Page 41 of A Fate of Ice and Lies
His violet eyes shone bright with anger, and for one quick beat, they turned impossibly black so that no white showed—just an engrossing abyss of black.
I hissed in a breath as I took a retreating step back.
“Teddy,” he sighed out, his shoulders slumping in resignation.
“Please leave,” I whispered.
His expression fell, but before he could say anything, Donnie rushed forward toward where George stood. I turned to see George kneeling on the ground and little Victoria, unattended with her mom nowhere around, chewing on half a strawberry.
“No,” I pushed out.
Her little smile fell when Donnie scooped her up and shoved a finger in her mouth.
“Spit it out, Tori,” he said, his words strewn together in an anxious stream.
Squirming in his arms, the little girl dropped the rest of her strawberry and started to cry. I hurried to her, rubbing soothing circles on her back when I reached her. She leaned toward me, her skinny arms stretching toward me to pick her up.
With her nestled in my arms, I kissed her temple. “Did you eat that strawberry?” I asked, trying to keep the nervous quake from my voice.
She nodded before dipping her face to my neck. I rubbedher back again and maneuvered my body to the side so she was farther away from Elias when he approached us.
He stopped a few feet away and held his hands up.
I tilted my head down to better listen to her breathing, not that I could hear it that well over the hammering of my heart.
“We should take her to Daniels,” Donnie suggested, talking about our town doctor. “He’ll know what to do.”
“There’s nothing to do here but maybe feed her more,” Elias growled.
I looked around for Collette but couldn’t find her. I clasped a hand over Victoria’s ear to shelter out some of my worries.
“Is she going to be okay?” I asked Elias. “Because so help me God, if you’ve harmed her in any way. . .” I fought back the threatening tears.
“I haven’t harmed her,” Elias said, resting a hand on his chest where his heart lay. “I wouldn’t harm her or you. You must believe me.”
Anger and fear clashed, so I clenched my mouth shut to keep them from chattering. “I must believe you?” I parroted back with a scoff. “The only thing I have to do is stay away from you and your kind.”
He blanched at my words, taking a step back as if I hurt him, which was absurd.
“I’m taking her to the doctor, and you better pray to your Guardians he doesn’t find anything wrong with her,” I warned.
Donnie placed a heavy hand on my shoulder, and I went when he drew me to him. I would have let my trembling legs collapse under me if Victoria’s mom had been around to take care of her daughter. But as she’d done so many times in the past, she’d probably left, knowing I’d watch Victoria in herabsence. I didn’t have time to wonder how long that absence would be this time.
Elias raked a hand through his long hair. “I didn’t harm her,” he promised. “But you’ll find that out soon enough. When you return, I’ll have your store filled with the food we brought. I’ll be back in a few days when we harvest more, and I’ll bring as many cuts of meat as I can.” On his sides, he clenched his fists hard. “I won’t let you suffer, Teddy.” He said it with such reverence I wanted to believe him.
Except. “We all suffer. It’s probably the only thing every species has in common.”
But with Victoria cradled in my arms, I wished it weren’t true. I wished this strange fae, with all his strength and power, could shield us from the worst of it.
Chapter
Eight
ELIAS
She hated me.Didn’t trust me.
That realization cleaved me in half, and I spent the past three weeks living in those two separate realities. One where I pretended everything was untroubled and the other where my soul writhed in pain.
