Page 21 of Hellish Fae
I flop off of Ryke’s chest and land on my ass at my mother’s feet. Her shining emerald eyes reflect my image, and I feel like a child again, sitting in the dirt staring up at her. Ever so slowly, I drop the glamour that is her image. It shakes off of me like dust, and soon my long silver hair hangs around my face once again.
Her smile is soft, and her skin is as smooth and flawless as ever.
“You shouldn’t be here, Ari.” She lowers herself down, and I’m all too aware of how she fans her crimson wings out, shadowing me and concealing me from any watchful eyes in the windows of the castle. Like my brother. “You need to leave. Don’t be reckless. Do not be like my sister, Sweet Ari,” she whispers as her slender hands tremble and caress my face with the lightest touch.
My mother’s sister. I’ve heard about the mysterious woman more times than I can count. We don’t speak her name though. She was a light fae and light fae are beneath dark fae in my father’s mind. Everyone is really…
She was really just a woman who ran off to the Bin because she loved a demon.
In my father’s eyes, that woman is a disgrace to fae. She chose a demon, of all things, over her own kind.
Even as a little girl, my brash decisions were always compared to hers.
Some things never change.
“Mom,” I have barely breathed her name out when she shakes her head at me.
“Leave. Before he sees you. Leave and stay in the Bin, please. Stay safe. All I want is for you to stay safe, Ari.”
Her hands grip mine tightly, and there’s so much tension in my throat that I can’t get a single word out among the pressing feelings.
Her big emerald eyes sweep to the demon sitting at my side.
“Get her out of here,” she says in a rush.
She releases me, and I stumble against the bricks to reach for her fleeting figure. But a stinging warm hand wraps around my hips.
And then smoke erupts around us once more.
7
Cruel Curses
My shuddering breath hurts my lungs, and when my damp eyes open, I’m in the training room of my sister’s house. Ryke still holds me, my back flush against his chest. His head lowers against my hair as I fight for a single gasp of air.
I was shoved away from my family once more.
More importantly, Ryke took me away.
My elbow thrusts back into his chest, and he falls back from me with a satisfying thud.
The asshole.
The swiftness of my moves surprises even me as I stand and whirl to him in the span of a single heartbeat. Irrationally, I grab the wooden sword from the rack and smack it against his chin until his glaring green gaze is pinned on me.
“Do not ever smoke me again. It’s unnatural and disorienting for fae. If I want to leave, I fucking will.” I almost turn away from him when he grabs the end of the blunt sword and pulls me down with quick force. His fingers thread through my hair, and he pulls me even closer, his warm breath fanning my cheek as his fingers sting into my scalp.
“Stop treating me like a dog. I know I’m a demon. I know you fucking hate me, but smack me around again and I won’t be this nice with my warnings in the future, Crow.” He holds me there with my head tilted back so harshly that my lips nearly skim his. It’s like he wants me to choke on his words while he devours my shaking breaths.
The heat of his body burns into mine, but the fucking tears streaming down my face have nothing to do with physical pain. I hate that he’s watching me like this. I hate how exposed I feel, and I can’t turn my head away from him no matter how hard I try.
I breathe through it, fanning my breath against his lips until his hold on me loosens just slightly. The aggression shining in his pretty eyes softens, and he sees me for how fucked my emotions really are right now.
When my emotions are scattered, so is Catherine. I feel her shaking to life inside me, and I hate the uncontrollable way she makes me feel. Like she owns my body more than I do.
I need to get out of here. I need to calm down. I need to think of something else. Anything else.
“Ari,” Ryke whispers, his fingers sliding slowly from my hair to cradle my neck, my jaw, my lips.
