AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Elphame.”
Eli nodded once. “It is necessary.”
The faery drove away in Eli’s car, leaving us stranded. The only options we had were visiting the land of Eli’s people or travel by foot. Eli couldn’t ride in a regular car or bus.
“Are you sick?” I asked again. I stared at him. He was being uncommonly formal with me suddenly, and I was scared. “Just tell me if you are. Please?”
Eli took my hands. “My health is fine, Geneviève. Please know that I did not mean for this moment to come to pass this way. There are things beyond my control.”
I swallowed. “Has the king . . . is hegone?”
“No.” Eli offered me his arm, and I again lamented the casualness of my attire. His every act was formal, and I looked like I was dressed for a quick run to the grocery . . . well, other than the skimpy negligee underneath my jeans and button-up.
As we walked, a blinding slice appeared as if the air itself had been torn open. It glowed with a light and warmth that made me want to run toward it. I hadn’t remembered it being so welcoming last time.
I glanced at Eli.
“I love you, Geneviève. Rememberthattruth if nothing else.” He caressed my cheek. “And you love me.”
“I do.” I leaned into the hand that was too-briefly on my skin. “But you’re scaring me right now.”
“Traditions,” he said, voice cracking. “Please remember that not everything always goes as planned, even for the fae.”
A sinking fear stabbed me. Had the king found a way to end our betrothal? Was I about to lose Eli? Terror ripped through my soul, and I practically clung to him.
I pulled Eli to me and kissed him with all my fear, my need, my love.
And that was how the king ofElphamefound us.
“Welcome home,” he said. Fergus of Stonecroft was handsome in the way of feral animals, sharp lines and prominent muscles. If not for knowing who he was, I’d suspect him to be a warrior or guard, but he was the king. The fae didn’t age like humans, so I had no real measure of age. Fergus had been king for a lot of years, and he looked no older than Eli. He had been king when the world learned the fae were real, and he’d been king when they all retreated toElphame.
I pulled back from Eli, blinking away tears, but I kept my hand on him as I addressed Fergus. “He’s mine. Nothing you say or do will change that. And maybe I’m not who you’d choose for him or this place but—”
“Geneviève.” Eli held tightly to my free hand, which was reaching for a sword no longer on my body. “He means you no harm.”
The fact that I was ready to draw steel on the king ofElphamemade me pause, as did the wide smile on the king’s face.
“Indeed, your highness. He is most definitely yours,” Fergus agreed. “Woe to any who think otherwise.”
“Don’t mock me.” I glared at the king. “Maybe I’m not who you want to be the ‘highness’ at his side, but IloveEli.”
The king glanced at Eli. “This is the danger with our family’s tradition. I presume you have not told her?”
“Told me what?” I scowled and looked at Eli. “I’m sorry if my temper is not like your people, but you knew, and you said you loved me for me—”
“Geneviève.” Eli knelt before me and stared up at me. “Idolove you, andyoulove me. Completely.”
When he looked at me so intently, I felt like I was to be grasping something in his words, but I wasn’t. “We aren’t being forced apart? I didn’t say something to ruin—"
“Geneviève? Do you love me?”
“I do, Eli.” I felt torn between rage that I had to discuss this now and embarrassment that I’d fucked up somewhere. I was standing at the edge ofElphame, in the presence of the king no less. “Are you going to stay here without me then?”
“No! Geneviève . . . look at me, love.” He sounded worried. “You feel alarmed right now because you’re changing.Look at me.”
I did. He was kneeling, staring at me. Realizing the other time he’d knelt that way made me take a step backward. What was happening here?
He had not lied to the guards about my genetics.
