“I don’t know. I like it.”
“Like his scar? Or like him?”
“Who?” And then, purposely being obtuse, I say, “Jim?”
“You know I’m not asking about Jim. Actually, the whole time we’ve been talking, we’ve only been talking about one guy. So… what is this? How do you fit in with him? Are you his real mate?”
The answer slips out before I think better of it. “Not if you ask him.”
“I’m not asking him, though. Come on, Elle. Do you love him?”
“I… no.” Who knows? Maybe if I say it out loud, I can finally convince myself of that.
Riley shoves her hair out of her face. She’s frowning now. “Let me tell you something that I don’t often share. You know how the fae can’t tell a lie?” At my nod, she says, “I’m a halfling. I can lie because of my mom’s human side, but my dad’s side? It’s given me the ability to be... kinda like a human lie detector, if that makes sense.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Oh. So, uh, I don’t know what’s really going on between you and Jim and Rys, but you’re not fooling anyone when it comes to how you feel about the Light Fae.”
Great. And here I thought I was pulling it off before Jim caught a whiff of it and demanded that I choose.
“Hey, Elle. Can I say something else?”
Can I stop her? “Sure.”
“He calls you Leannán. Rys, I mean.”
“Yeah? So?”
“I’m not from here. Like I said, my dad’s fae. Light Fae like Rys. Because my mom’s human, the two of them decided to raise me in the Iron. Well, that was one of the reasons...” She hesitates. “Do you know about the Shadow Prophecy?”
What does that have to do with Rys’s nickname for me? “A little. Rys told me a little bit about it.”
“He would know. He was there at the beginning, when Melisandre ordered him to bring me and my mom to Faerie after her soldiers captured my dad. He only snagged my mom and left me behind in an empty gas station, which kinda sucked since it meant one-year-old Riley grew up in the system, but whatever.”
She says “whatever” but, despite her flippant tone, I can tell that being abandoned when she was an infant didn’t do her any favors. Especially if she was half-fae and had no clue.
“I’m sorry.”
She waves my apology away. “I deal. I’ve had to. And Rys… he’s a big part of the reason why.”
This is it. Riley’s given me a perfect opening and, yeah. I might as well accept that I’ve been dying to know.
“Because he was convinced that you were his mate?”
“So you know about that?”
“He didn’t tell me, but… it wasn’t hard to guess.”
Riley accepts that answer. Good. Now that I know she can ping me for lying, I’ve got to be a little more careful in what I say.
“He was wrong. Obviously. But, before he finally figured it out, he killed my sister.” When I don’t react, she lets out a dark, unamused chuckle. “Let me guess. He told you that, too.”
“Um. Yeah.”
“He’s fae. I never wanted to believe they were real, even if I had Nine on my ass telling me all about them. But because I spent so long pretending they weren’t after me because of a stupid prophecy, I fell into a trap. He wanted me to go to Faerie with him. I said no. He thought my sister was holding me back and, like any fae, he removed the obstacle, then lost his temper when I still said ‘fuck you’. He burnt the house down with his faerie fire.” She looks down at her hands, eyes marveling at the leather. “I hated him for a long time, but eventually I realized he was fae. He can’t help what he is any more than we can.
“I felt bad when I found out he was in prison. I asked Oberon to let him out, but he told me that it was impossible. I mean, obviously, you guys found a way around that, and I’m glad. I’ve got Nine. I’d say that you’d be good for Rys but… well, then I realized there was a Jim.”
I was wondering when Riley was going to get around to that.
“He wasn’t lying when he said he was your boyfriend, so he definitely believes that. What about you, Elle? What’s going on?”
I shrug. “I wish I knew.” And that’s the fucking truth. “Right now, I just want to start this whole thing over. We’re supposed to be finding the Winter Queen for Oberon. And unless this missing queen is in lockdown with Jim, this is a big complication we don’t need.”
