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“Excuse me if I’m the only one with a lick of sense, but how do we know she’s not evil? Or a Fae wearing a glamor to look like Ruby. That’s a thing, right?” Ezra frowns, running his hand over his head. He hasn’t sat down yet, opting to stand in front of the little table with his arms crossed.
“Ezra, sit down. You’re making me anxious, and I know you’re a giant pussy… cat.” Ruby smirks at Ezra, who rolls his eyes, but he sits on the floor since there aren’t any other chairs. He rests his weight on his hands and stretches out his legs in front of him. It makes him seem less intimidating.
Ruby leans forward and grabs a bag off the table, ripping it open before tossing it in my direction. She doesn’t tell me to eat, but it’s implied. My stomach has too many knots in it for me to even think about food right now.
“The Fae can glamor themselves, yes. But I’m not Fae. Not evil either.” I tack that on in case that’s really a concern. Although, if it is, I’m not sure what good my word will do.
“We know you’re not evil.” Rhys leans forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. He looks tired, and there’s a bruise forming near his eye. My hand drifts up before I catch myself, and I almost reach out to touch him. I snatch it back down to my lap and lower my head again. What’s wrong with me?
“Um, that’s not true. We really don’t know if she’s evil,” Ezra pipes up, and Ruby throws a cracker at him.
“Yeah, we do. I can feel it,” Ruby says and a phantom hand squeezes around my heart.
“I can too,” Rhys adds, and I look up at him, getting lost in his eyes again. I think they’re almost purple.
“How am I the only one with common sense here? That’s not how we operate.” Ezra shakes his head, throwing the cracker back at Ruby. Axil snaps his head up and catches it before it reaches her, chomping happily.
“I understand, but don’t know how to prove it. I… I’ve lived in Fairy my entire life. At least since I was too young to remember anything before. The Fae made it known I was a changeling, brought over to Fairy as a baby to serve them. Anyone with human blood becomes a drudge.”
“A drudge?” Rhys interrupts.
“Uh, a servant.” I offer the gentler version of my life.
“And what happened on Ostara?” Ruby leans in, her face drawn in concentration.
I take another drink of my water, then set it and the bag Ruby dropped in my lap on the table. I don’t really want to revisit that night, but perhaps a little honesty from me will set their minds at ease.
“I worked at the Summer Duke’s manor. He was having a party for Ostara and the Queen appeared, which was unusual. They ushered the court outside, and I was… caught up in the crowd.” No need to say they dragged me out of the ballroom. “Once outside, there was a large rune formed from stones in the ground and the Duke had a book. The Queen said something about bringing the veil down and…” I lick my lips, no sense in building up the tension. I spit it out. “They were going to sacrifice me to bring the veil down. Only, there was a shimmer where the veil was already thin, and I jumped through.”
When there’s no response, I look up, catching Ezra’s shocked face first. Ruby has a similar look on her face, but when I turn to Rhys, all I see is fierce anger. It doesn’t scare me though, not like it would on someone like the Duke. No, on Rhys all I see is a protectiveness that makes me feel safe. Maybe for the first time in my entire life.
“Fuck my asshole with a loofa,” Ruby mutters next to me and Ezra groans. “They were going to kill you?”
“They didn’t. I got away.”
Ruby flops back against the cushions and raises a hand to lay it over her eyes. “Okay, then. Next topic. There’s also the fact that we could be twinsies. How old are you?” Ruby lifts her hand so she can look at me.
“Around twenty-five, I think.”
“Fuck. You think?” Rhys curses and sits back in his chair, his shoulders sagging.
I feel like I’ve done or said something wrong. Nothing I've said has been very pleasant, but I’m not sure what’s caused this reaction.
“You’re not identical,” Ezra says, and I find his eyes focused on Ruby.
“Pretty damn close. And I know this might come as a shock, but this isn’t my natural hair color,” Ruby says without looking at him.
“Your eyes are different colors,” Rhys says, and Ezra nods.
Ruby lifts the hand that’s covering her face at that and shares a look with me. I swear I can understand her by the lift of her eyebrow alone. How in the hell did they notice that?
“Zara’s are hazel,” Rhys says.
“Ruby’s are jade green,” Ezra adds.
The air is heavy with unspoken words, and I don’t know how to match up all the emotions flying around this room. Ruby pops up from the couch so quickly I startle.
“You guys should leave. I’m going to let Zara shower and get her shit to brush her teeth and stuff so she can feel like a human again.” She turns to me. “No pun intended.”
