Page 6 of Owned By the Fae
I regard him thoughtfully. Maybe it was the fanfare after growing up here in obscurity where practically no one even knew our names once our skills showed themselves to belesser.
‘Grey, Dane, and Kallum have come back to us victorious!’ Varrik had boomed when we’d all returned through the main Gate, an unconscious Lia in Varrik’s arms like a beloved childreturned to him. ‘They brought my wayward human back with them!’
I’d had to turn away lest the truth be seen in my eyes. As if we would have been allowed to return to his fold without her.
Maybe it was the pretty girls practically throwing themselves at Grey’s feet, I muse as I continue to practice my skill, mostly to rile my friend who’s so easily settled back into life here. Perhaps a few weeks ago, our welcome would have been enough for me to be content here as well. Being back home where we belong, female company whenever I want it. Lovely.
But perhaps it’s not the girls that he likes. Maybe it’s this big house we’ve been gifted by the fae lord himself with its stone walls, glass windows, andfucking wine cellar. A reward to us for a job well done, he said. For not giving up.
I let out a breath. A bribe, more like, a message to the others in his new and improved camp-come-village that good things come to those who follow orders and succeed.
Grey turns away, his expression unreadable. I keep mine the same, but inside I seethe.
He took my Harbinger before I did. I told him she was mine, and he’s going to pay for that … as soon as I get her back.
‘Why?’ I ask.
He looks back. ‘Why what?’
‘Why do we have to go back to lessons? We’ve been out in the Wilds for seven years. What could we possibly learn?’ I scorn.
Grey sighs. ‘We’ll go back because learning is what we do when we aren’t?—’
‘Earning our keep by following his fucking orders?’ I spit.
‘Shut your mouth!’ he whispers urgently, glancing toward the door as if he’s afraid Varrik himself is listening.
I scoff and stand up. I stalk across the room toward him before thinking the better of it and throwing myself hard into a chair. ‘Still can’t hear a bad word said about him, eh?’
He glances around now as if he thinks there could be someone else in the room as well as behind the door. ‘You might be heard!’
I leap to my feet again with a snarl and like the way I make my shifterfriendflinch, but I don’t do anything more than go to the window and look down the short hill that leads to the main street of the village.
‘He’s madea townfull of fae he’s given skills to,’ I murmur, trying to calm down. ‘When we left, there were barely a hundred of us. Now there are three times that number. Some have even been given to each other to produce faelings together. It’s decided on skill level. Did you know that?’
‘I … no, I didn’t know about the faelings,’ Grey says quietly.
‘None have been produced as yet, apparently. No pregnancies at all.’ I regard him with resentment that I don’t even try to contain.
‘I also heard Fiana is on some mission somewhere in the Wilds. Has she returned yet? Has Dane finally been reunited with his beloved?’ I ask, trying to keep the bitterness out of my voice but failing.
‘She’s on some sort of long-term assignment. She likely won’t be back for a while,’ Grey says.
He looks at me, but his eyes don’t stay in one place for long. He’s uncomfortable.
‘The last weeks of travel were … difficult,’ he begins, ‘but we had to?—’
‘Don’t!’ I hiss. ‘Just don’t.’
‘I’m sorry.’
Grey isn’t looking at me. He’s staring at the floor and grimacing as if in pain.
‘I don’t blameyou,’ I mutter through clenched teeth, not looking at him directly either.
Even though you took her maidenhead and then let Dane give her to the rest of the wolves she was running from.
‘I blame Dane. He should have told me he had alerted Varrik to our location. He didn’t even let me know that we’d reached the fourth circle. That lying cunt. I thought we had weeks left to travel. I thought I had time to … He kept it all from me. But I should have known.’
