Page 57 of The Barbaric Fae's Soul

“Summer told me that you were all trying to become ilolis,” I admitted, though I wasn’t entirely sure that was the proper way to use the word. It was Remmo’s nickname for her, so I at least knew that it was the correct term.

“Yes. When a fae has complete control, one of their eyes changes, like hers.” He gestured to one of his eyes. “It seemed as good a goal as any. Until the seelies began bringing females to our world, it united us. We made plans, and traded stories about our efforts to change. It was fun,” he said simply.

“But then Naomi arrived, and hell broke loose. The council and I had to create new rules to prevent our fae from going rabid in an effort to steal her from the seelies. The rules meant little to the more lonely, more desperate males. I had hunted a group of them into seelie land, hoping to stop them before they started another damn war, the night I met her,” he continued.

My eyes widened.

I definitely hadn’t heard this story before.

“I was a hands-on king. That was why they chose me—the bastards practically forced it on me. Because when others might send someone else into seelie territory in their place, I would just go after the rule-breakers myself, and knock their heads in until they saw their errors.” His lips curved upward, just slightly, but there was something sad in that smile. “This group actually managed to get past the seelie. I don’t know how—afterward, they refused to open their mouths, and the seelies wouldn’t admit how they’d been defeated. But my unseelies had Naomi tied to one of their backs. She was fighting them, until the moment our eyes met.”

My own eyes had to be wide as plates.

Maybe if I hadn’t known the outcome of their love story, it would’ve been romantic. I was still dying to hear what had happened, even knowing how things had ended, but it wasn’t the same. It was more of a sad excitement than a sweet one.

“Don’t leave me hanging.” I bumped Aev’s knee with my own, and he chuckled.

“I don’t want this to make you doubt me.”

“It won’t.” The answer was completely and totally honest. “You’re not into her. She’s not into you. You never have been. Fate is like the wind, or the sunshine. It’s there, but that doesn’t mean it’s always right, or necessary.”

His eyes softened. “That’s a beautiful perspective, Thorns.”

I lifted a shoulder, not sure how to reply.

“Then again, your beautiful perspectives are one of my favorite things about you.” He squeezed my hand. “The moment our eyes met, I felt the bond kick in. She called us soulmates—she felt it strike, too, but she was furious about it, and made that clear through the entire journey back to my land. She despised that she’d been dropped in an unfamiliar world, without even one other female, and that fate was then pushing her to bond with me.”

He continued, “I was lost as to what to do with her. She despised me, and I’m not one to push myself on people. If she didn’t want me, she didn’t want me. But the bond kept digging its claws into me. I faded over time, as I stayed away from her. My desires disappeared, replaced entirely by desperation. Everything that made me a good king vanished too. And yet my people still backed me, still believed in me, because of who I’d been in the past. It wasn’t until they saw how the Wild Hunt males wooed their females that they questioned me. Then, they started to see me as weak for not being able to win over my fated female.”

“But she didn’t want you, and you didn’t want her,” I said quietly, understanding setting in.

“No, I did not.” His expression was neutral, but sad. “It’s a strange thing, being told you’re supposed to be with someone who doesn’t appeal to you. It makes you wonder if you’re wrong—and question yourself, on every front. Now that I’ve gotten to know you, I understand why her personality wasn’t attractive to me. I don’t want someone angry, or cold, or harsh. I want someone light, playful, and kind, even when she has every reason not to be.” He squeezed my hand again.

“Wow.” I leaned my head back against the tree. “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine going through that.”

“As I can’t imagine what you’ve suffered.” His thumb stroked my knuckles.

We were both quiet for a moment, until I broke the silence. “Tell me a story about the time before you met her. Tell me what you were like.”

His lips curved upward. “A much happier topic. I approve.”

A soft laugh escaped me, and he settled against the tree a bit more relaxed than he had been. “One of the plots to become iloli involved stripping naked and dipping in a natural hot spring full of electric novocannes. I’ve never been so afraid I’d lose my cock in my life.”

I snorted. “What the hell is a novocanne?” The word was pronounce noh-voh-cah-nay, and I was fairly sure Summer had mentioned them before, though I couldn’t come up with what they were for the life of me.

His eyes were bright as he explained them to me—they sounded like some kind of eel-like fish. And I asked him questions, so he continued telling the story, making me laugh at the insanity these fae men had come up with.

I watched Aev come to life as we talked about the ridiculous plots his people had invented, and the grudgingly enthusiastic way he had gone about participating in those plots, however insane or risky they were.

We’d been sittingin that tree for hours, and my butt was entirely numb, when I heard the klynna roar above our heads.

Aev’s eyes met mine for half a second, and then he had tugged me up onto his back, and we were moving through the trees, headed for the others.

Rosalie took the lead this time, and though I didn’t say it aloud, it was a relief not to be the one in charge of catching the beast’s attention. She diverted it flawlessly, and we were back on the ground less than ten minutes later.

Soon after we landed, the adrenaline faded, and the exhaustion set in. Aev’s arms wrapped around me, and I leaned against him.

“Get some sleep,” Rosalie told me, grinning broadly.

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