Page 100 of Owned By the Fae
‘He wouldn’t,’ Dane mutters. ‘Not unless he already had a way to get to the Light Realm first.’
He looks down at me, his expression unreadable. ‘You’d be safe there. Once we can find a way out of the fold, Grey and Kal could take you there.’
‘But ... wecan’tget out of the Fold,’ I say quietly. ‘Remember? What use is this?’
He takes my hand gently, seeming to make a decision. ‘You can’t get out yet, but you will. And when you do, that’s where you’ll go.’
My knees weaken at his touch, even as I reel at his words.
You.Not us.The thought of him not coming makes me turn away from him lest he sees my upset and guesses the reason.
He gives my fingers a squeeze, and it feels more real than anything else we’ve been forced to do in this room.
‘I vow it,’ he whispers and lets me go.
He gets to the door and gives the room a final sweep, his eyes lingering on the mirror again and giving it a frown before he leaves without another word.
I get back into bed and stay there until Fiana comes. She’s alone, and, for once, she doesn’t stay to torment me. She seems preoccupied and on edge. To my relief, once she sees where I am, she leaves again quickly and without speaking to me.
After that, I get dressed in another gown and look through the latest tomes Kallum brought me. One of them is a book on flowers, which I’m guessing he picked because of our conversation the other day. I don't find the yellow one, but its pink counterpart is drawn in detail. The faerie flower of the healers about is painted in all its glory. The section gives its uses and where it can be found. The book itself looks quite old, but there's no mention of the flower ever being yellow. It’s exactly the same except for that, though.
I can’t help but think that if its sister, the pink flower, is so potent, then perhaps the yellow one is as well. But maybe in a different way. Maybe that’s why it’s healing the Harbinger.
I open the drawer where I keep them safe and I put one in my palm, staring at it for a long time. Almost without thinking, I put it in the bust of my dress next to my skin.
It just seems like the right thing to do.
Grey
We stalk the cunt through the woods. I haven't shifted, but I can still hearhimlumbering around up ahead, and I grin as I glance at Kallum, who's also smiling wide. He looks unhinged in the moonlight, and I know he's letting all his frustrations out tonight.
We’re at another dead end. The amulet didn’t work. We can’t leave the fold without Varrik’s leave unless the Harbinger is unbound. Even Dane can’t get past the wards he’s woven into the very stone of both the main ring and his own private one that he uses almost exclusively now. I noticed that even the Fold’s supply delivery from the Dark Realms came through the keep as if the main Gate is unusable for some reason. There’s a reason for it, I’m sure, but no one knows anything nor thinks much of it. Varrik simply doesn’t use the main Gate anymore.
I draw my attention back to the hunt. I’m letting my own aggravations out as well. Perhaps this is why these outings are quickly becoming an addiction for me.
I think back to the shifter guard Kal picked out in the hallway as one who’d harmed our female. I’d stalked him through these very trees the other night. The memory is a bit hazy, though, as it was the beast doing the pursuing. But we watched him, waited for him to shift, and then we followed him. We trailed the cowardly fuck for a while, playing with him, letting him smell us. It turned out he was just a lowly wolf. No match for me and the beast.
He tried to survive, but in the end, I held him down and forced him to shift back so that I could look him in his fae eyes and tell him why we were doing this before we ripped outhis throat. His fear and the scent of the blood in the air were powerful, but they weren't enough to sate my anger, which is why Kal and I are out here again so soon. I’d kill them all, every single one who’s laughed at her, hurt her, or stood by and watched it happen. She would save them when we leave.
She doesn’t have to know how many we destroy for her.
This guard is no shifter, but Kallum, who had a drink with him in the pub, found out that his skill is at a very low level before he drugged him. Then we dragged him out here far from the village and left him to regain consciousness so that we could hunt him together. We watched him wake from our vantage point on the ridge above him. The fool looked around, noticed his boots were missing, and shook his head ruefully, muttering to himself about getting too drunk. Then, he began ambling in the direction of the village, having no idea of the danger he was in.
My grin widens as he turns and still doesn’t see us. I chuckle darkly, glad I’m the one holding the reins this time instead of the beast because this one’s mine.
It's not often I let myself give in to the darkness inside me, but there’s no better reason than avenging Lia.
This will only be the second one I've taken down, and it irks me that I can’t reap all of them. I know I won't be able to get another for a few days at least. It'll be too suspicious while we’re still no closer to finding a way out, and I can't help Lia if I'm locked away for murder. I’ll have to wait. For now.
I wonder how we're going to make this one look like an accident. We decided earlier that's how it should appear.
As if finally sensing us, he begins to move faster through the terrain, stumbling and cursing his bare feet, and I almost wish that Kal had left him his boots so he’d give us more of a chase.
We flank him and I see him emerging from the wood onto the crest of the hill. The village is still some distance away, so wearen’t worried that he’ll somehow make it back there before we can take him down, but my patience is at an end.
‘I want to take him now,’ I growl.
Kal’s answering grin tells me he agrees, and we start towards our prey a little faster.
