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“You two were separated?”
I nod, a lump in my throat. “I have no clue what happened to him or where he is. But I always like to think he was adopted by wonderful people and his life has been nothing but lollipops and rainbows.”
Will puts the bowl aside and hops off his stool. He walks around the table and I panic. “What are you doing? If Rhynda sees you, you’ll get beaten.”
“I’m leaving this place. One last beating won’t matter, and I want to hug you. You look like you need a hug.”
I’m stunned when his arms go around me, and it’s only the second time I’ve been hugged in sympathy or love since my mother died. The first was the social worker who held me as I cried when Sammy went away.
This second time by my new friend, after I just told him about Sammy.
I’m stiff at first, but then I melt into it. I never craved physical touch after so many years of only having the bad kind, but Will is a good man, and I let myself have it.
But only for a few seconds, because I don’t want him to get beaten. I squeeze him hard and then push him away. “Get back to work before Rhynda sees us.”
Will nods, eyes still soft with empathy and gratitude—and a tiny sparkle of happiness for his future.
I push away thoughts of Sammy, of almost getting killed by Sorcha, and that it’s true I’m probably just a plaything for Amell like that blue-skinned witch said, and I let myself be happy for Will.
We work for a good long while, but time really has no relevance here. You work until you’re told to stop. You eat when you’re told to eat.
Calix is the one who tells me my work is done in the kitchens for the day. He appears at the table and says, “King Amell requests your presence.”
My eyes slide to Will, and I shrug when I see the question in his eyes. Maybe Amell’s daughter has gone and he wants me to fetch a meal.
Maybe he wants to take me to bed.
Maybe he wants to throw me in the river.
Any one of those are a possibility, but damn if I’m going into that river without him holding up his end of the deal to release Will.
“Let me just put this stuff away,” I say as I rise from my stool.
Calix looks positively offended. “You don’t keep a king waiting.”
“I’ll put it away,” Will says, and I give him a soft smile.
“See you later,” I promise him, and then turn to follow Calix out of the kitchens.
CHAPTER 17
Amell
While I knewabout Thalia from the very moment she was conceived—because I intentionally impregnated her mother—I spent most of her life in the shadows. Her mother graced me with permission to visit their dimension of Vyronas to see her from a distance. It was part of the bargain we struck, and all it required was a little blood sacrifice on her part.
But not all that long ago, Thalia spilled her own blood and called me forth from the Underworld, having just learned I was her sire.
She needed help, and I gave it.
I also got a daughter in truth because the parents who raised her were dead, and she accepted me for what I was.
Zora’s edict that I do not leave the Underworld wouldn’t bother me at all if it weren’t for Thalia. She recently married Bastien, and together they reign over the kingdom of Vyronas. Soon they’ll be making little princesses and princes.
Some might think it odd that the darkest of Dark Fae cherishes his family, but just because we got tossed out of Heaven doesn’t mean we have no capacity to love. Quite the contrary, fae can feel so deeply, we can rumble the earth.
I gave them the tour of the castle, Thalia exuberantly chatting and asking questions. Bastien wore his usual sour expression, as he does when around me, and Thalia’s Uncle Heph looked around with wide eyes.
I showed them the Bridge of Judgment and the Crimson River and even invited them back to watch a judgment day if they wanted, although Thalia wrinkled her nose and Bastien looked offended. Heph was fascinated.
