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Never take your eyes off your enemy, for it is what they do when you cannot see which makes them your greatest threat.
“We are not in Tithe.” It was not a question, but more a statement to confirm what my mind had already come to terms with.
“Far from it,” Faenir confirmed, flashing pink stained teeth. As he pulled his finger from his mouth, I noticed the cut was no longer visible.
You can take him.The thought was sudden. That possibility faltered into nothingness as I registered the fact that Faenir, as well as being over a foot taller than me, had the power to kill at his touch. If I was to get out of this place, I needed to be alive.
“You killed them…” I snarled, lip curling over my teeth as though I was no different to the vampires I hunted. “Tom. His family.”
“That bothers you, does it?”
My skin crawled as his gaze traced over me. Faenir studied every inch of me, drinking my details like a dehydrated sailor. I didn’t answer his question, aware of my lack of control if I did. Perhaps I would have given into the haunting image of their deathswhich lurked at the back of my mind, or even raced across the room and tackled Faenir in a furious hurricane of fists and teeth.
Instead, I inhaled deeply, hoping it would help me stay calm, and presented my demand. “Take me back.”
Faenir pushed himself from the doorframe, amusement alight across his devilish face. “I am afraid I am unable to do that.”
My eyes frantically searched for signs that he was lying; the twitching of a lip, or the narrowing of an eye that was the usual response when someone was being deceitful.
“Take. Me. Home.”
“Are you not going to ask where it is you are before demanding to return to a place which holds no future for you compared to what I can give you?” Faenir was serious as he spoke. Two, perfectly manicured dark brows furrowed above his squinting stare. His angular face was hauntingly handsome.The way he looked at me screamed with confusion as though he could not understand how stupid I could be not to see sense in why I was here.
I stepped closer to him, knuckles white as I still bared my fists. He stared at me and sniggered softly which burned the furnace of anger inside of me to a new level of heat.
“I am not the one to be laughing at,elf,” I said, muscles trembling with anticipation. “Careful how you regard me.”
An urgency was building. I wanted to get home to Auriol and would do anything to make that happen.
“Your threats are meaningless to me,human.”
“Tell me what you want from me and get this over with.”
“You are my Chosen, Arlo.” He drew my name out as though enjoying the way the sounds rolled over his tongue. My skin crawled to see his misplaced enjoyment. “What I want is you. Now, are you ready to answer the pressing mystery? I am dying to know.”
Nothing else mattered about what he said besides his first four words. “I am nothing to you. Not your Chosen. Not your mystery. Nothing. Now, if you do not take me home, I swear to tear this entire… this… fucking, where the fuck have you taken me!?”
My blustering, wordy anger entertained Faenir who could not hide the twitching corners of his lips. “Haxton.”
“What?” I gaped, breathing heavily as though I had run up a steep hill and back down again without stopping.
“You are currently residing in the guest suite of my home, Haxton Manor.”
“Well fuck your home,” I spat, scowling at the elf who hardly flinched from the droplets of spit that shot towards him. “Smile again and I promise to wipe it clean from your face.”
“As you have said,” Faenir replied, calmly. Even with me inches from him the elven prince showed no signs of concern. That irked me.“And as I will tell you again, returning home is not possible. I have chosen you, Arlo. Just like my cousins have picked their mates before you, when you so interestingly interrupted. I suppose you simply delayed the inevitable and I admit I am thankful for that. If you had not stopped me from choosing your sister then we would not be here now, together.”
Faenir’s gilded eyes drifted away from me, lost in thought. “Perhaps she is the same as you… She can resist my—”
“Do notdarethink of her.” I threw my fist forward, which the elf sidestepped effortlessly. Angered, I tried to punch him again, only to miss for a second time.
“I would not concern yourself, Arlo. My interests are entirely upon you.”
I stepped back from him, wishing nothing more than distance as my mind stormed with anxiety.Quickly, I put together the pieces of this scene. Faenir had taken me, unwillingly, from Tithe. Wherever this Haxton Manor was, it was far from the doorstep of mine and Auriol’s home.
Auriol. My heart panged in my chest, and I did everything I could not to show him the pain.
Faenir seemed to notice anyway for his face lost all remnants of humour. It was hard to focus on him when my panic made breathing hard. It seemed each breath in was weak and the air too light to have real benefit. My heart was pounding harder, my head feeling as though I had drunk an entire bottle of aged wine or at least had been smacked across the skull with the bottle instead.