“They’ll get him back,” Riley says, so confident that I’m really hoping she knows something I don’t. “I heard Rys. He’ll do it for you, and I know Nine. The two of them barely get along, but… let’s just say, I’ve seen the two of ‘em partner up before. It usually ends up working out.”
Yeah?
Fingers crossed.
10
I can’t stop thinking about Rys.
It dawns on me after our earlier conversation kind of just dies down that, while Riley seemed a little iffy when it came to Rys calling me Leannán, somehow she never got around to explaining why.
So I ask her, and after a moment’s pause, she explains that, in the fae language, Leannán basically means “fairy lover”, but there’s more to it than that. The Leannán sidhe are a sect of fae who take a human lover.
Just like Rys did.
Only… he was calling me that way before I ever thought about letting him touch me. And way before the first time we had sex. So what’s that about?
Of course, once she tells me that little tidbit, it’s all I can think about.
He loves me. Whether that means anything for our future together, I never really doubted that. And, regardless of what happens next, right now so does Jim.
They need me, too. Both of them.
I look at Riley. She’s sitting on the ground now, pulling her shadowy cloak close, munching on some crackers that she pulled out of a shadow pocket; like Nine, she can use them at will. Me? I already ate one of my apples, not because I’m the least bit hungry, but because I don’t want to risk getting sick if I wait too long.
Once she’s done, she wipes her hands on her pants to knock off the crumbs. She reaches into the pocket again, grabbing a jar full of crystal clear water. She offers me a sip—I shake my head—before downing all of it.
“Jeez. I didn’t realize how thirsty those crackers would make me. Good thing that this Faerie water is amazing.”
I look at the empty jar in her hand. “Are you allowed to drink it?”
“Yup. The water doesn’t affect humans. It’s not like the food, where you can end up starving to death if you don’t get enough.”
She says that last part so bitterly that I know there’s a story behind it. Considering I’m already addicted to faerie food and I get sick if I miss one day’s worth, I don’t want to know. I can’t imagine going more than one day—the cramps are that awful—but to starve to death you’d have to go without for way longer than that.
I shudder.
“You okay?” Riley asks.
“Yeah. Well, as okay as I can be. I hate the whole ‘not knowing’, that’s all.”
She shrugs. “Too bad we’re not with the guys, seeing how everything’s going. It’s been hours. Either it’s as impossible to get inside of that prison as the other one, or they’re working on getting Jim back. I hope it’s soon. I’m getting tired of sitting around. My ass hurts, and that’s saying something. I used to sleep against gravestones.”
Ignoring that last part, I have to wonder: then why are we? I only stuck around because it seemed like Riley didn’t want to go.
“Do you remember how to get back to that prison?”
“Yeah. And, even if I couldn’t, I can find Nine. Track him down because he’s my mate.” Lucky. “Why? What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that, if we sit here any longer, I’m going to lose my mind. I know we can’t go into the prison or anything, but can’t we move a little closer, keep an eye on things for the guys?”
Riley bites down on her bottom lip. “I don’
t know. We did promise we’d stay right here.”
“We did,” I agree. “But I’m human. You’re half. We don’t have to tell the truth if we don’t want to.”
“I knew you were lying when you gave your word you’d stay behind.”
“So, can we go?”
Riley climbs to her feet. “Only if you don’t tell Nine. I fucking love him, but he can be a little overprotective. I mean, damn it, he still won’t tell me what happened with Gillespie.”
I have no idea what any of that means. But if Riley’s willing to shade-walk me over to the prison, that’s all I care about.
“Deal.”
Hands down, when it comes to traveling in Faerie, I’d much rather take a Seelie portal than shadow travel. It might be hot and humid, and it looks like you’re walking through fire, but at least you don’t come out with an awful case of motion sickness.
It was windy and it was spinny and it feels like I took a turn on a tilt-a-whirl or something by the time I’m done. In the back of my mind, I only just remember how much Riley hates to be touched. Instead of grabbing onto her to keep myself upright, I throw myself sideways and land on my hands and knees.
