Page 8 of Taken By the Fae

Tristan presses his lips together against a smile, sliding his hands into his pockets, completely at ease. “We reside in the human world. The fae can exist here because we glamour ourselves to appear human.”

I nearly roll my eyes, because he looks far too perfect to be human. “Do I even want to ask what glamour is?”

“It’s exactly what it sounds like. We aren’t physically altering our appearance to be human, but projecting normal features to hide the ones that would expose us.”

“Like?”

His brows lift. “Curious about what I truly look like behind this mortal mask?”

I freeze, suddenly worried he’s going to show me. That’s not something I think I can handle on top of everything else. I shake my head, hoping to shift the subject. “You said, ‘human world’ before. Is there adifferentworld?”

He nods tightly. Huh. So he’s less forthcoming with the information now that he knows he can’t make me forget.

My brows draw closer, and I fold my arms over my chest. “And you chose this one?”

He almost smiles. “Choseis a strong word.” The edge in his voice clarifies that’s all I’m going to get, and that’s fine with me. Honestly, the less I know, the better.

“Fair enough. Can we please get back to me going home? Because I’d like to. Now.”

Tristan steps closer, and my back stiffens automatically. “You’re uncomfortable,” he says, watching me with a spark of curiosity in his eyes, which seem several shades lighter now. “This has been inconvenient for everyone involved.” He moves past me, shrugging off his suit jacket, and drapes it over a nearby chair before rolling up the sleeves of his white dress shirt as if he’s trying to make himself more comfortable. Or maybe it’s an attempt at appearing casual to makemefeel better. Either way, my eyes follow the movement a little too closely.

I shake my head to clear it and force myself to focus. “Inconvenient?” I remark incredulously, pushing away from the wall. “You think this was some minor blip in my weekend plans? Your guy kidnapped me—and now you want me to help you kidnap someone else!” My bottom lip is trembling, and I blink quickly to keep the tears back. I can’t break down. Not here. Not in front ofhim.

He waits until I’ve finished shouting, then says, “You are not the only one at a disadvantage. You were taken by accident, Aurora, but now you know about us. The fae magic in you prevents me from removing your memories, which makes you a liability.”

“I’m not—”

He continues as if I didn’t speak. “My people expect me to protect their existence—that’s what being a fae knight means. I have no desire to kill a woman over a mistake, let alone one who is part fae. Work with me on this. It will help me sell my decision to… spare you.”

My next breath gets stuck, and I sink my teeth into my lip to keep it from quivering. “If you’re some powerful fae knight,” I say in a low voice, “why do you need me for this? Don’t you have, like, an army to go after your enemies? She’s one fae. I don’t get it.” The words just keep tumbling out of my mouth.

A muscle feathers along his jaw. “This matter isn’t one I’d like known on a large scale.” He walks to a row of black bookshelves built into the wall next to the fireplace, retrieving a small box which he brings to me. “As for the fae in question—dealing with her is more of a preventative measure.”

My gaze lifts to his as my brows tug together. “Meaning?”

“Again, not your concern. Now, there are many fae on your campus. To ensure you identify the correct one, I’ll send you her photo.”

I blink at him, stuck on the whole ‘many fae’ thing. I probably sit next to them in lectures, pass them on campus, even live in the same dorm as some of them.Focus. I snap myself back; I can freak out once I’m free of this place. “Fine.” I nod to the box in his hand. “What’s that?”

He opens it, and sitting inside is a bracelet with a circular turquoise charm set around a dainty silver band crafted to look like tree branches. “Put this on,” he instructs.

Eyeing it warily, I pick it up from the box, holding it flat in my palm. It’s ice cold, as if he just pulled it out of a freezer. “What the—”

“That’s how you know you’re in the presence of my kind,” he explains. “The metal drops in temperature.”

I peer at it suspiciously. “How do I know it won’t do anything to me?”

Tristan chuckles. “Guess you’ll just have to trust me.”

My eyes snap to his and narrow. “Yeah, that’s going to be a giant fuck no.”

“It won’t harm you, Aurora,” he says, his eyes glimmering with amusement. “If I wanted to kill you, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“That’s reassuring,” I mutter, hesitating a few moments longer before slipping the bracelet onto my wrist. Nothing happens while I stand there staring at it, so I force myself to relax. “Can I go now?”

“You don’t want to stay for dinner?” He gestures to the spotless, near-sparkling kitchen across the suite. It’s decked out with stainless-steel appliances, a massive island, and a professional grade espresso machine that would have me drooling if the circumstances weren’t… well, what they are.

My lips smack as I gape at him. “That’s funny. You’re really funny.”

---