“Vee?” I blurted out, not wanting to let him go to bed like that.
He stopped in the doorway.
“Yeah?” he asked as he stopped in the doorway without turning around.
“Sorry for setting the trap.”
Vee’s shoulders tensed.
“I...there was this guy at the party and I was drunk. I’m sorry. I really didn’t know... Anyway, thanks for saving me.”
He exhaled and the rigidity in his posture melted away.
“Good night, Nate.”
Chapter Ten
Vee
The memory of Nate’s horrified face and the sparrow wing eyes filled with shame, burned in my chest. It was a searing pain blown way out of proportion to what I should be feeling about this dumb American frat boy—
No, he’snot!
He might be a little naïve, but dumb?Nope.He was cute, attractive, and kind…and hot. I still hated myself for having rebuffed him. Gods, I had wanted to just go along with him, but I was better than that…and worse.
I bet someone had talked him into setting that trap in the forest. Making fun of foreigners, especially drunk tourists, was a favourite pastime for locals. They likely told him about my kind and the ridiculous lore that surrounded us, knowing full well that people often got hurt in the woods at night.
Thank you for saving me.
Anger flared up in me. I didn’t even dare think about what could have happened to Nate in there.
Thankfully, the only people who died recently had been tourists who got lost and fell down ravines or got hit by trees on stormy nights. Tourists, exactly like frat boy here.
We’d never hurt humans who tried to catch us. Most of us Elvertritsch really liked humans. It was charming to see them stumble through the woods like newbornfoals. I heaved a deep sigh when I remembered Nate’s soft skin and his graceful neck.
He was so warm when I hugged him.
I shook my head to snap out of it.
Pull yourself together, Vee.
It was hard to push the lingering fear aside, though. What if Nate had been one of the unlucky ones? Or what if he had met some other, far more dangerous being in the forest? Panic choked me when I imagined him running into the Höiman, a terrible giant who would join the Wild Hunt in a few weeks to still his blood lust for another year. Nobody would have seen him again if he’d strayed a little too far and into the territory of the Elven Queen who lived in a moor an hour east of where I lived.
Then, as if he felt my fear, a whimper came from the living room.
Nate!
I leaped out of bed and was halfway down the hall in a heartbeat.
The breath rasped in and out of me
Nate laid on his side, his tall body curling in on itself. I threw myself down on the floor beside the couch. His skin was hot and damp beneath my palm.
Is he okay?
Under my touch, he let out another pained whimper, and slowly opened his eyes. They were glassy and bright and widened when he recognised me. A wave of something I didn’t have the capacity to look at yet washed over me when his gaze softened.
“Vee,” he rasped. “What happened?”
