endure this, and I truly hope the reversal process works.”

“And if it doesn’t?” I snap. “You’re just going to let me die?” I don’t want to think about how many fae were put through the reversal process before me and didn’t survive. The more I think about it, the faster my heart pounds. Exhaustion floods through me, weighing down my limbs and pulling at my consciousness until it’s impossible to keep my eyes open. The last thing I see before the darkness pulls me under is the door closing, locking me in this prison.

Richelle Collins. I was right about her. Sort of. From the moment I met her, I felt something was off. I mistook that feeling before and suspected her of being the light fae leader, but I knew something wasn’t right.

This is the second time being wrong about her is kicking me in the ass.

Richelle is sitting on a chair near the end of the bed when I come to. Before I can speak, I choke on the dryness in my throat.

“Would you like something to drink?” Her tone is that of a friend asking—casual—as if she weren’t forcing me to be here.

I grit my teeth. I’m not going to ask this woman for anything.

She sighs. “Aurora, there’s no reason for you to be uncomfortable. I know you’re not like the others. I know you don’t want this life.”

The thought of Richelle assuming she knows anything about my life as a fae—albeit the short period of time I’ve lived as one—is cranking my pulse up. The beeping of the machines increases. I imagine it’s measuring my blood pressure.

“You think you know me.” I shake my head. “You don’t know anything about me.”

She laughs. “So, you want to be fae?”

“I don’t want to be here,” I counter in a flat tone.

“I understand your initial anger and confusion. That will change,” she says in what I perceive as a reassuring tone.

“How long?” I force out. “How long have you known about the fae?”

She leans back a bit in the chair. “Since just after my daughter was killed. The murder was covered up, of course. I was told some extravagant lie about her being in an accident.” Her expression darkens. “That’s the thing about humans. We can lie. I never got any real answers. They wouldn’t even let me see her body.”

I manage to slide up by digging my heels into the mattress. “How did you know it was fae if you didn’t know they existed before your daughter died?”

She smiles, but it’s cold. “Shortly after everything happened, The Experiment found me, and they explained it all. How the fae had attacked my daughter, draining her energy before she had a chance to scream for help. They told me the police covered it up, that the fae who killed her manipulated the officers on her case so that he’d get away with it and the humans would be none the wiser about the existence of fae. At first, I didn’t believe them. I couldn’t. But once they showed me one ofthemin action, I couldn’t deny it. So, I joined them. Corrine isn’t the only innocent human who’s been killed by the fae. They have little to no care for the people they share this planet with, and consideringtheymovedhere, I’d say they should’ve known better than to start killing our people.”

Tristan never mentioned anything about fae killing humans. Sure, they feed on their energy to survive, but they can do it harmlessly. Clearly, some fae don’t. Some go too far, take too much. Some are careless, and now other fae are paying for it.

“What the hell is The Experiment exactly?”

“Many things, Aurora. As far as you’re concerned, we’re the people that are going to give you your life back.”

I’ve barely had enough time to adjust to life as a fae, and now I’m being faced with the harsh reality that I’m going to be forced back into human life? This isn’t—thiscannothappen. I need to have a choice in this. It’smylife;Ishould control what happens to me. Would I take the chance to be human again if it were my own choice?No, a voice in my head responds before I can give it any thought. As hard as I’ve struggled to overcome what I am and how I have to live to survive, I want to help the fae into a time where they can live in peace with one another.Iwant to live in peace with my friends—with Tristan—and I want it to last forever.

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