Page 35 of Rebel Fae
What? She thought everything was going well?! Antonio was dead. Vaughn was critically injured. Ronnie’s hands were broken. She called that “going well”?
I wanted to argue, but that wouldn’t benefit Vaughn, Arryn, or me, so I didn’t. If she thought we were doing a suitable job, I wasn’t about to contradict her.
As we got into an elevator, heading to the main floor, Adaline scrutinized me up and down, wrinkling her nose.
“You look dreadful. Smell dreadful, too.”
One of the guards snickered.
“Before we meet and talk in more detail,” Adaline said, “the guards will take you to get cleaned up.”
When the elevator doors opened, Adaline got out and turned right. I followed her, but the guards forced me in the opposite direction.
“I want to see Arryn,” I called out as she walked away, her heels clicking. She didn’t turn to glance at me. She just made a dismissive gesture with her hand that seemed to saywho cares about Arrynand kept walking.
I cared about Arryn, and I wouldn’t forget this.
* * *
The guards escortedme into a shower with many stalls, but I was the only one there. It was the same place where, during those weeks as a prisoner under the dome, Arryn, the other females, and I had bathed.
The guards provided a clean uniform and watched me get dressed, their faces stern, their eyes voided of any sympathy. When I finished, they made me wait in the dressing room for what felt like hours, then finally took me to Adaline’s office.
There, I was surprised to find Vaughn, also freshly showered and looking pale but firm on his own two feet. His name rose to my lips, and I wanted to walk over and check him to make sure they had truly healed him, but I refrained. As if he noticed the worry in my eyes, he gave me a slight, reassuring nod. I was sure our attempts at discretion were in vain, and Adaline already knew what was between us, but I couldn’t bring myself to openly show that awful human how much I cared about him, despite myself.
Adaline was sitting behind her desk, the screen above her playing beautiful scenery from Faerie. It seemed she liked to torture me with lovely scenes from my destroyed homeland. That or she had a sick fascination with it.
“Sit, please. You must be exhausted after the ordeal you went through.”
“Like you care,” Vaughn said in a low growl. We sat, taking the two chairs in front of her.
“Of course I care,” Adaline said in a scolding tone. “You are important assets to our endeavors here on the island. We had a witch healer take care of your injuries, Vaughn. That should be proof enough. Anyway,” she waved a hand in the air, “I must say I appreciate your efforts to keep the new campers alive and compliant to their tasks.”
“I want to see Courtney,” Vaughn snapped.
Courtney… Vaughn’s cousin, I figured. Hearing this, I felt terribly insensitive. I had never asked her name. There had always been something in the way, and lately, it had been my anger. I didn’t even know how old Courtney was. Was she older than Arryn? Younger?
“Yes, yes, and Tally wants to see Arryn. Can’t you two ever think of anything else?” Adaline did a slow blink and eye roll, her irritation causing her cheeks to go slightly red. If this woman had a heart, it was probably pure stone, petrified to the point of being indestructible.
I threw my solidarity behind Vaughn. Maybe if we presented a united front, they would at least let us see Courtney and Arryn.
“I refuse to keep risking my life out there if you don’t let me see Arryn,” I said.
“And you will see her, and Vaughn his cousin,” Adaline said tiredly. “I promise, but first, I have a surprise for you, Tally.” She turned to me with a smile I didn’t like at all. My hands tightened around the armrests, and a thrill went through my wings, as the urge to flee possessed me.
A surprise from Adaline. It couldn’t be good.
Adaline’s eyes drifted over my head toward the open door behind us. “Come on in. I’m sure you will love to see your niece. Tally, look who’s here, it’s your Aunt Kiana.”
I rose from the chair mechanically and turned to face the door, my gaze trailing behind, refusing to acknowledge the sight that waited for me at the threshold. By the time I finally gathered the courage to meet Kiana’s gaze, my entire skeleton had turned to ice.
“Hello, Tallyndra,” Kiana greeted me with an ear-to-ear smile that was as fake as Adaline’s.
She wore a flowing white gown that hung delicately from her tall frame and revealed the baby deer spots at her collarbone. There was a crown of flowers around her head and fawn horns, and her long green hair draped over her shoulders. She was over a hundred years old but didn’t appear a year above thirty.
Nothing about her demeanor or appearance suggested she was a prisoner. On the contrary, it appeared as if she’d been reclining on a bed of cushions, drinking wine, and eating fresh Bellonian grapes to her heart’s content. If she was mad about the fact that I was responsible for her presence here, she didn’t show it.
“You look...,” Kiana scrutinized me up and down, “terrible.”
