Those words sounded true, and a small sound escaped me as I tried to swallow the fear that clawed at my throat. All I’d seen from Neyil since meeting him was a nice guy promising me the world. But this guy was the opposite, promising to destroy my world instead.
Neyil finally looked up, meeting my eyes. I stepped back, drawing in a sharp breath. My thoughts turned into a bundle of confusion. His lips had been in a thin line, but once he spotted me, they dipped down.
My instincts screamed to run, to get away from him. He was too dangerous. Even the air was consumed by his fury. I gasped.
I had to get out of here.
I couldn’t stay.
I turned and ran, not really paying attention to where I was going. I just needed distance from him, needed to learn how to breathe again.
Another corner came, and I was about to turn when I hit something hard. Hands grabbed at me, steadying me as I took in sharp breaths. My ribs ached from how hard I’d been running.
“Whoa, what is going on here?”
The familiar voice only added to the tension as I yanked back, this new Fae’s touch suddenly feeling like it burned. The one before me now was all too familiar, even down to the smirk stretching across his face as he realized who had just run into him.
“Rayna, long time no see.”
“You!”
“Me?” He raised an eyebrow.
The same Fae we’d captured in Crotlyn Mountain. The very same Fae who had talked to the fairies and sicked them on us. We had nearly died because he’d talked them into attacking us.
“This…this is all because of you!”
He held his hands up. “What did I do? I was only minding my own business when you came around the corner like your butt was on fire. You slammed into me.”
His little reminder had me glancing back, expecting to see Neyil chasing me down, but the hallways were clear. Neyil wasn’t giving chase. I was safe, for now at least.
“My entire situation,” I snapped back at the Fae. “You did something; you brought me to their attention. Why else would they know about me, about what I could do?”
The Fae’s response was laughter. It was a loud guffaw that mocked me “Rayna, you always delight me. You give me too much credit really. Did I help them locate and understand who you were? Most definitely. But I was not the one who captured you, who brought you here, or who used you. I was simply a prisoner, and prisoners are often overlooked. You and your dragons gave so much away when I was with you.” He stepped closer, talking softer. “I am simply an Earth Fae of no consequence, only good at slinging around mud. Really, I’m at the lowest rank there is, a grunt meant to be sacrificed. But even someone as lowly as me knows treasure when I look at it. As soon as I met you, I knew. My stay with you only verified the truth. You were powerful. Those dragons were eating out of your hands, not the other way around, even if they liked to pretend otherwise. You very quickly became their world, and none of you even noticed it. But I did. I’d heard enough stories growing up to know exactly who you were.”
The Fae chuckled as he moved even closer, his chest practically brushing against mine. He was a few inches taller than me, and suddenly, I was reminded of exactly what he was capable of. He was part of the group who had attacked us. If he had killed any of the guys and stood before me now, he wouldn’t have cared or felt apologetic. To him, killing was the norm, and his bloody hands would have no trouble stealing my breath as he choked me to death.
“I would never hurt someone as precious as you,” he said softly, reaching up and touching my hair. “If I had been in the position to do so, I would have saved you in those caves. Gotten you away from those dragons you like to call ‘mates.’”
I smacked his hand away. “Theyaremy mates.”
His lip curled up in disgust, gaze hardening. “They areparasites. The sooner you realize this, the better off you will be.”
“And become one of your brainwashedDivines? No fucking way. I know better.”
“You’d like to think you know better. You had a dangerous and unfavorable introduction to the Fae, but that isn’t all of us.”
“But it’s definitely you,” I said, my hands curling into fists. I wanted to punch his overly confident grin that only seemed to mock me. “Or is your mind so small that you already forgot what you tried to do?”
“My team tried to save you. We didn’t kill anyone.”
I snorted. “Not for the lack of trying. I’m not an idiot. You would have called it a success if you were strong enough to kill my dragons and take me as your prize.”
“If that is what you want to believe, then go ahead.”
The wind had been picking up around us, but I’d been too consumed in fighting with the Earth Fae in front of me. I hadn’t even realized it until someone screamed, and the harsh swirl of sudden wind was followed by a heavy flapping sound drumming into me. And it all dawned in me then, everything I’d been missing snapped into place.
They were here. They’d found me.