AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Angel was clearly a morning person, based on her bright smile and chipper hello. Shax, the fey, following her, seemed just as upbeat.
“Ready for another day of dick shooting?” Angel asked, joining me at the island.
Shax winced behind her.
“Maybe we should give it another name,” I suggested.
“Yes,” Shax said immediately.
“We could call it cuddle time, but then you’d start to wonder if I really meant cuddles or if I wanted to do violent things to your fun maker. Isn’t it better to simply call it what it is?”
Shax gave her a disgruntled look even as he agreed. She grinned at me.
“A little birdy told me that you went to visit Mya yesterday. What did you think of our fearless leader?”
“She seems really nice.”
“She is. And she isn’t, when she needs to be. Brenna’s not a fan, but I think she’s coming around.”
“You’re really open, aren’t you?”
“Yep. Clear communication makes life easier in the long run. The biggest mistake people make is assuming that everyone else can read their minds. Half the time, we’re so caught up in our own heads we barely notice the people around us, never mind taking the time to try to figure out what they might be thinking or feeling.”
She made a very valid point, and I wondered if that had been part of the problem with my relationship with Adam. He coddled me too much instead of giving me the straight truth.
I told her about my conversation with Mya, and Angel nodded along.
“Some of those people are real assholes. The rest aren’t bad. Garrett, my brother from another mother, is one of the good ones. He got to stay after the breach.”
I finished my breakfast as Angel filled me in on some of the history of the people in Tolerance. There were a fair number of human and fey couples already. And a few humans who’d been deemed friendly enough to coexist with the fey here. Everyone seemed to get along with only minor tension at times.
“I can’t wait for you to meet James and Mary,” Angel said. “They are the sweetest old couple and love the fey. They host the dinner dates if you’re ever interested in some amazing cooking. I convinced them to let Shax and me do a test run. It was fun.”
“You’re already a couple.” I moved to rinse my bowl. “Isn’t the point of the dinner date to give a single fey some practice?”
“Yeah, but it also gives Mary and James something to do and look forward to. There’s not a lot around here for entertainment. Why else would we be out practicing archery?”
“Survival?”
We walked toward the door, and I started to put my things on.
“Sure. There’s that. But let’s face it. Even with the skills we’re learning, we wouldn’t stand a chance out there without the fey.”
“Adam and I managed pretty well.”
“You were found in a bunker under a barn filled with infected, from what I heard. A few of the rest of us have also been lucky enough to survive until the fey found us. But let’s face it. The infected are getting smarter. The luck for anyone else still out there is probably running out.”
We left the house and walked down the street together. Angel’s words rang in my head and in my heart. I hated that she was thinking like Adam as if validating his choice to leave me. Passing me off to someone else wasn’t love. It was giving up.
I was glad when we reached the training grounds and there was something else to focus on. With a bow in hand, I listened to Brenna’s instructions for the next hour. Then, I tumbled around with the other three while Angel cheered us on and ate her snacks.
After one brutal toss from Hannah, I tapped out and sat on the sidelines to rub my shoulder and neck.
“You should come to my house after this. I could have a fey massage lined up for you in three seconds flat,” Angel said. “No strings attached. They’re seriously only looking for a way to be useful.”
“I can’t. I’m supposed to go talk to Emily.”
“Okay. I’ll stop by later with that list of names, and if you want to take me up on the offer then, let me know.”
