Page 58 of Fae Farewells

“Is it Vaughn?” I asked. “I hope it’s not my parents.”

“I don’t think she would have called him a guest,” Palmer replied. “Have you noticed she doesn’t follow the queen’s orders?”

York opened the door to our suite, then stopped at the threshold. “Who are you?”

“Where is Sloane?” an agitated woman asked, authority drenching her tone.

“Here,” I grouched, pushing York out of the way to see who else wanted something from me.

I was ready for a fucking vacation. Even corporate work sounded like a break.

Tilly waited with a woman who could only be her sister. Ruby Winter stood in all her bronzed glory, copper hair pulled into a tight ponytail, highlighting the orange tones of her fae skin. I had not paid much attention to the other colors of the fae, because they reminded me too much of demons.

But Ruby didn’t. She looked as if she were a Greek statue, sculpted to perfection. Her peach irises appeared to glow in her frustration, plum purple fissures running across their surface.

She had made it into the fae realm undetected. That was good news for us.

“I don’t know why we’re here,” Tilly hissed at her. “She won’t be any help.”

Tilly was beautiful too, though more subtle than Ruby. Her sage skin reminded me of the maid, Lashul, except it was dull. Too dull for her to only be eighteen. Her spring green eyes were the same, only appearing bright against her muted copper hair. She looked… unhealthy compared to Ruby and Vaughn.

And now that I was thinking about it, maybe Freya did too. Was her rosy skin supposed to be darker? Should her pale pink irises be more vibrant than they were?

“Where is Vaughn?” Ruby asked me.

“In the dungeon with Freya.”

She nodded, shoving her hands in the pockets of her leather jacket. “I thought that might be the case. We need to get them out.”

“Yeah. We know,” I told her. “They’re getting two of the prisoners out before they leave. It’s part of our plan.”

“Why? And who? Are they important?”

I sighed. “Amelia—Uhm, Leah, as you would know her. She’s my mother. My father came to rescue her and ended up in a cell, too. Vaughn is getting them out.”

“Sam isn’t here, is he?”

“No. Nathaniel.”

“Figures,” Ruby said.

I snorted in agreement. “He’s always in a hurry to get shit done on his time.”

“I suppose you just came from Vex’s company.”

I was torn between telling her the truth or taking her to Vaughn for that talk, but I ended up blurting, “That isn’t Vex.”

Ruby furrowed her brows, her head tilted slightly as she demanded, “Explain.”

“I killed Anahien last week,” I began, because that was the only way I could think to start the story. “Before she died, we tricked her. She was under the impression that Vaughn and I lay dead at her feet. A friend of ours has a unique gift of persuading people to do or act however she wants. So, Hyde stepped in, lied about something Alric was looking for, and convinced Anahien to spill some secrets.”

“You glamored her?” she inquired, baffled by magic but not upset about murder. “Who is Alric?”

I liked Ruby.

“Sort of. It’s more complicated than that.” I shook my head. “Anyway. She had a lot to say about her mother posing as Vex for the last eighteen years. Alania killed Vex. She’s the reason why Reagan was abducted. Alric is Alania’s mate; he’s also my mother’s half brother.”

“You’re lying,” Tilly spat, venom dripping from her tone.