Page 111 of Taken By the Fae

“Th-thank you,” I force out. I’m not sure how to address her. In hindsight, I should have asked Nikolai before we came inside. That said, I’m not sure she deserves the reverence associated with something likeyour majesty. Because even as she stands in front of me with a seemingly pleasant demeanor, I can’t forget that she leads the court of fae who believe they’re entitled to humans for whatever they wish—feeding, hunting,playing with…

She flicks a glance toward Nikolai, her lips curving into a faint smile, before returning her attention to me. “You can relax, love. No harm will come to you here.”

I nod slowly, but the tension in my muscles doesn’t go anywhere. “With all due respect,” I say carefully, “whyamI here?”

The queen inhales slowly. “For several reasons.” She gestures to the seating area near the fireplace. “Shall we sit?” She poses it as a question, but her tone and posture tell me it’s an order.

Nikolai crosses the room and stands near the fireplace as if he’s guarding it, or perhaps the queen.

Ophelia sits gracefully on the couch and pats the spot next to her for me.

Grinding my molars, I force my legs to carry me to the couch and sit. My pulse is still racing, and my lips are dry, no matter how many times I lick them.

“I’m glad we could meet, Aurora,” she begins, pushing her hair over her shoulder. “When I was informed of Jules’s death, I was prepared to kill Tristan Westbrook myself.”

My back stiffens, and I nearly choke on the dryness in my throat as a dagger-sharp anger flares to life in my chest. I bite back a possessive snarl, the abrupt sensation dizzying. I don’t mistake my killing Jules to mean I’d stand a chance against the unseelie queen, but her mention of killing Tristan shoves me dangerously close to not giving a shit about logic. A stark reminder of just how out of my element I am.

The queen’s lips twitch. “I see Rowan’s favorite knight means something to you.” When I say nothing to that, she continues, “I was surprised to learn the person responsible for killing one of my knights was human.”

“He deserved it.” The words leave my lips before I can clamp my mouth shut.

Her brows lift as she purses her lips. “I’m not interested in hearing your defense, Aurora. What’s done is done.”

I grit my teeth, sliding away from her. “You don’t want to know that your knight deceived me for months, put my brother in some magic coma, then tried to use me to kill a seelie knight?”

“No, I don’t. Nor do I care.” She smooths her hands along the purple material pooled in her lap. “I’d like to discuss your future in my court. I believe we can help each other.”

“I don’t want to be in your court.” My tone is bordering on snippy, and Nikolai’s brows tug closer as he watches us silently, his eyes sharp.

Ophelia seems to consider that. “So you’d like to embrace the myriad of restrictions in the seelie court?”

I shake my head. “I don’t want to be part of any fae court.”

“Interesting,” she muses.

“If you were planning to use me to get at the seelie court like Jules was, that’s not going to happen.” I stand and move away from the couch. “I didn’t choose to become fae, and I sure as hell don’t choose the unseelie court.” I look at Nikolai for a moment before my gaze returns to Ophelia, who’s now standing. “If that’s everything, I’d like to leave. My human life may not matter to you, but it matters to me, and I have midterms to study for.” I walk out of the formal living room, my boots echoing on the hardwood, and hope Nikolai follows, because I have no idea how to shift out of here.

ChapterThirty-Two

After Nikolai shifted me back to the dorm yesterday afternoon and told me we’d catch up later—he must have recognized I wasn’t in the headspace to talk after meeting the unseelie queen—Allison grilled me on what happened.

I gave her the lowdown, which only made the panic in her eyes deepen. She respected my wishes and didn’t tell Tristan where I’d gone, but urged me to tell him myself. Except, that would require talking to him, which I still can’t bring myself to do. It’s hard enough thinking about the career fair Allison, Oliver, and I are going to tomorrow at the Westbrook Hotel. The possibility of running into Tristan makes me want to back out completely, but my determination to get a job as soon as I graduate hasn’t changed. Especially with the time my parents took away from work while Elijah was in the hospital… They won’t say it, but they need me to pay them back for the tuition money they lent me, now more than ever.

I munch on a granola bar as I sit at my desk and scroll through job postings. My eyes flit to the framed photo of my parents, me, and Elijah from our cabin trip last summer, and my chest aches. I haven’t spoken to them or gone home since Elijah miraculously woke up and have only kept in contact with brief texts every few days, using the excuse I’m drowning in schoolwork. Good thing fae can lie via text.

I sigh, closing my laptop and picking up my phone to call home. It rings twice before my mom answers.

“Aurora, how are you?”

“Hey, Mom.” I avoid answering her question and instead say, “Sorry I haven’t come home yet.”

“That’s okay, honey. Elijah knows you’re busy with school. Are you feeling better?”

“Don’t worry, my friends are taking care of me,” I tell her, because that’s the only truth I can come up with. “How’s Elijah doing?”

“He’s perfect. After all that, he’s absolutely fine. The doctors wanted to send him to a different hospital across the country for more testing, but your dad and I refused. Eli’s been through enough.”

“Definitely,” I agree firmly. Besides the fact it’s true, it would be pointless. What happened to Elijah wasn’t scientific—it doesn’t have a medical explanation. Fae magic kept him locked away in a state of unconsciousness until I killed the fae who trapped him there. I shove the memory of that day away. “Did you see Dr. Collins the last few times you were there?”

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