Page 38 of Taken By the Fae

I’ll be away from the office Monday. I’m sure you’ll find something to keep you busy. There’s always filing to do and coffee to fetch. Enjoy.

Skylar Chen, Westbrook Hotel Chief of Staff

My loud groan fills the room as I close my laptop.

“What’s up?” Allison asks, eyeing me from behind her textbook.

“I don’t have a mentor on Monday, which means I’m going to be stuck doing coffee runs for people who would rather suck energy out ofme.”

She cringes. “Okay, besides that, how’s the internship going?”

I purse my lips. “Not as bad as I was expecting. Skylar can be scary, but she’s a surprisingly good teacher. And I think I’ve only seen Tristan a few times the entire month I’ve been there.” Part of me is relieved we haven’t crossed paths often, but then there’s this annoying ache, a weird sort of longing to see him. I have no idea where it came from, but I’m sure as hell doing everything I can to ignore it.

ChapterEleven

I’m in the elevator on my way to the office Monday morning when it stops and a man and woman in business attire step on. After the door slides shut, the woman looks over at me, tossing her long, dark red hair over her shoulder. She doesn’tlookmuch older than me. “I cannot believe Tristan let you live,” she seethes, her light brown eyes darkening to the point they appear black.

I should ignore her, but my lips move before I can press them together. “I can’t believe he puts up with people as ignorant as you. Welcome to thehumanworld. Wherehumanslive.”

Her lips twist into a cruel smile at the same moment the man pulls the emergency stop, halting the elevator.

Shit.

My free hand curls into a fist when they corner me, and my pulse skyrockets, fear raging through me as I assess the situation.

The man runs a hand through his black hair and flicks a glance at the woman. “I’m dying to taste her.” He sighs softly, smiling at the other fae. “But ladies first.”

My mouth goes dry. This isnothappening.

The woman laughs. It’s a cruel sound that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand straight. “Not so mouthy now.” She steps toward me, the tips of her designer heels almost touching my far less fancy ones.

“Don’t touch me,” I growl. I’m about two seconds away from throwing my coffee in her face. Would that give me enough time to make the elevator move again and get off at the next floor? Maybe if it wasn’t two fae against one human…

She rolls her eyes and shoves me hard, narrowing her eyes. “What the hell makes you so special?”

I grit my teeth, my shoulder blades throbbing from being pinned against the mirror-paneled wall. “What’s it to you? Don’t tell me you’re jealous?” If I’m being harassed because this woman has the hots for Tristan, I swear to—

She grabs my face, digging her fingers into my skin, and I can’t help the strangled sound that escapes my lips as pain flares across my cheek. “Say another word,” she hisses, “and I’ll drain you.”

I want to make a snide remark about how that sounds rather unseelie of her, but my head spins as dizziness floods through me like a heavy, fatal wave. She’s feeding on me, and my arms are bricks of concrete at my sides. I can’t move them; my grip loosens on my cup, and I nearly drop it. Lethargy trickles through me, and I struggle to keep my eyes open, my jaw slackening as I slump against the elevator wall and fall endlessly into the fae’s glowing gaze.

“Easy,” the man says, his voice sounding far away. “Tristan is keeping her around for a reason. I doubt he’ll take kindly to you killing her.”

“Whatever,” she snaps, finally backing off. She slams her fist against the emergency stop again, making the elevator continue its ascent, and I stand there frozen until they exit a couple of floors later without another word. When the door slides shut, I let out a shallow breath and tip my head back. My eyes burn, and I swallow the bile in my throat, gritting my teeth as I stare forward, willing myself not to release the hot, angry tears threatening to spill down my cheeks. I’ve never felt so fucking helpless.

I spend the rest of the ride trying to shake off the forced calmness in my muscles, squinting at the panel lighting above me. I would like nothing more than to turn around and go back to my dorm, but I can’t find the will to even be angry. If anything, I’m numb, feeling as if I’m sleepwalking. I have no idea how much energy that fae took or how it even works, but my eyelids are heavy, each blink burning and my vision slightly blurry as if I haven’t slept.

It’s going to be a long day.

Arriving at the thirty-ninth floor, I step off the elevator and immediately stop when I see Max sitting behind the reception desk. There is no chance—absolutely none—I have the energy for this right now. Literally. Still, I force a neutral expression and keep my face turned slightly away so he can’t see the marks left behind from my run-in with the fae a few seconds ago. The last thing I need is a snide remark or goad from him.

He glances up as I approach and smirks. “Morning, blondie. That coffee for me?”

“Did hell freeze over?” I shake my head. “What are you doing out here? Boss man have you answering the phone today?”

His eyes narrow. “Boss man? I’m sure he’d love you calling him that.”

I roll my eyes at that, then ask, “What were you doing at my dorm the other day? Oliver said you were looking for me.”

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