Whatever this was between them, it had to end. Soon.
Chapter Ten
Benedict sucked in a deep breath to cool the thoughts of kissing swirling in his head. Beatrice yanked away from him as if burned, even though he hadn’t touched her, despite the temptation to rest a hand on her waist. He exhaled slowly, gathering his thoughts from where they’d scattered.
As tempting as it was to let himself fall for her, she wanted to break the fated mate bond.
More, he had to keep his wits about him here at the Faerie Market. The Wild Fae Primrose was bound to be here. Everyone knew the Primrose targeted the captive humans that fae dared to bring to a Market within the borders of the Court of Knowledge.
All Benedict had to do was spot the fae lord beneath whatever disguise he wore.
Or would he even bother to wear a disguise? Perhaps the Wild Fae Primrose would simply stroll the Market openly, given that the Market was currently in his Court. There would be nothing suspicious about a noble from the Court of Knowledge visiting the Market.
“If you’re done, get off the stage!”
The shout made him jump. Benedict forced himself to face the audience and bow. Beside him, Beatrice swept into a stilted curtsy.
The two of them hurried off the other side of the stage. When he glanced over his shoulder at the next act, he grimaced. A fae man was leading a string of captive humans, likely intending to make them do something terrible.
As they reached the ground, Beatrice, too, glanced at the stage. She hugged her arms over her stomach, all of her earlier adorably ruffled ire fading into something more vulnerable. “Could we maybe…”
Even though she trailed off, he nodded, understanding what she meant. He steered her around the gathered crowd, heading for the back to put some space between them and the stage. It would make snagging another time on the stage more difficult, but right now her feelings mattered more than their job.
Besides, standing at the back of the crowd would be good for his mission as well. If there were captive humans here, then the Wild Fae Primrose might not be far away. Benedict would have a better view from the back.
As they reached a quieter spot at the edge of the square, their backs to the wooden side of a haphazardly constructed booth, Beatrice released a heavy breath, her shoulders shuddering slightly.
Benedict stationed himself beside her, positioning himself to partially block her from the view of those passing by. He scanned the fae around them, both in the audience jeering at the humans being forced to crawl on hands and knees and in the bustle along the walking paths at the edge of the makeshift square.
Was that fae male over there paying a little too much attention to the humans on stage? Or what about that other fae who seemed to duck out of sight?
Beatrice yelped and jostled into him.
He whirled to her, his hand dropping into the pocket of his librarian coat where he kept his sword.
Instead of a person, a large brown dog sat at Beatrice’s feet, tongue lolling, eyes fixed on her as if begging for more attention.
“Uh…” Beatrice still leaned back against Benedict, probably not realizing she did so, her hands held high out of the dog’s reach.
“Daisy!” The shout was accompanied by a sharp whistle.
The dog’s ears perked, then she leapt into motion, nearly bowling both Beatrice and Benedict over as she raced past toward someone behind them.
Benedict looked over his shoulder, shifting slightly to better see behind him while still keeping Beatrice steady.
A fae woman with black hair and tan skin, dressed in leather, stood next to a pale-skinned, blond-haired man who was nearly a foot taller than her. The man’s rounded ears gave away the fact that he was human rather than fae.
Benedict might have guessed that they were one of the rare fae-human couples, except that he caught the glint of a three-fold cord stretching between them. Despite the easy way he stood, that human man was just as much a captive as the humans on the stage.
As if sensing their gazes, the human gave a small smile and a wave in their direction. Then he was forced to turn and hurry after the fae woman, who was striding toward one of the alleys across the way, her dog trotting at her other side.
When Benedict turned back to Beatrice, she still stared after the fae and human, her arms hugged over her stomach once again. When she spoke, her voice was low and almost tired. “I’ve had it so good that I sometimes forget—perhaps I like to forget—that my experience isn’t the normal experience of humans in the Fae Realm. This is my home. The place I feel safe. Yet formost humans, this realm is filled with nothing but terror and torment.”
He swallowed, not even bothering to try to refute her statement. Sure, the fae would do the same to each other if given half the chance. He had experienced that himself. But fae could only torment each other if they managed to gain power over one another. It wasn’t the widespread thing that it was when it came to humans. The fae were pretty much always more powerful than a human, so they always took advantage of them.
“My family was extremely fortunate with Basil.” Beatrice still stared unseeingly into the distance. “Meg went into the forest that night intending to bargain herself away to the first fae that came along. She expected cruelties for herself. All she hoped was that she could bargain for enough gold to save the rest of us from a similar fate of cruelty that awaited us in the Human Realm.”
“And instead, she was snatched by Basil.” Benedict kept his voice low. She normally didn’t confide in him like this, and he wasn’t ready to break the vulnerable moment.
