Page 143 of Never Kiss a Fae
So yeah, just friends. That was why Sol never brought up the Solstice Ball again and why Vox seemed to only open up to me while in the kitchen. And Cyrus, well, he was just an ass. Nothing new there.
The pixies continued yipping while I yawned.
“Tired?” Elana asked, her gray eyes holding a touch of motherly concern.
I nodded. “I didn’t sleep well last night.”Or the night before. Or the night before that. And, well, for the last four or five weeks.
Exos came to me every night, causing me to awaken with a broken heart every morning. I could feel our connection wilting with each passing day, the bond corroding over time. Cyrus said it was a result of Exos closing me off, that if we didn’t rekindle the relationship soon, it would wither and die and we would never be linked again.
My chest ached at the thought.
But I had no idea how to find him. He’d shut me out with a few whispered words about not giving up on him. Well, that would never happen. However, it would have been nice to be given a clue about his situation.
“Are you all right, Claire?” Elana studied me in that uncanny way of hers. “You’re making great strides in your control. I mean, that evidence is dancing on the table.”
I forced a smile at the show and shook my head. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just been a long month.”
“Exos,” she said, giving a knowing nod as my gaze flew upward to hers. “I had wondered why he would leave in such a crucial time of your relationship. Perhaps you should call him home?”
Such an innocent question underlined in genuine concern.
Cyrus thought she might be behind Exos’s kidnapping, but after five sessions with her, I knew he was wrong. This woman cared too much about peace and finding harmony among the fae to harm another. She often cried when we had to dismiss the pixies, and they weren’t even real.
I sighed. “I miss him.”But I can’t tell you why or where he is.Because even if I knew her to be innocent, I couldn’t bring myself to betray Cyrus’s trust. He was busy working this case from other angles, not that he seemed to be getting anywhere.
But if anyone cared for Exos as much as I did, it was Cyrus.
So I would trust him until he gave me a reason not to.
“Call him home,” she said again. “Or tell Cyrus to.” A knowing glimmer creased her eyes into a smile. “Or I can tell him to, if you prefer. I know how intimidating Cyrus can be.”
“Oh? I think he’s positively charming,” I deadpanned.
She laughed outright. “Isn’t he just?” She swiped a tear from the edge of her gaze and shook her head. “He’s a stubborn one; that’s for sure.”
“Understatement,” I muttered. “I’m sure he means well, but yeah, he’s a force of nature.”
Elana nodded. “Yes. He’s definitely his father’s son. Strong-willed and dominant and unfailingly loyal.” She finished her tea and set it off to the side with an indulgent smile. “You may not want to hear it, but you’re very much like your mother, Claire. The history everyone speaks about her is tainted in so many ways.” She lost some of her sparkle, her features falling. “The Ophelia I knew was determined, smart, and so very talented.”
I leaned forward, intrigued to hear more about the mother I didn’t know. Elana had mentioned her in passing a few times but never provided much context. This was the first time she’d indicated any doubts about my mother’s legacy. “What do you mean by ‘tainted’?” I asked.
She sighed, waving her hand and dissolving the pixies to dust on the table. Normally, this was when she shed a tear, but she seemed too distracted by the past to see the present.
“There’s so much about those days that remains unclear. I mean, for one, they never found your mother’s body. And Mortus sometimes swears he can sense her.”
“Wait… I thought he killed her?” Why would he talk about sensing her if he knew she was dead? Did he believe in ghosts or something?
“Oh, he claims to have killed her, yes. But no one actually found her remains.” She pinched her lips to the side, and then sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know why I even bother speculating. It was an impossible fight for her to survive, and her body likely dissolved beneath the energy backlash of a failed bond. But the plague that followed doesn’t really make any sense. Fae dropped to the earth in waves, their souls snatched from their bodies as if sucked up into the clouds. It was all verysuspicious, for lack of a better term.”
Elana swallowed, her hands clasping tightly over the ornate table of her dining room. Ghosts danced in her gaze, painting a haunting history one had to live through to understand, and it scattered goose bumps down my arms.
“Chaos rained down upon us, Claire. For weeks. It’s truly hard to say what did and did not occur.” Her silver eyes met mine, her expression grim. “Your mother’s infidelity is absolute and you’re living proof, but circumstances of that decision seem, well, harsh.”
“The plague is spreading to the Earth Fae.” I’d witnessed it with my own eyes. Two Earth Fae students had gone home ill in the last month, leaving Sol even more aloof each time. He seemed to blame himself for surviving, and I saw the worry in his gaze for each of his classmates. I wished there was something I could do, even if it was just to talk to him, but whenever I brought it up, he changed the topic to training or some sort of instruction. Then he’d find a way to excuse himself.
“It is spreading, yes,” Elana confirmed quietly. “They blame the Spirit Fae, but there’s not many of us left to take credit. Which is why I’m so focused on harmony—because I believe the cause isn’t a shattered bond at all, but distrust amongst fae kind. Rather than work together to survive, we’ve divided our elements into kingdoms and fight for power amongst ourselves. It’s why you’re so important, Claire. You hold the key to bring us all together.”
“Because I have all five elements,” I whispered.
