Page 99 of Taken By the Fae

“She’s in no condition to shift,” Max comments, not unkindly. In fact, the softness of his tone is rather surprising. I watch the entire exchange, feeling as if I’m living outside my body.

This doesn’t feel real.

I don’t experience any of Max’s emotions when they pass me again and carry Jules out the door, and Allison’s fade as a car starts, and they move away from the pub.

The room is silent, and then it isn’t. I can hear Tristan breathing, his heart pounding. I hear the faint sound of his shoes against the floor as he closes the distance between us, the soft hum of the lighting above us and the cooling system behind the bar. Things I couldn’t hear before, I suddenly do.

“Aurora,” he murmurs, and his voice cracks, his hands balling into fists at his sides.

I can’t bring myself to look at his face. My chest tightens, and my hands shake at my sides at the devastation in his tone. I don’t feel his emotions as I did Allison’s, and something tells me he’s making sure of that.

“Look at me.” His voice is tight, as if he’s struggling to hang on.

I shake my head, clenching my jaw.

His presence fills my chest with a dull ache before the tops of his shoes move into my line of sight. He reaches out and cups my face, allowing me to keep my head down. His thumbs brush across my cheeks, and my heart cracks at the way they’re shaking.

“Look at me, please,” he begs, his posture unnaturally stiff.

I lift my face enough to meet his dark gaze, and more tears roll down my cheeks, wetting his fingers. His eyes are wide and panic filled. His face is pale, and his expression is strained; he’s terrified.

“What have I done?” I breathe. And then I shatter.

Tristan catches me before I hit the floor and cradles me in his arms, brushing my hair out of my face as his eyes search mine. He guides us the rest of the way to the floor and pulls me against him. I bury myself there as he holds me to him, and it takes me a minute to realize the unfamiliar movement in the rise and fall of his chest.

He’s crying.

What have I done?

Who am I then? Tell me that first, and then, if I like being that person, I'll come up; if not, I'll stay down here till I'm someone else.

LEWIS CARROLL,THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

ChapterTwenty-Eight

Tristan’s heart pounds in his chest, his pulse uneven beneath his skin as he holds me against him. I canhearit, the increased and desperate rhythm. Everything around us finally breaks through the noise. A shudder ripples through me, my stomach filling with nausea, and I grit my teeth against the bile rising in my throat.

“Aurora.” Tristan’s voice sounds far away. He draws me back, cupping my face in his hands again. I immediately want to look away. The pain and fear in his deep blue gaze, the glassiness of his eyes as he fights tears… It’s breaking my heart.

I swallow hard. “What happened?”Where were you?

Tristan’s brows pinch closer. “A group of unseelie fae ambushed me. I could hear you fighting, but I… I couldn’t get to you—until it was too late. You weren’t supposed to be the one to kill him, Rory.”

My bottom lip trembles as the burning in my eyes threatens tears. “I don’t understand.”

“I knew you killing a fae as powerful as Julescouldtrigger the fae magic in you, but I truly didn’t believe it would be an issue because we agreed I would be the one to end his miserable existence.” His back is ramrod straight and his gaze is filled with desperation, as if he’s terrified I’m going to blame him for this. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”

I force a stiff nod and swallow the lump in my throat. I’m not entirely sure I’m registering what he’s saying. “Tristan, am I really fae?”

His gaze falls from mine, and the knots in my stomach twist tighter. A strangled sound of surprise bursts from my lips when my phone rings. I slip it out of the thigh pocket in my leggings, and suck in a breath when I register my mom’s number on the screen.

“Mom?”

“He’s awake,” she cries. “Elijah is awake. All his tests came back normal, but the doctors want to keep him for a few more days just to be safe.”

The air leaves my lungs, and I choke on a sob, squeezing my eyes shut. So many emotions are at war in my chest, it’s impossible to breathe.

“Aurora, are you okay?” Mom asks.

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