He grumbled, ignoring Olivia as he stomped over to me. He removed my hand from my neck and inspected my wounds. His eyes darkened as he placed his hand on my skin. At once, I felt a healing warmth wrap around the skin on my neck. “Why are you here, Olivia?”
“I worry about you. She is a distraction.”
“I am doing my duties. She is no distraction. She is my interest and none of your business.”
His eyes remained on me, and it took nothing for me not to look away. His eyes were really hypnotic. I had no problems understanding why Olivia was so worked up.
“She is an ice faerie. The witches will want to extract her powers,” Olivia continued.
Now the mention of witches did distract me from Luca’s eyes. I wasn’t surprised they were working with witches. That explained the cloaking and large-scale teleportation of their town. Witch magic.
“They won’t get her,” Luca rumbled. He moved his hand from my neck and then turned to stand protectively in front of me.
“That was the deal for their help. We give them fae with special magic. If we hide fae like her, they won’t aid us.”
Luca snorted. “Sure, they will. We’re helping them usurp a major coven. Helped them get insiders close to leadership. We don’t have to give them every fae we find. The deal was to help them in their fight, and they help us in ours.”
Oh shit, things were making sense now. That dark mage, Nigel, had to be in cahoots with these fae. He was part of the group trying to overthrow the current witch rule on the east coast back home. Was he the insider? I didn’t recognize him, but that didn’t mean he didn’t use a magic disguise. His being connected to these fae would also explain how he got access to send me to the fae realm, but he also had connections with Yosef’s people. Was he playing both sides? Was he a spy for the Nodoors as part of their deal? And what, exactly, did his witch sect want with captured magic beings? I knew I was drawing a lot of conclusions, but I didn’t believe in coincidences.
Even though Nigel seemed to have acceptance in the realm, his ability to banish me here should have been beyond his access since it seemed like so many fae had trouble coming and going on their own. Would the Nodoor give him that kind of open access as part of their deal? It was more likely than Prinath, which seemed to only have a relationship with him as traders. I couldn’t imagine they’d give him access to just magically drop people off randomly. Although, it was in their territory.
While my mind wanted to race more with what this all meant, I couldn’t help but be a little concerned that they felt so at ease spilling all this tea in front of me. Were they so unworried about me escaping that they didn’t mind talking in front of me? If Luca was who I hoped he was, I get him sharing, but was Olivia that unbothered? Judging by how she easily kicked my currently unpowered ass, I would guess the answer was yes.
Olivia shook her head, glaring down at me. “You take too many chances. She’s not worth it. You’re going to have to return her, so don’t get so attached.”
Luca took one step forward. He towered over Olivia’s tall stature, making her look short. “I said, I will handle it.”
She huffed and turned away. “I can’t protect you, Loren. Others will be here any day now. It would be good for you to return her before they come.”
“Bye, Olivia,” Luca said, seemingly unconcerned about her response.
She didn’t reply and walked out of the door, leaving his premises. Luca closed the door behind her, locking it before turning back to me. He looked me over again with concerned eyes. “Are you okay?”
I nodded. “Is she right? Will others come looking?”
He rubbed the back of his neck, looking away. “Maybe. I didn’t realize they knew what type of fae you were. I suppose I should have known. It’s why they kidnapped you. Elemental fae are rare and would be valuable.”
I crossed my arms, feeling more antsy than before. “So, it sounds like you need to get me out of here.”
“They’ll be on heightened alert now. I’m sure Olivia told them where to find you. They’ll let me play with you for a while before they come collecting.”
I bristled at his phrasing as well. They really did like referring to me like a thing. I was no toy. Still, I had bigger concerns. “If that’s the case, then when the hell am I getting my powers back so I can get out on my own?”
I would have at least thought being claimed by an alpha might make me stronger, but it had been nearly a week, and my powers weren’t returning any faster than normal.
Luca let out a breath before walking into the kitchen. “They will come back any day now. Maybe three more days? And soldiers will be here by then because they will know that. They won’t want your powers to return so that you can’t escape.”
I nodded, gathering my thoughts. I was a sitting duck here. “Cool, so then we leave here before then. Like now. Even if we can’t break the ward now, there’s got to be another place we can hide until then.”
Luca turned away from me, tossing his head back as he looked up at the ceiling. Before he turned, I caught conflict in his eyes. He wouldn’t let me go. He wanted me because he was curious, not because he had some savior complex. Maybe he wasn’t the Luca I had hoped. Maybe he wouldn’t think I was worth the risk to his mission or livelihood, in spite of his curiosity about my possible dragon side. Constant proximity didn’t mean I could trust him.
I folded my arms, frustrated and newly scared. “Are you going to help me?”
He didn’t respond.
Crap. “Luca?”
He dropped his shoulders, head lowering to his chest. “I’m sorry, Lila.”
