Page 78 of Owned By the Fae
'What's different?' I ask.
It looks at me blankly. 'I don't know. But something is. I feel stronger. More like I did when we first came here. Though the binding is still on me, I’m finding it much easier to bring you here, to rise up out of the darkness. I can speak to you again so long as you are well rested.'
It sits on the shore, drawing me down with it.
'Have you come up with a plan?' it asks.
I shake my head.
‘Have you?’
Its shoulders slump. ‘I can remember nothing that will help us,’ it says angrily. ‘The only option is to make it to the Gate, and perhaps I could get us through as I did before, but the binding will need to be gone.’
‘And there’s no point in trying with the binding still on?’
‘None.’ It throws a rock in the opposite direction of the lake, and it skitters across the ground.
I sigh.
'Dane has been ordered to breed me,’ I say after a few moments, not sure if it’s been able to see or hear what’s been going on over the past few days.
It sneers. ‘Why?’
'Varrik wants to create more powerful Skilled like me.’ I frown. ‘Is that even possible?’
It considers. ‘I am me. Will a babe growing in your belly also become me? I have no idea, my friend. Yet more I don’t recall.’
It lets out a long breath. ‘But I do know that the darkness draws closer. It knows he’s hiding and it searches for him. I can feel its fury and its anticipation. When it finds the fold,and it will, it’ll force its way in and kill everyone. We can’t let all those fae die.’
‘Grey and Kallum are working toward a solution to get everyone to leave the fold with us before it comes.’
The Harbinger looks away.
‘There's something you're not telling me,' I say.
It huffs. ‘You’re getting better at reading me.’ It sounds almost proud. 'Varrik is no fool. He must know what’s happening, and no doubt he has a plan for when it finds him. We can’t let him leave and find another place to hide. We will need to kill him if it look as if he’s going to escape.’
I nod. ‘Do you think we can?’
‘We have to, even if we must sacrifice ourselves.’
I lay back on the ground and look up at the dark sky above me, resigned. 'If that's the price for stopping Varrik, then I will gladly pay it.'
It lays next to me, staring up at the darkness as well, and we stay like that for a long time in silence, our hands clasped.
When I wake up,it's dark and I'm shivering in the bed. My stomach lurches as I feel someone next to me and I realize it's Grey.
‘What are you doing here?' I ask as I drift closer to his warmth.
‘I made Kal bring me back. I wanted to be with you tonight,' he says, his arms wrapping around me. ‘Close your eyes and go to sleep,’ he murmurs contentedly, giving me a kiss on the back of my neck.
I let myself relax and do what he says and when I awake hours later, I find him sitting up in the bed next to me, watching me.
‘Do they not bring you wood? Food?’ he inquires.
I shrug. ‘Someone will come soon. Probably Dane.’
I grimace, hoping he already knows about all this because I don’t want to have to tell him. I scrutinize him closely.
