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I stole a glance at Josie, regretting it immediately. What was this pull? It felt natural but consuming. My fingers twitched in anticipation of speaking to her alone.
A bone-deep need twisted in my stomach. I needed to kiss her, to get it out of my system, so we could go on with this journey home.
“You coming?” Ernest asked over his shoulder.
I nodded before tearing my gaze away from her and walking toward the door. The fae stood several yards away from the porch, his posture tall but hatred all over his face.
Ernest groaned when he walked down the steps, making me doubt his fighting abilities.
The fae laughed. “I should have known,” he laughed. “Fern would run to the outcast of the village.”
Ernest made it to the last step, looked up in one solid motion, and tossed his sword at the fae’s face. It sliced the skin of his cheek, making him howl and crouch down like a feral animal.
The glow of his eyes and the sharp points of his teeth made him look like a rabid hellhound. “You dirty bastard,” he laughed.
Ernest raised his hand and caught the sword as it returned to him. “I think you should leave or prepare to die.”
He stood swiftly, but his gaze lingered on him before turning toward me. “You thought I would let you stab me and get away with it?”
“Looks like I have,” I said, pulling my sword from the air. “You thought you’d get Fern back? That’s really pathetic. Do you not have any skills? Pimping out young faeries is your only strength?”
He bared his teeth at me.
He disappeared from his spot. My senses noticed him moving through the air around us. Ernest sighed. “He’s always been so dramatic.”
“You know him?”
“Since he was a boy. I didn’t recognize him at first, but he was part of the village that cast me out for trying to protect the faeries.”
My teeth ached as I ground them together. The audacity of the people in this realm worked my nerves. They thought they could take and take until the person was completely empty.
That was the reason I stood up for people who couldn’t stand up for themselves. Wielding my sword, I braced myself for impact. The wind pushed my hair around my head as he ran back and forth, taunting us.
Ernest sighed in irritation.
I channeled every bit of focus and what magic I knew around me, slicing through the air, hitting the fae square in the chest.
He materialized in front of me, my sword pierced through his stomach. “You’ve pissed off the wrong man today,” I whispered, sliding my sword from his body.
He stumbled backward and fell onto the ground.
Ernest made a noise under his breath and clapped slowly. “You’re in tune with this realm. Very interesting.”
I glanced down at Ernest. It wasn’t interesting. It sucked being here, and I hated it. The fae clumped over to the ground and turned into ash like some sci-fi movie.
“All right, then,” Ernest said, walking back toward the house.
I stared at the empty spot on the ground. It reminded me of how easy it was to forget that someone existed. I never wanted that to happen to my family.
It was part of the reason I was tortured for so many years. Because I couldn’t let go.
“You coming?”
I walked back into the cabin, seeing Josie and Fern had moved toward the front window. Fern launched forward and wrapped her arms around my waist. I patted the top of her head. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“You’re welcome.”
Fern pulled away with a giant smile on her face, but despite her appreciation, I couldn’t look away from Josie’s stare. The invisible string between us tugged harder, and my resolve broke.
