13
‘…devour each and every heart.’Landers kept going on, still describing what he wanted to do to each Fae. ‘How dare they touch what’s mine.’
‘Are you okay? What did they do to you?’Zilon asked. ‘Did they harm you?’
‘I’m okay. They didn’t touch me.’
‘They had you for a week,’Philit said
Landers let out a growl that made me shake in my spot. ‘Too fucking long.’
‘I’m okay. I promise. They didn’t hurt me.’
‘What did they do to you?’Zilon asked again.
The whole ride was spent with questions being tossed at me and many angry tangents. They weren’t interested in listening to me, and I went quietly, letting them talk out their fury. Instead, I took a moment to reorient myself. It was welcoming but also weird to feel them again. Having them back showed how much of myself I’d been missing.
How could the Fae describe this as something bad and dangerous? My bonds with my mates felt genuine and safe. They felt real. And because I received their emotions too, I knew the guys thought the same. We belonged together.
That comforting warmth made me smile, even as they kept going on and on, venting their fury.Anger for me. Anger about what I’d suffered. My love for them grew even more for it.
‘Do you think this is a joke, Rayna? Why are you smiling?’Philit asked.
The smile dropped from my face. ‘Because I’m with you again.’
A tendril of warmth came from all three of them. Their agreement.
‘We’re going to fuck them up for taking you away,’Landers said.
‘It wasn’t that bad.’
‘It’s the Fae; it’s always bad.’The murderous intent darkened Landers’s words.
‘They did treat me right. They took care of me. Frankly, you guys need to listen to me. I have so many things to tell you. Things aren’t exactly how you think.’
‘They took my mate away from me,’Landers said. ‘Not much to consider there.’
His hatred burned as it swirled inside of me. I gritted my teeth. ‘Either way, where are we supposed to go? Going back to the academy is too dangerous.’
‘We made a deal. Find you, find where the Fae are, and we’re free. We know where they are now. We give them that information, and they’ll leave us the fuck alone,’Philit said.
‘You can’t really believe that, can you? They’re deceiving us. The dragons, the trainers, and the king. They have all been deceiving us. Feeding us lies.’
‘Where the hell is this coming from?’Philit asked. ‘We have freedom in our hands, and we saw them. What lies have the Fae been feeding you?’
‘No lies. They—’
‘I saw the riders,’Landers interrupted me. ‘Now that we know where they are, they can be saved, and we’ll be rewarded for leading to their safety.’
‘But they aren’t in danger.’I fisted my hands in frustration.‘At least not like they are in the hands of the dragon king.’
‘What the hell are you even talking about?’Landers asked as we began lowering.
‘The riders there. The Fae don’t do anything. They train us, teach us what we can do.’
‘I saw the Fae keeping them away, holding them back,’Landers said as he landed on top of a small hill, surrounded by rocks.
‘It isn’t like that.’