Page 46 of Owned By the Fae
‘Would you want to?’ he asks suddenly, staring at me intently.
‘What?’ I snarl impatiently.
‘Would you hide her if there was a way? Leave if you could?’
‘Immaterial,’ I mutter. ‘There isn’t, and we can’t. Where’s Grey?’
‘Out. At the arena? Running in the woods? Trying to keep the beast in check?’ Kal waves a hand. ‘I don't know. I don’t care either. He can’t do any more than we can tonight.’ He fixes me with a stare. ‘Whatarewe going to do?’
‘We need to get her back,’ I say. ‘Gods. How did she even escape the keep?’
Kal’s nostrils flare. ‘She jumped out of her window,’ he mutters.
I look at him in askance.
‘There’s mud between her toes from where she must have clambered out of the mote,’ he looks devastated. ‘How desperate must she have been to do that?’
‘Jump out of her window?’
‘Jump into that water. She’s terrified of rivers. You know that.’ Kallum leans over her, smoothing her hair back gently. ‘Why doesn’t she wake?’
‘She’s opened her eyes a time or two,’ I tell him, not going into detail. ‘She’s been drugged.’
‘Why would Varrik do that to her as well? I don't understand.’
‘Neither do I.’ I stand up and put a hand on his shoulder.
‘I know this is my fault, but ...’
‘What do you care?’ Kal suddenly snarls. ‘You don't even like her!’
‘I didn't want this,’ I say, pacing around the room again. ‘Perhaps there's a way. I'm one of the elite now. So are you. Perhaps we can shield her from whatever is happening at the keep, at least until we can come up with a better plan.’
Kal shakes his head. ‘I saw her only hours ago. I snuck into her room. She didn't look like this.’
‘Rikoth,’ I growl. ‘You know his skill.’
‘He’s always been strong.’ Kal frowns. ‘How many times did he hide the truth? How many times was she hurt, and no one knew outside the keep before she set that fire to escape?’
The thought makes me feel sick. ‘We can’t let her back in there without protection from Rikoth.’
‘And Varrik,’ Kal says, looking at me with hard eyes, ‘and the other elites.’
‘Rikoth might have hidden it from Varrik as well … he might not have known.’
The explanation is flimsy and sounds even more so when I say it aloud.
‘You’d still make excuses for him?’ Kal makes a noise of disbelief. ‘Varrik isnotwhat we thought,’ he snarls, and I wince, hoping he’s wrong because if Varrik’s the monster, what does that make me?
‘I have to,’ I say quietly.
I move toward the bed to pick her up.
‘What are you doing?’ Kallum spits.
‘I told you. I need to take her back. We can't keep her here. They’ll already know she’s gone, and if they don’t yet, they will soon. If she’s found here, we’ll never be able to help her. How can we do anything if Varrik doesn't trust us?’
Kal steps back, clearly at war with himself, as he pulls a hand through his hair roughly. ‘I hate this,’ he says. ‘We should never have come anywhere near this circle.’
