Page 172 of Primal Bonds

One. Two. Three.

More tendrils snaked over Marjani’s skin, cold and oily. A scream gathered in her lungs, ready to punch out of her chest.

Four. Five. Six.

“Blaer?” Just when Marjani thought she’d break, the silver-haired man appeared in the doorway. “Is something wrong, love?”

The fae lady shrugged. “I thought I sensed something.” She crossed to him, her diamond-studded high heels clicking on the marble floor.

The door closed. Marjani went limp.

She scrubbed her hands over her skin, trying to brush away the slimy feel of the tendrils. And then she went stiff. Blaer? She recognized that name. Last year, Sindre had hired Adric to find a Lady Blaer in northern India and bring her home. By then, they’d suspected Corban was behind Marjani’s kidnapping, but without proof, Adric couldn’t accuse him. Corban had too many allies in the clan. So her brother had sent Corban to India to get him as far away from her—and the clan—as possible.

Beside her, Fane drew a slow inhale through his teeth, and then reached for her hand and glided toward the stairs. She kept her switchblade out as they noiselessly descended the three flights.

As soon as they entered the maze, Fane sped up. She closed the switchblade, shoved it into her pocket and loped alongside him. She couldn’t help being impressed. The man moved as swiftly and silently as a shifter.

He didn’t slow down until they were a hundred yards from the dark tower and its shiny cages. He continued at a fast walk, long legs eating up the distance as he slipped between the few fae they encountered. She had to trot to keep up.

The maze twisted and turned in unexpected ways, but he always seemed to know which way to go. She tuned into her quartz, trying to use the tiny crystals to orient herself, but it was like being on a spinning merry-go-round with the directions continually changing. If Fane hadn’t been with her, she’d have been lost within a minute.

He didn’t speak until they were safely back inside his room. “That’s the fada who sent you the message?”

“Yeah.” She rubbed her upper arms. “It’s funny. I thought when I caught up to Corban and finally had my revenge, I’d feel happy—triumphant. The bastard was behind the attack on me, and he’s made no secret of the fact that he wants my brother dead.”

Fane touched her cheek. “I’m sorry.”

She fought the urge to lean into his hand. She was so damned tired. It seemed like forever since she’d had a good night’s sleep.

“I thought I’d feel happy. But I just feel hollow.” She sank onto the wood chair and stared at her boots. “Guess I could’ve stayed home in Baltimore. He’s going to be dead in a few days anyway.”

Fane slouched on the easy chair, face a little pale. “Sometimes I’m glad I’m not a pureblood.”

“That blonde with the scent of a night fae—she’s the fae lady in your story?”

“She is. Now you see why I wanted you to leave.”

“I felt her energy reaching for us.” Marjani rubbed her upper arms, recalling the feel of those snake-like tendrils. “Like during the Darktime.”

“The Darktime?”

“My clan—we went through a bad time when I was growing up. A civil war. You must’ve heard about it.”

“Yeah.” Fane’s eyes were sympathetic. “It’s just one more story the purebloods tell about the fada so they can justify treating you as animals.”

She grimaced. “Sometimes they’re not so far off. The bitch of it was that it was started by the clan elders. The ones who should’ve known better.”

“I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah,” she said flatly. “Killing each other off. Going after whole families. And the night fae were behind it—working with the alpha, my uncle Leron.”

“I thought you fada have as little to do with the fae as possible?”

“It’s…complicated. It was an alpha challenge that set off the Darktime battles. But it turned ugly, and the night fae helped it along—whipping up people’s anger, encouraging revenge killings—so they could feed on the darkness. And my SOB of an uncle let it happen. Hell, he encouraged it. To him, it was all about power.”

She heard the tremor in her voice and took a deep breath. Now was not the time for her to dwell on Leron. The man was feeding the trees in the dark Appalachian forest where she and Adric had buried him—and she had more important things to worry about, like the fact that Corban had apparently shared the secret of the earth fada’s quartz with more fae than they realized.

“Can this Lady B really force Corban to shift?” she asked Fane.

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