Page 111 of Wrath of the Fae

‘I never thought I’d be doing this again,’ Reid whispers, his voice drifting into my dreams. ‘Watching her sleep. Stroking her hair. Recovering from her verbal lashings and the odd stabbing.’

‘Tending to wounds we inflicted as she cries herself to sleep because of the pain we’ve caused her,’ Cyrus replies. ‘That cream you put on has worked well. The burns are almost healed.’ I feel a hand run over my skin. ‘You seen this?’

‘The markings? Yeah. I’ve seen it.’

‘A vow. Who is she making vows to? Lucca, maybe?’ His thumb traces over them. ‘You think them two-’

‘I’m not asking. She’s already stabbed me. I’m not pushing my luck any further.’

There are a few minutes of silence until Cyrus speaks again.

‘Reid. Can you smell her?’

‘I can.’

‘She smells different than how she did when I saw her in the Seventh Kingdom. Still her but altered, somehow.’

Reid hums in agreement. ‘Can you sense her powers?’ Reid asks. ‘Does she feel different?’

‘I sensed them back in the caves when she removed the dampener ring. They didn’t feel different then. And I don’t dare take it off now, just in case someone else senses her somehow. We don’t know who has what powers. I’m not willing to risk it.’

I feel one of them take my hand and inspect the ring and the markings on my hand.

‘You think she’ll ever forgive us?’ Reid asks.

‘Not if you keep talking about how much she smells,’ El mutters, making me chuckle.

‘You awake?’ Reid asks, leaning down and sweeping my hair from my face.

I reach out my hand, feeling blindly as my eyes refuse to summon the strength to open.

‘El…’ I smile, finding her hand. ‘Hey.’

‘Hey yourself,’ she says. There’s a shuffle, and I feel her lips on my cheek. ‘Looking good for a dead chick.’

‘Not smelling so good, though, apparently.’

‘You smell incredible,’ Cyrus corrects me, squeezing my ankle. ‘Just different is all.’

‘Meaning? Do I need a wash?’

‘Males can smell their females,’ El replies. ‘Like some weird tracker thing. These boys have your scent firmly stored in their twisted little memories, except what you used to smell like isn’t what you smell like now.’

I start to move, groaning as my body protests my attempts. They all help me sit and ease my back against the wall. We’re on the floor together, precisely where I was when I closed my eyes.

My eyes drift to their hands, where all three of them have wedding markings on their ring fingers.

They all shift, covering them from view.

‘I’m nottheirfemale,’ I reply, pulling my leg from Cyrus’s lap. ‘How long was I out?’

‘Six hours or so,’ Reid replies. ‘You okay?’

‘Peachy.’ I get to my feet, and they all follow. My arm is covered in a thick cream, and the burn from The King’s fire is barely a red stain on my skin.

‘Where’s Rhea?’ El asks.

‘Safe.’

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