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Thathewould come.
Or at least, Ihadwished that, until the fae men realized that the mating bond could form over time. Then they’d started flooding the Stronghold. And I didn’t know how to talk to them, or how to consider them, so I just… didn’t.
But I’d always seen the way my parents loved each other. They were shitty people, honestly. Good to me and my older sister, but shitty people.
None of my scars had been their fault. At least, not directly or intentionally.
And damn, I missed them.
My chest was tight at the thought of it.
There was no way back to Earth, though. And if I had found a way back, I eventually would’ve regretted going. My parents’ business would’ve been unavoidable, and I would’ve ended up doing shitty things myself.
At least I had escaped before that happened.
I neededto force my thoughts back to the present, so I dunked the tip of the magical tattoo gun into the ink and then lowered it to my skin. I didn’t know what I’d create, but then again, I rarely did.
Biting my lip in preparation, I carefully stuck the tip into my skin.
A sharp flash of pain followed—and blood gushed over the small cut as I lifted it back out, muttering curses under my breath.
My eyes stung a bit.
Whew, that hurt.
“What the hell?” Priel’s tired, grumpy ass growled from the bed. “Why do I smell blood?”
“I’m fine,” I shot back, setting the tattoo gun back down and easing my sleeve over the discolored patch of skin again. When I pressed the black fabric to the wound, it soaked up the blood quickly.
Maybe I was bleeding more than I’d realized.
Heavy footsteps sounded on the ground, and my stomach clenched.
Fuck, I was terrible at talking to Priel. I didn’t know what to say, or how to say it, or how not to sound like a complete bitch. Or if I evenwantedto not sound like a complete bitch.
He was gorgeous.
And I was… not.
I mean, my face was fine. I’d never really been allowed to talk to guys, so I didn’t have many interactions to base that idea off of, but I hadn’t been told I was hideous or anything. My parents had homeschooled me and my sister, because going to school would’ve been too dangerous for us given my parents’ questionable life and business decisions.
They were sort of… mafia.
Okay, not sort of.
Theyweremafia.
They’d even arranged my sister and I into those damn mafia-family marriages you read about in romance books. My sister was happy with her man, but I didn’t know what those authors were smoking, because my experience sure as hell didn’t resemble a romance book.
I’d ended up jumping out of a moving car to save my own life before the supposed marriage. That led to being alone and injured in the damn forest for multiple days, before my parents found out what happened and sent someone to find me. After that, I’d spent a month in the hospital recovering from said jump.
The PTSD was a nightmare. Therapy had helped a little, but that and my parents’ overprotectiveness had been the reason behind my wish on a bunch of birthday candles for a fresh start.
That wish—and having a birthday on what was apparently Winter Solstice—got me dragged to Vevol.
I hadn’t wanted to leave my family, or even my life. I just…
Well, I didn’t know what I wanted.