“Oof.”
“Yeah. Shade-walking takes a bit of getting used to. Put me to sleep and travel when I’m out… no problem. But the first time I shade-walked while conscious, I ended up flat on my face, too. Did you get hurt?”
My stomach’s still a little queasy, but other than that I’m fine. “Nah. Are we here? Did we make it?”
“Look. It’s right over there.”
I push up off of the ground, climbing first to my knees, then my feet. Once I’m standing again, I follow Riley’s point.
Okay. Well, it’s not as big as Siúcra, though I wasn’t really expecting it to be. It kind of reminds me of a sandcastle. It’s wide and flat, with turrets on all four corners. Torches create a perimeter of the tall building, the orange flames looking sickly mixed with the purple-y black shadows. Unlike Siúcra, there are some windows, all covered in the same crystal bars; they shimmer beautifully in the light.
There’s a gate, because of course there is, and from this angle, I notice that the entrance is normal. No freaky glowing gate like at Siúcra. That makes me feel a little bit better. It’s open, which means that there’s a good chance Rys and Nine found their way inside.
Leading away from the gate, there’s a path that stretches out in the Cursed woods that circle the hidden prison. And, standing on the path, beneath one of the flickering torches, is a fae that I’d hoped to never see again.
It takes everything I have not to react.
Dusk.
It’s Dusk.
Even from this distance, I recognize him. I would know him anywhere. He has this air of danger surrounding him, of overwhelming malice. His hair has grown back to his chin, his face is perfectly healed, and, though I still remember the way he screamed when he was burning alive, he looks exactly the same as he did before that terrible night.
How much do you want to bet that he still wants to get me back for it, though?
Oh, no. No, no, no—
“Elle. Look. Someone else is coming.”
Are you kidding me? As if seeing Dusk again wasn’t bad enough, someone else is coming?
“Don’t move,” whispers Riley. “Whatever you do, don’t move.”
I freeze. When it comes to the shadows, Riley’s the pro here. If she says ‘don’t move’, call me a Helen-statue. I’m not going anywhere.
“Can they see us?”
More importantly, can Dusk?
“Depends.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’ve done this a couple of times. Humans can’t see through my shadows, not unless they’re immune to glamour. With a seeing stone, yes. But the fae? Like I said, it depends.”
“Great.”
“Shh.”
Great.
It must work because, a few seconds later, when another Unseelie appears at the mouth of the path, he glides right past where we’re hiding without a second look. I wait until he’s gone far enough away before I let out a tiny sigh of relief.
I don’t know this fae, not really, but I have a sinking suspicion that I really, really hope is wrong. Especially when he heads toward Dusk. He stops next to the guard, starting a conversation.
So that’s what Dusk was waiting for.
Though it’s probably the last thing I want to do, I convince Riley to move us just a little closer. It takes a little bit of risky whispering and some shitty charades before she catches on, but she gives in, shifting us through the shadows until we’re about six or seven feet away from the two fae.
Because the night is so silent, and the fae don’t expect that anyone is eavesdropping on them, as soon as we slip out of the shadows—and, thankfully, the trip was short enough that it doesn’t affect me like before—their voices carry over to us.
“How is the prisoner?”
“I thought you said he only just arrived in Faerie.”
“I did. Those I sent to the Iron to retrieve him failed, but it hasn’t been that long since the human crossed the veil. It took more time than I hoped for him to find his way to our Court, but the mistress of Fate is never wrong, Dusk. Now we have him.”
“We do,” drawls Dusk, “but he’s not acting like an oblivious human. Someone’s trained him. He refused to eat. And when I ordered him to give up his touch, he refused that, too, Nyx.”
Trained him?
Oh my god.
Dusk means me, doesn’t he? I did. I’m the one who warned Jim about the touch, and faerie food, and his true name.
