Page 5 of Taken By the Fae

He regards me closely, and there’s a hint of suspicion in his eyes, which makes absolutely no sense considering the role he’s in here. “What is it you believe you know about my kind?”

Why the hell does he care about what I know, and why is he so casually discussing it with me?I press my lips together, considering it for a beat. Maybe I can use this to get information that’ll help me get out of here. “I’ll tell you what I believe if you tell me why I’m here.”

“You wish to trade information?” He rubs his hand along his jaw. “Fine. You’re up first.”

I stare at him for a moment.Oh, he’s serious. “You’re immortal,” I say, recalling the basics of most inhuman creatures, which until now I believed to be purely fictional.

He offers a charming grin. “Mostly.”

“You can’t lie.”

“True,” he says, “though we are masters at evading.”

“Iron is poisonous to you.”

His grin slips, and he hesitates—which is answer enough—before the word leaves his lips. “Yes.”

“How did you heal me?” The pain in my temples is completely gone.

Tristan shrugs. “Magic.” When my eyes narrow, he offers a thin smile. “My kind can heal living things.”

“Oh, so vampires and zombies are on their own?” I have no idea where that quip came from, but Tristan exhales a surprised laugh.

“Vampires can heal themselves and zombies aren’t real.”

I shake my head at his response, because there’s no way I have the brain capacity to consider the existence of vampires right now.

“While we’re at it, I can only heal things I understand and have knowledge of. I can’t heal incurable illnesses like cancer or dementia. Magic doesn’t work like that—it has to have a balance with nature, because that’s what it’s rooted in.”

“Right,” I respond, the pressure in my chest making my voice lower than normal. I ask for what feels like the millionth time, “Why am I here?”

An unreadable expression paints his features. “You don’t wish to offer more of your knowledge of the fae? You were doing quite well.”

“What Iwishis to go home and pretend I wasn’t abducted and tormented by someone who got all up in my personal space and tried to, I don’t know, fucking kiss me?” The doubt and confusion deepen my voice.

Tristan’s jaw works. “He was going to feed from you.” My stomach plummets, and he continues, “Fae survive on human emotions and energy.”

“How?” The question leaves my lips before I can clamp my mouth shut.

“By physical contact,” he answers. “So long as we don’t take too much, the humans rarely notice anything besides slight fatigue.”

“Oh.” My head is damn close to exploding, and I don’t know why he’s being so open with information. Unless—

“It’s how the immortal stay immortal, Aurora.”

My stomach roils. He’s being so forthcoming because I’m not getting out of this place. “I… I’m here to be fed on?” The race of my pulse sends my head spinning again. “Are you—” My voice breaks, cutting off before I can force the words out.

He frowns briefly. “I’m not going to feed on you.”

Something like relief flickers through my chest, but I’m still stuck here with Tristan standing between me and the exit. “If I wasn’t brought here to be a human vending machine, whyamI here?” I’m still in denial, but the words tumble out of my mouth as if I believe what he’s been saying. What other choice do I have?

“It was an honest mistake.”

“Of course it washonest. You can’t be untruthful.”

Tristan smirks. “It was a case of mistaken identity,” he explains. “I sent Max to retrieve someone, and he mistook you for her.”

Confusion knits my brows. “If I’m not who you want, why am I still here? And how did you know my name?”

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