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“Do you live here?” I asked when he closed the door behind us but made no move to put me down.
“Yes.”
“Alone?”
“No. Vorx and I share this place. There is enough room for us.”
I looked around the open living room and kitchen and agreed. “This house looks big enough for a family of eight. Is this where I’ll be staying?” I didn’t want to assume or get my hopes up. It was a well-kept house. Comfortable furniture accented with colorful throw pillows offset the clean walls painted in muted, neutral tones. Much nicer than the house we’d been staying in at Tenacity, especially since there were only two other people in this one.
“Yes, you can stay here with me.”
“And Vorx?”
“Yes.”
I studied the comfortable couch and pretty decorations. A blue vase with teal swirls on a shelf near the television caught my eye. It was pretty. But more than that, it was now probably irreplaceable.
“Nat will try to find me, Turik. And he will wreck everything here if he gets the chance.”
Turik grunted, and I exhaled slowly. I didn’t know what else I could say or do to help him understand the danger I was putting him in. Oh, I knew the fey could protect themselves. That Turik had climbed up to the third-story balcony and knocked all the men out proved he was more than adept at dealing with humans. But Nat wouldn’t fight fair.
Nat wouldn’t come at the fey in the open. He’d ensure he had the advantage, and he wouldn’t care how many people he hurt or what he destroyed to get the result he wanted…which was all the fey dead and me back by his side.
My stomach churned at the thought. If Nat succeeded, everything I’d suffered at his hands prior to this would seem like a walk in the park compared to what he would do to me.
Pushing those thoughts aside, I focused on the present. Nat wasn’t here yet, and I was still safely under the protection of Turik.
I looked up at him and found his green and yellow gaze locked on me. His vertical pupils were so large they almost looked round. I knew he was attracted to me. It didn’t mean much, though. The fey adored human females because they didn’t have any females of their own. My gender was a complete mystery to them. I couldn’t even count the number of times one of them had asked me if they could see my undercarriage.
“If I’m going to live here, maybe you should show me around. And let me walk.” He didn’t make any move to put me down, and I suppressed a defeated sigh. “I know what you want from me, Turik. But I am still married.”
His gaze shifted to my hand as he slowly lowered me to my own feet.
“Terri’s first husband removed her ring and said they were no longer married. You can remove your ring and tell Nat he is not your husband. Brooke says that’s the only way to divorce now.”
Terri was the now-ex-wife of one of Nat’s friends. She’d started trading with the fey, which had upset her husband and led to him kicking her out of their place. I’d heard him vent to Nat about how he’d tried taking her ring so that everyone would know she wasn’t with him anymore.
Brooke had been one of Terri’s housemates who’d also come to live in Tolerance. She’d been single then, but she had a good point. Considering there wasn’t much of the world left, I didn’t suppose there was any better way to divorce someone than removing the rings and announcing it.
Not that the absence of the bands around my finger would help me in any way.
“I can remove the rings and say I’m not married all I want, but it won’t change how Nat views me. He will always say I’m his.”
Turik shook his head and lifted my hand.
“You have a choice, too. And a voice. You both have to want to stay married. My brothers will know your choice if you remove this ring.”
I looked down at my wedding band and diamond engagement ring. If I removed them, I would be single in the eyes of the fey—single and fair game for open pursuit. If I kept them on, I knew the fey would still protect me, but I would be off limits. More importantly, when Nat came for me, he would see the rings and know I hadn’t turned my back on him. It might spare me a little.
I didn’t want to be spared. I wanted to be done. Done with the fear and the cowering. Done with the sleepless nights and the pain. Especially the pain.
Slowly, I tugged the rings from my finger and handed them to Turik.
“Because of this, he will kill me when he finds me.”
“Never,” Turik said fiercely, closing his fingers around the rings.
I met his gaze, saw his determination, and felt pity for him. At some point, Nat would get to me, and Turik would be the one to suffer because he was putting his hopes and dreams on the wrong woman.