If he’s the prisoner Dusk’s talking about—and he has to be—then he actually listened to me. I just… I’m hoping that he doesn’t get in trouble for not listening to the fae guards in there instead. In Siúcra, the punishments included going hungry and being thrown to the shadows in the oubliette. But that’s a Seelie prison.
What happens inside of an Unseelie jail?
The other fae—Nyx—looks down his nose at Dusk. Whoever he is, based on his attitude and his elaborate black outfit with the silver accents, he’s clearly more important than a prison guard, fae or not.
“When I found him, he was with a Seelie and a human female. They must have prepared him. It doesn’t matter. The prison will break him. It must. We can’t let him get to the Winter Queen.”
What?
Why?
And how the hell do these two fae know that we’re on a secret mission from Oberon?
I never get an answer to my questions. Before Dusk can reply, an alarm suddenly goes off. And I mean off. It’s loud. Pulsing. Blaring. Even from the outside, you can’t miss it. At the same time, the torches lining the prison building flare, each flame climbing so they’re at least five feet tall.
Oh, yeah. Something’s going down.
“What’s that?” whispers Riley, sounding super spooked. “What’s going on?”
It’s not exactly the same high-pitched chime that rang out through Siúcra, but it’s close enough.
“The prison. It’s the prison alarm.”
I’m not the only one who knows, either. The instant the alarm starts to sound, the two Unseelie immediately react.
Only… they both react differently.
Crap.
Nyx takes off toward the prison’s gate. Exactly what I would’ve expected from anyone who has an interest in the prison—or its prisoners.
But Dusk? Instead of looking behind him, he goes eerily still. What’s he doing? He moves his eyes, almost like he’s searching for something, but that’s it.
Until, quick as a rattlesnake striking, his head turns, his mirror-like eyes locking on the spot where I’m standing with Riley. Can he see us? She said that he shouldn’t be able to—but should is doing a lot of heavy lifting there.
I can’t risk it. “Take us back.”
“What?”
I don’t want to raise my voice, just in case, but she can�
��t hear me over the blaring noise of the alarm. Here’s hoping that Dusk’s senses are just as dulled by it.
“Take us back!”
Dusk’s eyes widen. His trot turns into a run.
No!
I don’t grab Riley. One of the first things Rys warned me when it became clear that I was coming along on this mission was that Riley couldn’t handle being touched by anyone who wasn’t her mate and she proved it earlier. I used to think that was why she wore the leather gloves, too, unless she mentioned faerie fire while staring at her covered hands. Either way, I know better than to grab her.
Instead, I clasp my hands together and hope that she can whisk us back to the clearing we left behind before Dusk gets closer.
Riley pulls it off.
Thank freaking God.
Dusk was only a few feet away when the wind picked up, throwing my hair into my eyes again. The world shifted, spinning, tilting, twisting, and then we were landing hard on the icy ground where we were supposed to be waiting for Rys and Nine.
They’re not back yet. I didn’t think they would be—especially since they probably have everything to do with the ringing alarm—but I’m more concerned about Dusk.
So’s Riley.
“What the hell just happened?”
I’m pacing. It took me a second to recover my balance, but now that I have, I’m pacing again. It’s almost like I never stopped.
“He had to have seen us,” I say. “Can he follow us here?”
“How the fuck am I supposed to know?” As soon as she snaps that out, Riley holds up her hand. “Sorry. Sorry. I didn’t mean it. I just… back in Black Pine, a siren going off like that meant shit was going down.”
She’s not wrong. “It was like that when I was in Siúcra, too.”
“So who was that guy? The Dark Fae that came after us? He shouldn’t have been able to find us in the shadows, but it almost looked like he did.”
So she picked up on it, too.
“That’s Dusk. He’s a guard at Siúcra. Well, he was. He got shipped to a different prison. Samradh.” Which is probably what the name of the prison we were at is. “He was out for a while after I set him on fire, but he looks like he’s all healed up now.”
Freed: A Supernatural Prison Romance (Imprisoned by the Fae Book 3) Page 10