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“Are you trying to tell me that all those men out there are spirits? All of them?” She looked at me like I was trying to convince her the sky was orange. I couldn’t blame her. “They’re solid. One of them held a knife to my throat. They dragged you down that corridor.”
These were spirits at the peak of their strength. To the untrained eye, they would easily pass for human. It would be easier to just let her continue to believe whatever she’d decided to believe.
I sighed. “Yes, but that’s not what’s important. What’s important is getting out of here.”
“What about the woman? The one I gave my bracelet to? The one you said was your relative. Wasn’t she supposed to help get us out of here?”
“She’s my aunt, and she’s a captive. Like us.” Even though I could really use her help right now, I hoped Sorcha had managed to escape with the other prisoners.
“So, she’s real. The rest of them are just ghosts.”
“They’re real. They’re spirits, not ghosts. Spirits of real people.” And Sorcha was Fae, but if I could keep her from learning about us, then maybe the Fae would have no reason to kill her, assuming we managed to escape whatever Edric had planned.
Evelyn covered her face with her hands. I wrapped my arms around her and held her against my chest. “Please, believe me, Eve.” She leaned against me, and I tilted her face up so I could look her in the eyes. “We’re both in a lot of danger right now and we don’t have much time. I promise you, I’m telling you the truth.”
She frowned. “Let’s get you cleaned up.” She pulled away and reached for the bowl of water and the cloth they’d left for her to use. I watched her, trying to think of what I could do to get her to believe me.
“What did he say to you?” I asked as I peeled off my shirt. Most of the gashes had started to heal already, but I was still covered in dried blood. The fabric ripped away from partially healed wounds, causing them to start bleeding again.
“He wanted me to tell him where we’re keeping his wife, Godda.” She pulled a stool over and motioned for me to sit on it.
“What did you tell him?”
“What was I supposed to say? She’s dead.” She dipped the cloth into the bowl, submerging it to absorb the liquid.
“You said that? You said she’s dead?”
Evelyn glanced up at me. “She is, isn’t she?”
“No one knows.”
She scowled as she wrung out the rag. “What do you mean? She lived centuries ago. She must be dead by now.”
“What did he say when you said that?”
“He said he’d searched the Underworld and she wasn’t there, so she couldn’t be dead. He kept insisting I knew where she was and was lying to him. That’s when he said that thing about me being marked by a Fae. What do you think he meant by that? Fae? Like a faerie? He thinks I’ve been marked by a faerie?” She snorted. “I think I’d know if I’d ever seen a faerie, let alone been marked by one, whatever that means.”
My mind replayed what Edric had said when they’d brought me to him. He’d looked between me and Evelyn and said,Interesting.My stomach sank. What had I done? Was it possible that I’d marked her in some way? I searched her body as she moved around me.
“Liam?” she asked. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”
“No, no.” I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her down onto my lap. “You didn’t hurt me.” I pushed her hair back from her face and leaned in to kiss her lips.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” she said, resting her forehead against mine. “Now, let’s figure out how to get out of here.”
She dipped the cloth into the water and squeezed some of the moisture from it before bringing it to my face. Very gently, she wiped away the blood, dabbing around the cuts and bruises.
“What happened to you?” she asked as she worked. “Did they beat you? What did they mean when they said you’d defeated all the beasts?”
I sighed. “They threw me in a dungeon and left me to defend myself against the current residents.”
“Animals?” She stared at me with her mouth open.
“A few,” I said.
“They left you to fight off animals? With what? Your bare hands?”
I shrugged.
