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Figured it out?
I wish.
Oh, this is bad. Really bad. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m beginning to suspect that, somewhere along the way, I’ve been tricked.
Again.
Jesus, my track record in Faerie is the pits. Only it wasn’t a pixie or a pair of dwarves or a redcap auctioneer who fooled me this time, but the fae male that I gave a piece of my soul to.
And, damn it, my heart.
“Why you?”
Saxon doesn’t say anything.
“Why was I waiting for you?” I ask him again. “Where’s Rys?”
For the first time since I joined him at the table, Saxon glances behind him. I don’t know what it is that he sees, but it has the Seelie grabbing the hem of his hood, covering up his trademark tawny hair.
“It’s not a good idea to continue this conversation here,” he says in a low voice. “You never know who’s listening. Do you need to retrieve anything from your quarters?”
Considering all I have are the clothes on my back and I’m wearing them, I shake my head.
“Good. Then come with me.”
Hang on a sec—
My first instinct is to say no. To just shut him down outright. There’s only one person in Faerie that I think I might trust right now and, surprise, it’s not one of the prison guards who turned their backs on me.
Maybe I’m letting my emotions get the better of me. What do I really know about Rys? Only what he told me, and while it has to be the truth, it seemed like half the time he was making himself out to be the villain so that I wouldn’t fall for him.
Kind of late for that, huh?
Ugh. Now that I’ve sacrificed my promise ring—sacrificed my old life with Jim, and any hope of going home again—there’s no reason not to put it out there. I’m attracted to Rys. His scar appeals to me, the quiet way he provides for me, protecting me… there’s something there.
It’s one thing to try and fool myself that I seduced Rys because I wanted to convince him to escape Siúcra and take me with him. But if giving it up to a guy to save my skin was my only reason, then why didn’t I let Veron touch me? I would’ve saved myself all that time behind a cell if I did.
And that’s the truth of it. It wasn’t just about the sex. It was about connection. I felt something brewing between Rys and me from the beginning. He might’ve ignored it at first, and I tried to, too, but even the small things he did for me had me falling further under his spell.
Rys has never given me any reason to doubt him. He told me to come to the inn and wait. That’s what I should do.
Of course, then I remember that the huldra tried to drug me with the fairy wine and I have second thoughts about staying behind in the inn. Especially since, now that we’ve overheard some of the guards talking about the rebellion, I might not only be destined for the auction block.
I’m human. If I cross the wrong creature, I could be dead meat.
When I hesitate a moment too long, Saxon leans back in his seat. “It’s alright. You have nothing to fear from me. You’re not my enemy.”
What a strange way to put it. And, regardless of why he said that, I’m glad he did. Something tells me that I wouldn’t want Saxon for my enemy. Dusk was bad enough, but at least he was honest about who and what he was. The Unseelie never tried to get me to like him. He wanted to rule me, to own me, to touch me, and he never once hid that.
But Saxon… all along, he was just another guard. One of too many to count, and the only reason why I even could pick him out from the others was that he was one of the first of the guards I met—plus I beaned him in the head with my apple in order to get thrown into the oubliette.
Crap. I should be his enemy.
Unless—
He studies me closely. I watch him back, trying to make sense of this meet. Rys told me to find this inn if we were separated so I did, but how did Saxon know to find me here? Either his position as guard meant he could follow me through the prison’s portal or...
“It’s you,” I whisper. I feel so stupid that it took me this long to realize it.
