Page 56 of Taken By the Fae

“I’m going there, too. Why don’t you ride with me?”

I catch my lower lip between my teeth. The idea of riding in a car alone with Tristan sets me on edge, but I also can’t ignore the warmth and fluttering in my stomach.

“Aurora,” he says in an amused tone.

“Yeah, okay,” I say. “Before we go, why didn’t you tell me you were coming today?”

“And miss the look on your face when you saw me? No way.”

I narrow my eyes. “For an all-powerful fae knight, you sure can act like a twelve-year-old.”

He chuckles, arching a brow. “All-powerful, huh?”

I push him back a few steps and slide off the desk. “You really just came here for a guest lecture?”

Tristan sighs softly. “I was also monitoring a situation.”

“An unseelie fae situation?”

“I want to make sure you’re safe.” His eyes meet mine and soften. “I don’t want you targeted because of me.”

I grind my molars, resenting the fear that zips through me. “Who I spend my time with is no concern of the unseelie fae.”

Tristan smiles as if he’s trying not to laugh.

“What?” I snap.

“Just you.” His tone matches the fondness in his expression, and it makes my heart beat faster.

“Yeah, go ahead, laugh at the human who can’t protect herself from the supernatural. I’m hilarious.” I roll my eyes. “Mark my words, if I catch wind of more fae targeting me, you can bet your ass I’m going to—”

He rests his hands on my shoulders, their weight anchoring me. “Take a breath, Rory. It won’t come to that.”

“Danielle tried to kill me. What makes you think someone else won’t try?”

“I won’t let anyone hurt you,” he vows in a deep voice.

I glance away before nodding. “We should go.”

Never did I think I’d be walking out of class with Tristan beside me. While I’ve gotten used to his presence, I’m not used to the eyes that follow us the entire way to the parking lot.

Tristan goes through the Starbucks drive-thru on the way back to the hotel and orders himself a coffee. As I’m about to tell him what I want, he orders my usual iced latte and drives to the window. He’s paid attention to the coffee I drink at the office. Something so minimal shouldn’t stick out to me so much, but it does.

Max pulls Tristan into a meeting the minute we get back to the office, so I drop my stuff and find Skylar in the conference room, poring over a stack of papers.

“Hey,” I say.

“You’re late,” she snaps.

“By three minutes, and I was with your boss, so take it up with him,” I toss back, ignoring her defensive tone, and sit across from her. “What are you working on?”

“I’m going over the donors for the event. We’ve got more than enough, and I’m still waiting on a few companies to get back to me.”

“Great. Is the guest list finalized?”

Skylar pushes a sheet of paper across the table, and I scan it. “This looks good to me,” I offer.

She doesn’t spare me a glance. “I need you to take it to Tristan and get his approval.”

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