Page 10 of Taken By the Fae

I wrap my arms around my waist and hug my cardigan closer as the car pulls away. It’s September, and the weather is still warm, but I can’t stop shivering.

* * *

My dorm is exactly as I left it last night, yet nothing feels the same. Allison isn’t here, and when I reach for my phone to text her, my stomach sinks. I don’thavemy phone. It could be several places at this point: the house the party was at, Tristan’s hotel, or anywhere in between. I groan, sinking onto the end of my bed and making a mental note to order a new one at some point this weekend.

My eyes keep going back to the bracelet around my wrist. The charm stares back at me, making my skin tingle with nerves. This entire situation is insane; I’m still struggling to wrap my head around it. And the thought of telling anyone, besides promising Tristan I wouldn’t, shoots icy panic through my veins.

I lose track of time, pacing the room, raking my fingers through my hair too many times as I try to come up with a solution to this mess. Any option requires leaving my dorm, which I have no desire to do. I don’t want to walk around campus and find out I’m surrounded by fae. So I keep pacing. My stomach grumbles, reminding me I haven’t eaten since yesterday. I grab a protein bar out of the snack drawer in my desk, chewing on it as I replay everything since the party in my head. At some point, I collapse onto the bed and stare at the ceiling, too restless to fall asleep despite the exhaustion that clings to my muscles. After an hour, I give up trying to sleep and force myself out of bed to the bathroom.

After a shower that I had hoped would calm my nerves—it doesn’t—I tug on a pair of leggings and a plain black tank top. I’m battling the knots in my hair with a comb when the door to our room shuts. Peeking through the half-open door, I find Allison tossing her bag onto her desk and flopping onto her bed. Her eyes lift to me when I step out of the bathroom, lighting up as a grin touches her lips. “Where’d you disappear to last night? Oliver said he saw you talking to some guy.” She shoots me a suggestive look, wiggling her eyebrows.

Oh, right. Grant. Talking to him, the butterflies in my stomach, that feels like forever ago. Given what actually happened—and because Grant is undeniably attractive—IwishI’d disappeared with him.

I step out of the bathroom, slamming into an invisible wall. Chills spread through my arm, and my gaze drops to my wrist.

No…

The charm in the bracelet Tristan gave me is ice cold.

ChapterFour

“What the fuck?” I breathe, my gaze lifting to look at my best friend.

“What’s wrong?” She sits up, her expression filled with concern that makes my chest tighten.

My movements are robotic as I pull the bracelet off my wrist. “You…” My voice cracks, and I swallow hard.

Allison scrambles off her bed, her eyes locked on the bracelet. “Aurora, where did you get that?” Her hazel eyes are wide, her cheeks flushed.

This isnothappening. Not after all the shit I went through.

I shake my head. “Um…” I shift my hand behind my back as I fumble over what to say. I want to climb out the window and escape this moment, but I don’t think I’ll fit. We’re also not on the ground floor.

She steps toward me, her chest rising and falling quicker than a moment ago. “Aurora…”

“You’re fae.” The words spill out, barely above a whisper.

The color drains from her face. Between one moment and the next, she’s in front of me, grabbing the bracelet. It hits the carpet between us, and Allison grits her teeth, lifting her foot and bringing it down hard, over and over, until the charm cracks.

“Allison—”

“I’m so sorry,” she says, desperation creeping into her voice as her brows tug closer. “You were never supposed to find out.” Her eyes search mine. “Howdidyou?”

A rush of emotion hits me, filling my eyes with tears. I can’t pin it on something specific, not fear or anger, but a general overwhelm of the whole thing. “Some fae named Max took me from the party last night. He thought I was someone else, so he knocked me out and brought me to some fancy hotel where I met another fae—Tristan. That’s when I found out about the fae, which I’m still trying to wrap my head around. So if you want to chime in anytime with the punchline to this joke or reveal it was all an elaborate prank you and Oliver are playing on me, please do, because I am freaking the fuck out.”

She frowns. “How are you here now? How did you escape Tristan?”

“I didn’t. He let me go under the condition that I track down the fae he was actually looking for. Though that’s going to be difficult, considering he was going to send me a photo of her, and there’s a good chance my phone is somewhere at his hotel.”

Allison wrings her hands in front of her, pressing her lips into a tight line. “Son of a—” She shakes her head. “I’m so sorry, Ro.”

I exhale a heavy breath. “It’s not your fault.”

Her brows pinch, and she looks as if she’s fighting back tears. “I think it is. I’m pretty sure I’m the one Max was after.”

I step back instinctively, wincing when the corner of my desk jabs the back of my thigh. “Why?”

“I’ll tell you everything, but not here. There isn’t time. We have to go.”

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