AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Another flash came to me. She’d been there with Jaiden. Holding a bow and arrow, like a badass. I didn’t feel like I was with a comrade. I felt like I was locked in a room with a threat.
“Where’s Jaiden?”
She gave me a soft smile and held up her hands. “Hold on there, Juliet. I’ll hook you up with your Romeo really soon. I just wanted to have a talk first.”
I measured the distance between her and the door. Even if I wasn’t feeling like a newborn giraffe on my legs, I probably wouldn’t make it in time. “I’m not a suicidal fourteen-year-old.”
“Sorry. I’m used to no one here getting all my references. Sometimes I make them up just for fun. Apparently I’m slipping. Oh, how about Selene and Michael?” she asked excitedly.
“Huh?”
“Underworld? Come on, it’s a classic.”
“I... I don’t watch a lot of television.”
“One of these days, I’m going to get Kier to hook up a theater system in here.” She crossed the room and took a seat on one of the plush sofas. There was now plenty of room for me to make a run to the door if I wanted. I had a feeling Mia was letting me know that I wasn’t a prisoner.
But I wanted answers more at the moment. I gingerly made my way to a seat across from Mia. “You’re one of the kidnapped humans?”
“Yep. Got the express ticket to the Land of Fae. And not first class, let me tell you that.”
I studied her carefully but didn’t see any sign of injury or harm. “Are you safe here?”
She shrugged. “That’s a loaded question. I can tell you that if anyone tried to hurt me, Kier would destroy their entire fucking world. And Jaiden would do the same for you. But safety is relative. You know for yourself that there’s a war going on here, and they’re not afraid to put women in the middle.”
“Jaiden killed all the women here?”
Mia grumbled. “No. Jaiden has done a lot of shitty things, not going to sugarcoat it, but not that. The Seelie started the magical warfare and the Unseelie king before Jaiden continued it. Jaiden isn’t innocent but neither is that bastard trying to pin all the blame on your boy toy.”
My head jerked up. “Jaiden isn’t my boy toy.”
“Honey, I don’t know what you think happened, but that fae was going to die to keep you safe. I don’t know how much you know about the fae, but they don’t have a high opinion of humans. Most of them wouldn’t stub a toe for one of us, let alone die.”
I shook my head. “You don’t understand. Jaiden doesn’t want to care about me. The entire purpose of him finding me was to avoid some mate bond thing.”
“I see that’s worked out great for him.”
“No. We haven’t even had sex yet. He said that if he claimed me while we were in the human world or whatever, it wouldn’t happen.”
“I need you to think very hard about what you’ve experienced and what you’ve felt over the past few days. Tell me there’s no bond between the two of you. I dare you.”
I took a deep gulp and remained silent. I still didn’t necessarily believe what she was saying, but arguing seemed pointless. Jaiden was a king. I was a dorky academic nerd. The two things just didn’t compute in my head.
“There’s a witch who did it. ‘Cursed’ the guys to bond with their mates.”
“The evil one?”
“No. Evil is a very harsh word. She’s fed up with the patriarchy and pissed off about it.”
“And you? She’s not just manipulating the fae. She’s in our heads too. What if I don’t want to feel this way?”
She leaned back in her seat and crossed her legs. “I mean...yes. But in my head, it’s so real. If there is some magic involved, I never want it to go away. But it’s easier for me to say because Kier and I were bonded before Melusine ever worked her mojo. And I’m guessing you and Jaiden had some sort of connection before.”
I twisted my fingers in my gown. Saying there was a connection was the understatements of all understatements.
“I also have to apologize.”
“Huh?” I was amazingly inarticulate at the moment.
