“What do you want from me, Riley? What else do you expect me to do?”
“Honestly? I just want you to go back to Faerie, if that’s where you came from. A Dark Fae is responsible for this, no matter how you choose to look at it, Nine. It might not have been you, but that doesn’t really change anything about how I feel right now. I… I don’t want you near me. Please go.”
Nine reacts as if I’ve swung at him. He recoils just enough that I notice, his lips pursed with such force, his cheekbones jut from his face. It’s the most emotion I’ve seen from him tonight.
You know what? Good. I want him to hurt, too.
It’s gone in an instant as the powerful fae regains control. Just like he used to when I was a child and he wanted to slap back at me, he pulls himself to his daunting height, staring down his nose at me.
Right now, with Carolina’s body a few feet away from me, I just don’t give a shit.
He looms in front of me. “What? No command this time?”
I shake my head.
“So you’d leave me the choice, then, eh, Shadow? You just expect me to leave you alone when you’re like this? I think that’s worse than involving the Blessed One.”
That’s exactly what I expect. “What does it matter anyway? That’s never stopped you before.”
I hear a whistle. Only after it dies away do I get that that was Nine sucking in a sharp, furious breath.
Did I offend him?
Too damn bad.
He’s fae. Isn’t that what he just said? It’s in their nature not to be bothered by what happened to some pesky human. So I’ve got some Seelie blood in me. As far as I’m concerned, it means I’ve got pointy ears. That’s it. And being this close to death—finding my friend like this—is too much for me.
Nine was right. This is shock. The numb feeling that’s overtaken how angry and upset and scared I was right after I found Carolina? The absolute disbelief that this can’t be happening? It’s not going to last. It didn’t with Madelaine, though that’s probably because I had to deal with the third-degree burns on my hands at the same time. I don’t w
ant Nine to be watching me when the shock disappears and it hits me—really hits me—that Carolina is gone.
“Just go,” I say wearily. “Leave me alone. Leave me and Lina alone.”
His silver eyes flash a warning. “I won’t always do what you tell me to. You’ve commanded me once before. Will you be able to again?”
Don’t know. But, if he doesn’t get the hell out of here now, we’re gonna find out.
“You don’t know what you’re asking of me.”
He throws that in my face so often. It’s true, too. I don’t know, and that’s because, no matter what, he won’t freaking tell me. You think he’d be jumping at the chance to slip away after the way I treated him last night. Sure, it’s a total one-eighty, and maybe he really was right and his touch finally wore off.
Suddenly, I’m glad that he refused to touch me again. If I fall even deeper under his spell, I might forget how dangerous the fae really are.
“I’m asking you to give me space. Can you do that?”
“I’ll go, on one condition. Fair enough?”
My laugh is hollow. “Are you trying to bargain with me, Nine?”
“If you like. It isn’t much I require. Do you still have my gift?”
Is he serious? “The scarf or whatever it is?” When he nods, I jerk one shoulder. “Yeah. Somewhere.”
“Keep it close. If you leave this house, bring it with you. Let me believe that, even if I can’t be with you, something that I’ve given you is. Will you do that for me, Shadow?”
“Fine. Sure. I’ll do it.”
The words are barely out of my mouth when I feel a whoosh of wind blow the hair away from my face.