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The town stretched out in front of us, a paved golden road going through the center of it. The houses were all made of white stucco, with black shuttered roofs and balconies on most of the windows. There were flowers everywhere brightly decorating everything. Pinks and golds and purples adorned the balconies, and there were colorful flags and banners waving all over.
As our car drove through the town, people gathered in the streets, waving excitedly as we passed by.
Sliding down the window, Ares began waving right back…excitedly I might add. His grin had somehow grown even wider.
Little children in sharply pressed school uniforms ran past the car, waving and jumping up with joy. "Ares, Ares!" they screamed happily. I watched him, and I watched them…remembering the past month and the fact that no one had seemed excited when Alistair walked into a room.
They seemed terrified.
It continued for the entire drive. Everyone must've been making calls simultaneously, because the whole town seemed to catch wind that he'd returned. Whoever Ares was to these people, they were excited.
"Earlier, you saidyourtown… What exactly did you mean by that? Because they seem more excited then they'd be for just an ordinary citizen."
He waved at a passing couple and then turned towards me. "I mean it'smytown. These people were all on the run. Under siege by the Fae King. They had no weapons. They had no food. I helped them all escape. All four hundred and twenty of them.”
My mouth might have fallen open in surprise. I made a note to ask about the Fae King later.
“But I didn't know where to go. We wandered for a while until we set up camp right outside that lake. I heard rumors that the King was preparing to come after us, so I woke up anxious that morning. I got into the lake to try and clear my head, swimming all the way across it until I'd gotten to the waterfall. I could see something just beyond it, so I swam through. It wasn't closed like it was now, so you could see straight through to the other side where the forest began. I found this piece of paradise… And I knew it was going to be our home." His eyes glimmered as he remembered the moment, and I could just picture him, the relief he would've felt when he discovered this perfect place.
"And how did you get it protected like it is now? How did you even move everyone here?"
He waited for another passing couple and pointed ahead to where a large home sat directly in front of us. "Home sweet home," he murmured, his grin still there.
The house was a bit larger than the others we passed, but done up with the same white stucco and black roof as the rest. There were large white oak double doors in the front of it, and it looked welcoming and homey, nothing like Alistair's cold mansion that we’d left behind.
The only thing I would miss about that place was the roses.
As Armand moved around the side of the house where there was a garage, we pulled in next to a large black pickup truck and a white delivery van. Then the garage closed behind us.
"I still have questions," I reminded him. He reached out and stroked my cheek, amusement clear in his gaze.
“I would be worried if you didn't," he teased.
Armand opened the door next to me and I got my first good look at him. He was an older gentleman, probably in his sixties, with a very impressive mustache, and hazel blue eyes that just seemed trustworthy. His salt-and-pepper hair was neatly cut and his skin was weathered and tan.
"Thank you," I murmured.
He nodded back at me. "Anything for Ares’s girl," he said with a wink, more words than he'd said for the entire hours’ long journey.
"His girl." I wasn't sure about that, but it was still shocking how right that felt compared to every time someone made a similar comment regarding Alistair and I.
Speaking of Alistair….I nodded back to the trunk as Ares joined us on the side of the car.
"What will you do with him?" I asked tentatively, still shocked I was okay that he was in the trunk in the first place.
You did feel like he might rape you in the garden, a voice chided inside of me.
Yep, that was probably it. The lack of feeling gave credence to Ares's story as well, that somehow we'd severed the bond. I couldn't help but worry though, that my stroke of bad luck as far as the Fae Queen went, which he hadn't said was a lie, was a reminder from the Moon Goddess that I did something wrong.
"I'll throw him in the dungeons until we’re ready for him," Ares said calmly, studying my reaction.
I nodded, thinking there was no way I'd be able to sleep at night if we somehow allowed him to be locked up in a bedroom in this place. I don't know that I could sleep with him in the house at all, even if it was in a so-called dungeon.
Did this place even have a dungeon?
Ares must've read the question in my gaze, because he chuckled.
"He’ll go into the town dungeon. We don't have any crime. But we built it just in case someone tried to invade from the outside, or a stranger made it past our protection somehow, and we needed to lock them up until we knew their intentions."
