Page 47 of Wrath of the Fae

‘Why?’

‘Why do I have these wings? Why does my blood do what it does? Why do I fade every time I create a shield? Why do I growl or purr? Why have I lost my power of the portal? And what the fuck is that thing in the sky?’

‘Purr?’ His brow hitches. ‘You purred?’

‘I purred,’ I admit, feeling my face redden a little. ‘With Reid.’

‘I’ve heard the growl but never the purr,’ he pouts, folding his arms across his chest.

‘Why can’t I walk away from them, Lucca? Why did I just fall right back into him? I tried to kill him and ended up…’

‘Being finger fucked into oblivion instead?’

I glare. Hard.

‘I feel like there’s something inside me. Something… bad. Sometimes I feel empty. Other times I’m swamped with rage and hate. And then with Reid, I was…’

‘Super horny?’

I groan loudly as I return to my feet and walk towards the balcony outside. I look up. In the distance, it’s still there. That crack. A long, glowing line is zig-zagging across the sky.

‘The ground shook everywhere,’ Lucca says, standing beside me and peering upwards. ‘Here as well as the surrounding lands. What do you think it is?’

‘Something Ivan used me to make. So nothing good. Has it done anything?’

‘Nope. We have eyes on it at all times. Nothing’s happened yet.’ I feel him looking at me. ‘We were talking about you.’

I sigh and face him. ‘It’s like my emotions are either supercharged or absent, and there’s no in-between. And alongside that, it feels like I’m supposed to be doing something, and I have no idea what.’

‘You’re doing plenty. You’ve got us the Thirteenth Kingdom back. Quit being so hard on yourself.’

‘Is he alright?’ I ask, relaxing into his chest when he offers me a hug. ‘Did you hurt him?’

When he doesn’t answer, I look up at him. He’s chewing his lip.

‘What? Lucca… what did you do to him?’

‘He left, Pup,’ he tells me sadly. ‘When you fell unconscious, he said he was sorry but had to return to her. Then he turned, exploded in his light, and poof. Gone.’

‘He left?’ I repeat, feeling a crushing betrayal enclose around my scraps of a heart. ‘To return to El?’

‘See for yourself.’ He taps his temple.

I rest my hand on him and seek out his truth.

And I see it through his eyes.

He watches me scream and convulse as my power seeps away. As my body turns into a golden shimmer. I’m still there, but not solid. Gold dust slowly floats from my body. More and more. When Reid takes hold of me, it slows down. Lucca starts telling him to touch me. I feel Lucca’s panic as he watches me slip away. And I feel his jealousy as he watches Reid kiss me and whisper in my ear.

The gold becomes still.

Lucca orders him to do more to me. Kiss me more. Touch me more. To remake The Bond. If not, I’ll fade for good.

Reid shouts back that he won’t fuck me when I can’t consent. But he watches me fade, panics and slips his fingers inside me.

Lucca's right. The gold dust starts to flow back into me.

Through Lucca’s eyes, I watch as my body reforms and settles. He watches as I blink open my eyes and see Reid with his fingers between my legs. The crack in the sky appears, and I fall unconscious.

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