Page 47 of A Touch of Iron
Alec returned his gaze to the swelling waves. “He learned something he wasn’t happy about.”
I winced. “About us?”
“Among other things,” he said distractedly. “Let’s just say he’s not very happy with me.”
“I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. I ran into him last night and he—”
“It’s not your fault, Vi. I can promise you that.” He turned to look at me again.
Feeling miserable for being the cause of their fight, I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. His eyes darted to my arm.
“What’s that?” He pointed to the bruise on my arm that had blossomed to a lovely shade of indigo. “Is that from the fight in the village?”
I covered the bruise with my palm and looked away guiltily. “Yeah … it must have been—”
“I don’t remember anyone grabbing you,” he interrupted, his voice suspicious. “Want to tell me the truth?”
I shook my head.
“It was Ansel, wasn’t it?” he guessed, putting two and two together. I kept quiet. Alec looked back at the ocean and sighed. “I shouldn’t have taken the high road and let him hit me. I should have hithim.”
“No!” I grabbed his arm. “Don’t fight with him. I promise I’m fine.”
Alec was unconvinced, but the pleading in my eyes forced him to relent. “Well, if he does it again, tell me. Don’t keep it to yourself.”
Knowing I couldn’t promise I’d go running to him, I changed the subject. “Jon approached me.”
He swiveled around to face me. “What does that weasel want now?”
“He wants me to join the rebels,” I said. “He offered me my human life back.”
His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “He did what now?”
“He said he could remove the orb and take away my sight so I wouldn’t see the fae anymore. I could finally live a normal human life.”
“Is that what you really want?”
I nibbled my bottom lip and Alec’s eyes flared. He gripped my chin, tugging it hard enough so I released my lip.
“Don’t do that,” he said.
“It’s a tempting offer,” I admitted.
“You don’t have to sugar coat it, Vi, I know you want this.”
He was right. Ididwant it. Badly. The thought of returning home and living a blissfully ignorant, normal life with my mom was something I never dreamed would be possible.
His eyes softened. “It’s okay to want it, Vi. I don’t want you tonotdo it because of me, if that’s what’s holding you back.” His gaze locked with mine. “I’ll follow you wherever you go. It doesn’t matter to me if you’re human or fae.”
“Thank you,” I whispered. His support meant more than he knew. His words unfurled a tight knot of unease in my chest I wasn’t aware I’d been holding. We had barely started whateverthiswas, but I wasn’t ready for things to end. “In all honesty, I’m not sure what to do. If I accept their offer to lead the rebel group, I’ll be making an enemy of not just the Unseelie King, but the Seelie Queen as well.”
“That is a risk, but the reward might be worth it.”
Was it? I still wasn’t convinced. I could be signing my own death warrant.
“How would they be able to remove the orb without killing me?” I finally voiced what I’d been most curious about since Jon offered the proposition.
“I was wondering about that, too,” he conceded. “I doubt they would want to house it with the humans again, and if it remained in the Fae realm, they would need an extremely powerful object in which to house the orb.”
