Page 82 of Taken By the Fae

He places his hands on my shoulders, looking into my eyes. “According to the background Skylar was able to access, Collins has a perfect record. Nothing of concern has ever been reported, and she’s won several medical awards in the last decade.”

“Still,” I mumble, though his words make me feel a little better about her.

“We’ll continue to monitor things here, and if I need to intervene, you know I will.”

“Right.” I sigh. “We should leave before she comes back to check on him.”

“I’ll get someone from my team to come look out for Elijah. Nothing will happen to him here. I give you my word.”

“All right,” I say, because what other choice do I have?

* * *

We end up driving around the city with me pointing out the places I frequented growing up. The café my friends and I got coffee almost daily in high school, the pizzeria Mom and Dad ordered from every Friday night, even the park where I had my first kiss—I mean, if you count an eighth-grade dare.

“I enjoy hearing about your life,” Tristan says as we head downtown.

My cheeks flush and a faint smile curls my lips. “Yeah, my pre-fae life was definitely not as exciting, but I have some really wonderful memories here.”

Tristan chuckles. “Where to next? You wanted to pick up dinner for your parents?”

“Yeah. There’s an amazing hole-in-the-wall restaurant a few blocks down.”

“You got it.” He pulls back out onto the street and holds one hand out to me, keeping the other on the wheel.

I slide my hand into his, resting it on the gearshift. “Thank you,” I murmur.

It only takes a few minutes to get to the family-owned Chinese place. My family has been ordering from this restaurant since I was born, and from what I can tell, it’s still as amazing as it was over a decade ago.

“Do you want to sit for a little while before I take you home?”

I nod. “That would be nice.”

The waitress I’ve chatted with frequently, Tess, seats us in the far back booth and leaves us with menus. I scan mine as if I don’t already know what I’m going to order. I peek over at Tristan, watching him for a moment before his eyes flick up and catch me staring.

He shoots me a grin and sets his menu on the table. “Do you know what you want?”

I nod, dropping mine on top of his. “I always get the same thing.”

When Tess returns with water glasses, I hand her the menus and order the kung pao chicken and vegetable chow mein.

“Same for me, please,” Tristan says.

Tess scribbles down what we want and smiles before she hurries off to get our order in.

“Crap,” I mutter after taking a sip of my water. “I left my phone in the car. I should grab it in case my parents call.”

“I’ll get it,” he offers.

I shake my head, standing. “Toss me your key? I’ll be right back.”

He fishes the key out of his pocket and drops it into my open hand. “So stubborn,” he murmurs.

It’s my turn to shoot him a grin as I walk backward to the front door. Outside, I head toward the parking lot at the back, unlocking the car as I approach the passenger side. Swiping my phone out of the cup holder, I slip it into the pocket of my leggings and lock the car after I shut the door.

Before I can turn around, a hand clamps over my mouth as someone slams me against the car. I cry out, pain shooting across my face where it hit the window. I spin around to face my assailant and wince when he grabs me by my throat. His dark brown eyes narrow, his white-blond hair flying all over the place with the wind.

“Aurora,” he purrs, cocking his head to the side. He looks over my face as his fingers dig into my jaw.