Page 58 of Escape from the Green

One, there was happiness. At Drake being alive. At knowing he was okay. At being able to see him again.

But going back to The Green would mean I would no longer be in control of my life. I would be stuck. Again. I would have to live under someone else's rules. Again.

And, what's more, I knew nothing about the Draca. I didn't know their ways, their customs, their rules, what they ate, how they treated outsiders. Specifically the offspring of the people who had imprisoned, enslaved one of their own for so long.

Maybe they were a vengeful sort.

Maybe they would want an eye-for-an-eye as the humans said.

Maybe they would want me to suffer all the ways Drake had been made to suffer over the years.

I didn't believe Drake would want that to happen, of course, but who was to say he had any sway on the matter?

"I know it's not what you wanted for your life, honey," Drake started, seeming to read me. "But it is the safest place for you. If Cass thinks you're here, he will comb every inch of this realm to find you. He has the resources to do it. You know that. You need to be somewhere that he won't find you. And it doesn't have to be forever. Someday, Jet will take the throne. And then you can do whatever you want. You'll still be young. You can still have the life you dreamed about."

"What if they hate me?" I asked, voice barely more than a whisper, not knowing his friends well enough to bare my insecurity to them.

Brows drawn low, Drake reached for my hand again, pulling me with him. "Pack the food," he told his friends as he pulled me into the bathroom, pushing me inside, closing the door behind him.

While having been aware of the smallness of the space before, it had never felt quite as cramped as it did right that moment, with Drake's giant frame taking up all the space, trapping me back against the shower.

It seemed like he sucked up all the air.

My chest felt tight.

"Why do you think they would hate you?" he asked, reaching down to snag my chin, forcing me to face him. "You saved me."

"After my family enslaved you."

"You are not your family."

"You don't know how things are there now. It's been so long."

"My kind has a code, Amy."

"A code?" I prompted when he didn't elaborate.

"For fae who can literally make the world burn, we are a peaceful tribe. We don't get involved in the wars between other fae. We don't allow ourselves to be used as weapons to hurt innocents. We try - as much as we possibly can - to do no harm. No one will want to make you pay for the deeds of your family. You are innocent in all that. And you freed me, honey. You allowed for me to go back to them. They will treat you with respect. I wouldn't allow anything less. You have my word on that."

I don't know what made the words bubble up and fall out, maybe the privacy, the physical proximity, whatever it was, there was no stopping them from blurting out. "I thought you were dead."

"What?" His brows drew down, head shaking slightly. "Why would you think that?"

"Jet said someone was slaughtered for the note. I thought... I thought they killed you." Just as there was no stopping the words, there seemed to be no stopping the sting of tears in my eyes either.

"Hey, none of that," he demanded, thumb moving up to catch one rogue escapee before his hand slid around to the back of my neck, applying pressure, pulling my whole body flush with his. There was the barest of pauses before my arms went around him. Then another short one before his arms went around me, nearly crushing me.

But, oddly, I liked being nearly crushed.

It felt good.

Safe.

"That family is dead because of me," Drake said, lips moving against my hair as he did so.

"No, they're not. They're dead because of me. All of this is because of me."

"No," he insisted, giving my body a hard squeeze. "That's not true. All of this is because of Cass. Because he is a heartless, power-thirsty bastard. Don't take his sins on your back, Amy."