Page 75 of Wrath of the Fae

‘Oh. So why did Elias and Cyrus hate him so much if not jealousy?’

‘Because when I tried to tell everyone I wasn’t willing to give sexual favours for food, no one believed me. So instead, I told everyone Darius and I had slept together. But his dick was tiny. He came too quickly. And I also said that he cried and called me his mummy.’

We share a look, and both burst out laughing.

‘Well, I bet that made him popular,’ she chuckles.

‘No one would go near him after that, and he got teased to shit every day,’ I sigh as I fondly remember his misery. But my laughter dies. ‘He had the same mentality as the men who now follow the King. Women are here to serve and please men. That every man is entitled to sex. And no one gave it to him, so he grew to hate women. And he blamed me for it.’ She’s silent now and watching me closely. ‘He would corner me in empty rooms and hurt me. Make me pay for his frustrations. He broke my bones. He cut me. He got his kicks humiliating me. Physically and emotionally.’ I shrug and look at my hands. ‘Sexually.’

‘I didn’t know that. Why didn’t you say anything to anyone? Ask for help?’

‘Because his mother was the school's headmistress, and I was the only person more hated and shunned at that place than he was. No one would have believed me. So why bother?’ I tuck my hair behind my ear. ‘Reid believed me. He made sure he couldn’t hurt me ever again. Reid was the first person to ever… Never mind. You don’t care.’

‘What?’ she asks gently. ‘Tell me.’

‘He was the first person to ever look after me. Strange, considering how we met. That he triggered me and blackmailed me. He was supposed to be my enemy, but it never felt like that. Reid was Authority. But when he saw I was hungry, he fed me. Not just anything but the best food he could, even if it meant he went without. He comforted me when I was afraid. And all before we had kissed or anything. Before I showed him anything except disdain. One night, I had this nightmare and was completely freaking out. He wrapped himself around me like a vine and held me tight, telling me I was safe. That he was right there, and he wouldn’t let anything or anyone hurt me. And there was no lie in those words. He made me laugh when I was lost in sadness. He made me feel beautiful and irresistible when I believed I was ugly and unlovable. And Reid protected me when he saw Darius lay his hands on me. Sure, he did it with brutality. He broke Darius’s body into pieces and strung him up with barbed wire, naked, to humiliate him. But he stopped the abuse. I didn’t need to ask for help. Reid knew. And he gave it without hesitation. No one had ever done that for me before.’

‘He was never like that with me,’ she sighs sadly. ‘He barely looked at me.’

‘I shouldn’t talk to you about us.’

‘You can. Tell me more. Tell me about Jonah.’

‘Why?’

‘I’m not sure. I think it makes me understand you more. After Ezra and everything, I have no one else to talk to about this kind of stuff. You understand, though.’

‘You know about Jonah.’

‘Not from you. Tell me.’

‘That fucker was obsessed with me. I still have no idea why. I had that hideous scarred face and was poor. He was Authority. He could have tormented anyone, but he tormented me. But even he wasn’t the worst of it.’

‘What was?’

‘Ahri.’

‘The girl you grew up with as a sister?’

‘Hmm. The only person I allowed myself to love. And she let him do that to me. She never tried to protect me. I always protected her, but she went out of her way to make life as hard as possible for me while making me believe she had my back. That she loved me.’

‘I didn’t like her when I met her,’ she says. ‘She tried to chummy up to me, but I could tell she was a snake.’

‘I wish I could have told that. Her dad once tried to lash her with his belt because he thought she had taken his money. I got between them, and he hit me instead, telling Ahri he would stop when she gave it back. I begged her to hand it over, but she insisted she didn’t have it. Hours…’ I scoff. ‘He hit me for hours. The bastard couldn’t lift his arm for three days after, he had worked the muscles so hard. It turned out Ahri did take his money. She brought some shoes with it. Little pink ballet-looking things.’

‘Bitch,’ Tessa hisses, folding her arms and looking at the treetops.

‘So. Your turn.’

‘I don’t have childhood trauma like that.’

‘You have Ezra trauma.’

She faces me, sceptical of my interest.

‘Talking helps. Bottling it up doesn’t.’

She shuffles about, smoothing out her torn and muddy skirts and ridding them of leaves and mud. Her eyes never meet mine, but she talks.

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