Page 79 of Owned By the Fae
‘Did Kal tell you?’ I ask carefully.
‘Yes.’ His tone is cold, and he practically growls the response.
His arms wrap around me, and he hauls me closer.
‘Did you learn anything else yesterday?' I ask, changing the subject as I see his eyes begin to glow.
‘No. If Varrik isn't here today, we're going to try again.’ He sighs. ‘Kallum told me that you want to save everyone.’
‘Yes,' I say quietly. ‘The Harbinger asked it of me.’
He raises a brow.
'The Harbinger? What does it care for the fae?’
I snuggle into him. ‘I don’t know. I don’t think it does, either. It can’t remember things from ... before it came to me.
He frowns. ‘A before?’
‘Yes.’ I snuggle into him, glancing at the cold grate and hoping Dane comes soon ... even though he’ll do his duty to Varrik while he’s here.
‘I think ... Varrik took it from somewhere. There’s a lake it shows me. It says it doesn’t know it, but I wonder if that was its home.’
‘A lake? A black lake?’
I sit up. ‘Yes! What do you know of it?’
His brow furrows, and he thinks for a moment. ‘A story I heard, I think. When I was but a boy. It was a fae tale my mother told me.’
‘What was it about?’ I press. ‘Perhaps this story will tell us more.’
He thinks for a moment and then shakes his head. ‘I’m sorry,’ he says. ‘I don’t remember much from before Varrik brought me here. Just my mother and the cell we were kept in.’ He touches the back of his shoulder where I know his scars begin with a frown. ‘Being beaten by human guards to make my mother do what they wanted. I don’t even know what they wanted. It’s all hazy and confused.’
‘I’m sorry,’ I say, wishing I hadn’t brought it up.
He gives me a small smile and settles closer to me. ‘Don’t be. It’s not your fault I don’t recall much about my life before. I’ll try to think.’
I burrow closer to him, liking the safety I feel with him, the closeness. I think about what he did yesterday, and my cheeks heat.
'Would you do that again?' I ask a little timidly.
'Do what?’
‘What you … did before. At the table.’
He looks me up and down, and a slow smile spreads across his face.
‘Liked that, did you?’
I nod hesitantly, and I think he's going to do it again when Kal appears in the room.
‘We need to go,’ he says urgently. ‘Servants are coming.’
He grabs Grey just as the door opens, and they both disappear.
Two servants enter the room. A male and a female. Their eyes cut to me, looking at me, staring with open hostility that makes me wish for a way to defend myself should I need it. I remind myself again that it’s likely not their fault that they’re so protective of Varrik. Their minds have been poisoned by him.
The female glances at the empty hearth and smirks as the other one places a tray down hard on the table. There's water on it and a crust of bread.
