Page 123 of Taken By the Fae

Nikolai and I head for the elevator. Once we’re riding to the thirty-ninth floor, my pulse kicks up. I stand frozen against the back wall until Nikolai nudges my shoulder.

“You need to relax.”

Yeah, there’s no fucking chance of that.

“I haven’t spoken to him since the day I killed Jules.”

The elevator stops on the tenth floor and slides open before Nikolai has a chance to respond. A woman steps on and glances at me. My mouth goes dry when I recognize her as the fae who attacked and fed on me in this very elevator months ago. I clench my jaw as my heart pounds in my chest, anger bubbling violently. This wasnotan obstacle I needed to face today. It must be the universe’s idea of a twisted joke.

She shoots me a dirty look, and that’s all it takes for me to lose control. I’m moving before I can stop myself, slamming her against the side of the elevator, just as she did to me. My fingers wrap around her throat without a second of hesitation, cutting off her air.

“Aurora,” Nikolai warns in a low, calm voice, but makes no move to stop me, as if he’s not concerned I’ll genuinely hurt this woman.

A smile touches my lips as her face turns red, and her eyes bulge. She tries to fight back by clawing at my arms, but it doesn’t faze me. I revel in the fear radiating from her. While I’m not feeding off it, just the sight—the stark ribbons of color shooting out of her chest—is euphoric. I’ve neverseenemotion like this before, and it’s… beautiful. I recognize how messed up that is, but the resentment I have toward this fae drowns out reason.

I’m too caught up in my anger to realize the elevator stopped. I look over my shoulder to see the door open to the office lobby and Max standing there, looking shocked for the first time since I’ve known him.

Nikolai snakes his arm around my waist and pulls me away from the woman.

She gasps for air, dragging in quick, shallow breaths as she glares at me. “You’re a real bitch,” she snarls, blinking back tears.

“You—”

“That’s enough,” Nikolai cuts in.

Reminding myself that he’s looking out for me, I close my mouth and turn my back on the fae woman asI step off the elevator into the familiar reception area of Westbrook Inc.’s offices.

“Long time no see, blondie.” Max shoots Nikolai a dark look before shifting his gaze back to me. “Tristan’s waiting in his office.”

“Thanks, Max.” I lead the way, knowing where to go, and Nikolai follows. He knocks on the door I stop in front of.

“Come in.” Tristan’s voice is muffled through the door, but still, my heart races.

My gaze meets Nikolai’s as I inhale, focusing enough to build a wall around my emotions. I picture it as if I’m stacking bricks around the colors of emotion, blocking them from radiating from me. Nikolai nods, having noticed what I was doing; his gaze is full of unwavering support, which pushes me to square my shoulders and open the door, stepping over the threshold into Tristan’s office.

My eyes land on him, and I swallow hard. He’s standing behind his desk with his back to us, looking out the window. I jump when the door closes and Tristan turns.

The sight of him threatens to knock the air out of my lungs, but I force what I hope is a calm, neutral expression. I take him in, unable to stop myself from staring. Glimpsing him at the job fair wasn’t enough. I want to take my time and ingrain every detail of him to memory.

He looks polished and pristine, as usual, in a black suit and dress shirt, though he’s without a tie today. His hair is neatly styled and curling a bit at the ends, making my finger itch to run through it.

Tristan’s eyes freeze on me, making my heart pound against my rib cage until he flicks a glance to where Nikolai is standing behind me. His eyes, the color of brilliant lapis lazuli, narrow as a growl rumbles in his throat.

Nikolai’s posture stiffens as he bares his teeth at Tristan.

I let loose a sigh. “Really, guys? Can you not?”

Nikolai chuckles, but Tristan’s stubble-shadowed jaw clenches.

I focus on Tristan. “You asked us here,” I remind him, mustering a strong, even voice.

“I asked you here,” he says. “Nothim.”

“We’re a package deal right now,” Nikolai purrs in an arrogant tone, and my jaw clenches at the sound of Tristan’s low growl.

I ram my elbow into Nikolai’s ribs and meet Tristan’s narrowed gaze. “Ignore him. I’m sure there are more important things we should talk about.”

A muscle feathers along Tristan’s jaw before his expression smoothes, and he gestures for Nikolai and I to sit on the other side of his desk as he undoes the button of his suit jacket and lowers himself into his chair.

---