Page 109 of Taken By the Fae

She shakes her head. “There isn’t a part of the sentence I understood.”

I frown. “He transferred energy into me.”

“Uh, okay.” She drags out the word, her forehead creasing. “How’d that even happen?”

“It’s kind of a long story, but the short of it is that I met Nikolai a while back when I was human. Last night, we chatted a bit, and he offered to help me. He said something about wanting to change the way the courts coexist. Plus, I’m the reason he’s now a knight to the unseelie queen. He took Jules’s place.”

Her eyes are wide by the time I finish speaking. She opens her mouth to respond, but before she gets a word in, there’s a rapt knock at the door. Huffing out a breath, she crosses the room and opens it. “What are you doing here?” The door is blocking my view of the hallway, so I can’t see who’s standing there.

“Nice to see you too, Allison.” Nikolai’s voice is smooth like melted caramel and filled with humor.

I set my coffee on the bedside table and stand, walking to the door. “Hey.” I give Nikolai a once-over; he appears slightly less casual today in a black peacoat, his hair combed neatly. “What’s up?”

His attention shifts from Allison to me, and he says, “Your presence has been requested.”

“By who?” Allison asks.

He doesn’t have to answer. The tension unfurling in my stomach tells me exactly who.

You answer to the unseelie court now.

“Why?” I ask, my pulse ticking faster.

“Ophelia wants to meet you.”

“Absolutely the fuck not,” Allison chimes in with a sharp tone, evidently having caught on. “You’re not taking an audience with the unseelie queen. No way.”

I glance between her and Nikolai, jerking a thumb in his direction. “I’m guessing by his presence, I don’t have much of a choice.”

“Yeah,” Nikolai confirms. “‘Requested’ wasn’t the best word choice.”

I swallow hard, picking at the hem of my sweater. “When do I have to see her?”

“I’ve been instructed to bring you now.”

Allison curses sharply, her posture going rigid as if she’s going to fight Nikolai to keep me from having to go.

I exhale a shallow breath, glancing down at the loungewear I slept in. I can’t very well meet the unseelie queen like this.

“You can have a few minutes to change,” Nikolai offers.

“Fuck this.” Allison slams the door in Nikolai’s face. “I'm calling Tristan.”

My pulse skyrockets at the thought of bringing him into this. As much as being saved from having to face Ophelia would be a blessing, involving a seelie knight seems like a bad idea. Not to mention what that could mean for Tristan, because he’d do whatever was necessary to protect me, and that could put him in danger.

“I wouldn’t.” Nikolai’s deep voice is muffled through the door that he doesn’t bother trying to reopen.

I face Allison. “We knew this was coming, right?” We could’ve guessed it, at least. “If she wanted to kill me for what I did to Jules, something tells me I wouldn’t be standing here now.”

Allison’s skin shimmers blue and her eyes glow faintly; her glamour is slipping in her upset state. “I don’t like this.”

“I’m not exactly thrilled about it, either.” In fact, I’m chilled to the bone with fear.

She chews her bottom lip, glancing between me and the closed door. “Are you sure you don’t want me to call him?” she whispers.

I nod firmly. “And please don’t tell him. He doesn’t need to worry when there’s nothing he can do about it.”

Allison sighs. “Fine.” She opens the door again and grabs Nikolai by the collar of his coat, pulling him into our room and kicking the door shut. “If anything happens to her, and I meananything, I will release terror upon you like you can’t imagine. Got it?”

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