Her lips curl up into a small sneer, and I realize I've said the wrong thing.Again.
'I wasn't going to ask,' she mutters.
'Of course,' I say. 'I just…
I take in a deep breath.
‘What I mean is, the dress is for you, Bryn.’
‘All right.’
She stirs the mushrooms and pours in the whisked eggs.
‘If you like it, it…would be best if you continue to look like the other human females here.’
She glances back at me, her brows knitting together for a moment before she nods. ‘Oh. Yes. I understand.'
And then she goes back to pretending that I’m not there.
I hear clomping down the stairs. Two sets of boots.
'When do you see Dane?' Morgan asks from behind me.
'Soon,' I say. ‘He sent me a message late last night before he went back to the Underhill. He asked that I get there early. Wants to have a conversation with no one listening.’
'After yesterday, that makes sense,' Jak mutters. 'I'll be in the healer’s room for most of the morning.’
'I’m taking Bryn around Halsford to show her her new home,' Morgan says.
I cast an assessing eye over him.
'Do you think that's wise?' I ask.
'She'll be with me,' he says, drawing himself straighter, puffing out his chest slightly.
'Yes, but with the humans being so angry yesterday…’
Morgan scoffs. ‘That was just Tavish’s men stirring the pot. They’ll have calmed down by this morn.’
'And we can't keep her locked up here,' Jak mutters. 'She wants to be in the Light Realm. She can't be a prisoner in ourcottage just because a few don’t want her here. I doubt she’d simply stay indoors if you asked her anyway.' He snorts. ‘You can try ordering her if you like.’
‘I wouldn’t attempt that,' I reply with a chuckle, glad that my friends are actually speaking to me even if it is to disagree. ‘But don’t leave her alone.’
‘I won’t,’ Morgan mutters, following that with a, ‘I’m notyou,’ tacked on the end that makes me wince.
Get fucked, Morgan.
I know I have a long way to go before things at least appear as they were on the outside, but the constant barbs, deserving as they are, are wearing thin. If they want to punish me further, I’d rather they did it with their fists.
'I'm going to the Hall now,' I murmur instead of what I’d like to say. 'I'll see you later.'
I'm ignored as I leave the cottage, and I take a moment to stand on the stoop and remember in the crisp, morning air, that it’s been only days and that I deserve this.
I walk to the Village Hall, but I don't go in the main entrance. Instead, I go around the side to where Dane, Lia, Grey, and Kal live when they're in the Light Realm. I scratch on the door so as not to wake the neighbors. From Dane's message to me, I assume he wants this meeting to be as clandestine as possible, which means it would be best if old Maggie, the curtain twitcher in the next house, doesn’t see or hear me arrive.
The door opens a crack, and Dane’s face appears. He steps back and lets me in without a word, closing it behind me and drawing the bolt across. He looks as if he hasn't slept a wink all night.
I give him a questioning look and he shrugs. ‘I always lock it now. Halsford is different than it was. As much as I hate to say it, I don’t trust all of them anymore.’
