Page 48 of Owned By the Fae
Lia
I'm in my bed. I blink, trying to get my sluggish mind to work properly, trying to remember. There was something I was doing, something that was important. I gasp and sit up, grasping my middle as the pain robs me of my breath.
The jump from my room and the impact of the water hurt me more than I thought. I remember getting out and hiding on the bank of the moat in the setting sun, but after that, there’s nothing but flashes of events that may or may not have happened.
I hear someone clear their throat, and I gasp again, my eyes finding a figure in the corner of my room. He’s sitting in one of the chairs, and my stomach does a flip when, at first, I think I see Rikoth.
But it’s not the fae who’s been ordered to breed me.
‘Dane?’ I ask, my brow furrowing. ‘What are you doing here?’
I haven’t seen him once since Varrik brought me back, since the day that he … I look away from him. My chest aches, and it’s not from the fall or Varrik’s torture.
I look around the room again, pretending to be engrossed in the cracks of the wall while I wait for him to tell me why he’s in my room.
‘You came to me,’ he says quietly. ‘You asked for my help.’
I frown. ‘I was trying to …’ I say very quietly, recalling my plan, though not the execution of it.
I must have made it to The Cunty Betrayer’s house except …
‘You brought me back.’
I can’t keep the accusation out of my tone, and I bite my lip to keep it from quivering.
Of course he did.
He gives me a condescending look as if I’m the stupidest female he’s ever laid eyes on. ‘Yes, I brought you back.’ He steps closer. ‘What else could I have done?’ he whispers.
‘Why am I surprised that you didn’t even try to help me?’ I shake my head, tears clouding my vision.
Why couldn’t I have found one of the others? Why him?
‘Why did you come to me, then, if you were so sure I’d fail you?’ he snarls.
‘I didn't!’ I hiss back through clenched teeth. ‘I wasn't trying to find you!’
Realization dawns on his face. ‘You were looking for Kallum.’
I level my gaze at him. ‘I'd even have taken Grey’s indecision. But not you.’
‘Well, then you aren’t going to like what I have to tell you then, Harbinger,’ he says, sitting on the edge of my bed.
I shift away from him immediately, and he sighs. ‘The healer is coming.’
I wince. ‘So Varrik has decided I've suffered enough?’ I scoff. ‘You should leave. Rikoth will be here soon. He’ll come after the healer, I expect,’ I say, looking away toward the table.
Is he going to bother trying to drug me again, or will he just hold me down?
No matter how he does it, he’ll make me suffer for running. I probably made him look bad in front of the fae lord. Desolation has me lying down on my side and curling into a ball.
‘Rikoth won't be coming,’ Dane says quietly. ‘Varrik … changed his mind as you escaped on Rikoth’s watch.’
‘Changed his mind?’ I ask, the hope I hear in my voice making me cringe.
‘Aye.’ He stands up and takes a few steps back. ‘You will now submit to me, not him.’
My mouth opens and closes several times before I’m finally able to grind out an incredulous ‘you?’.
