Page 14 of Taken By the Fae

I pull back, hitting the door with a faintthud. My breath catches as I glare at him, the temperature of my body increasing steadily. “Why are you doing this?”

Tristan flicks his tongue across his bottom lip, and I hate the way it makes my stomach dip. “Immortality can get a little dull. I like to keep things interesting.” He steals the distance between us again, brushing his fingers over my cheek as he snares my gaze, tilting my chin up. “And you, Aurora, are most certainly interesting.”

I fight to ignore the way my skin warms and tingles under his touch. “Why does it matter so much?” I force out. “What did Allison do that has her in so much trouble?”

“Perhaps you should ask your friend.”

I plan to just as soon as I can find her.

I swallow hard, my heart in my throat. “I’m going to find her.”

His eyes hold a challenge in their dark blue depths. “We have a deal, then?”

“Fine,” I snap. The word is out of my mouth before I can stop myself; I need this to be over. I grab his wrist and pull his hand away from my face. “Now back off.”

He raises his hands in front of him in mock surrender and steps back. I’m out the door in a second without looking back as I race toward the dance floor. I have to find Allison and make sure she’s safe. That, and if I don’t find her before Tristan does… Nope. Not going there.

I’m less polite this time as I make my way through the crowd of gyrating bodies. More than once, I think I see her, but when I approach, it’s always a stranger. My heart is pounding so hard I can feel it in my throat and my palms are sweating. I catch the top of a blond head walking toward the bar, and I follow. My pace quickens when I recognize Allison’s shirt. I grab the back of it, and she whips around, her eyes wide.

“Where the hell have you been? I checked the office and upstairs. I don’t think Theo’s here.” She frowns. “I texted him, but—”

“We have to go!” I yell over the music. I found her first, but I’m not taking any chances. I’m not trusting Tristan to keep his word. Though there’s a small part of me that wants to rub it in his face.

She reaches for my hand, pulling me through a mass of writhing dancers. I squeeze between two people, cringing at the damp warmth of their bodies, and push a few more out of my way. Finally, we make it out the door and stand in an alley beside the building.

“Your cousin called Tristan,” I pant in between shallow breaths.

She freezes, her eyes welling. “Shit.” She rakes her fingers through her hair, pacing across the width of the alley. “Shit, shit, shit.”

I’ve never seen her this panicked.What did she do?

Before I can open my mouth to question her, the back door swings open with a loud smack against the brick. Four people stumble out of the club, laughing and smelling of booze. They look at Allison, recognition narrowing their eyes before they turn their attention to me, and my throat goes dry.

“Whoa,” the redhead says with a breathy laugh as her bright green eyes snare my gaze. “I can practically taste your fear.”

Fucking fae. I’ve known about them for a day and I’m already sick of their shit. How does one say“bitch, I’m not food”relatively politely?

Allison reaches for me, but the other fae is faster, dragging me toward her as two of the others block Allison from getting to me. In the time I take to blink, I’m against the cold brick of the building. I whimper involuntarily, then gasp when she cuts off my oxygen, gripping my throat. Panic clamps down on my chest, filling my veins with ice. The fae leans in, filling my entire world with those hungry emerald eyes.

“Don’t touch her,” Allison screams, and the sounds of her struggling against the other fae fill the alley.

I choke on the dryness in my throat as the fae feeds on me. Only seconds pass before dizziness floods in, and I can’t move. Black spots dot my vision, and I can’t fight her off. I can’t make a sound.

Allison’s voice cracks when she hollers, “Let go of her!”

The woman doesn’t stop. My knees shake as my ears ring and things start to feel fuzzy.

The door we came through swings open again, slamming against the brick, the harsh sound reverberating off the buildings.

“Fuck!” shouts one guy, and the sound is muffled, as if cotton fills my ears.

The woman feeding from me turns her head, and her eyes widen before she wrenches her hand away from my throat as if my skin burned her. She vanishes a moment later, dematerializing right in front of me.

With the fae no longer holding me by my throat, I sway on my feet. The pavement rushes to meet me as if we’re old friends. I close my eyes to prepare for the impact, but it doesn’t come.

It takes me a few long seconds to realize someone is holding me. I pry my eyes open to find Tristan. My vision ebbs in and out, but his wild expression is unmistakable. He’s glaring at me, his jaw sharp and his lips pressed into a thin line.

Tristan snarls, a beast in a pretty package, and then the darkness swallows me whole.

---