“Have some water, you’re looking a bit… peaky,” he chuckled, handing me a glass.
“You just told me yousipfrom humans.Of course, I lookpeaky,” I snapped. “So… you don’t murder people for their blood?”
“No… Why would we want to do that? We’d lose access to our source of magic,” Galen said.
“And… does it taste awful?”
They all laughed this time, but Galen answered. “It doesn’t taste like blood to us because of the magic. It tastes better than you can imagine.” I wished I hadn’t asked.
“And how many humans live in this world?”
Raf replied, “Tough to say, with how quickly the human population has been shrinking. They may soon become extinct in Nymera.”
My eyes grew large.
“My brother is exaggerating, as usual. No one’s going extinct. But we do need access to your world,our home world,” Galen said. “Some Fae don’t have a steady source anymore. Our people have been waiting a long, long time for a world walker. We want to go home.”
“I see,” I mumbled, staring down at my empty plate.
And there it was; the reason they hadn’t harmed me. They wanted me to take them back to Erador. Well, they were about to be severely disappointed, because I had no clue how I’d arrived here.
They wanted to come to my world and drink the blood of my people, because the human population here was…shrinking.
Did they think I was an idiot?Even if I could world-walk—which I couldn’t—I’dneverlet them into Erador. And Galen was wrong; I wasn’t a faerie.
I was never going to get home… I was stuck in a world of blood-thirsty monsters. Cold dread creeped down my spine, giving me the chills.“I can’t world-walk!” I cried in a burst of anger. “And I can’t help you.”
“It’s a lot to process,” Galen said evenly. “But for what it’s worth, I think you can. First we’ll help you learn to wield your magic, then we can worry about opening a portal. One step at a time.”
Rafael stood quickly. “Now that we’ve gotten that over with, I’m heading to town.” He shrugged on a black leather jacket.
“Beers or brothels this time, brother?” Louis asked, also standing.
“Both,” Raf replied with a grin. I resisted the urge to lift my lip in disgust.
“Marigold, I believe we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other. I look forward to it,” Louis said with an exaggerated bow. Raf had already disappeared. I hadn’t even seen him leave.
Galen turned to me. “We need to talk to my mother soon, but I’d like to show you around first. I want you to feel at home here.”
“Like a fish feels at home on a hook?” I bit back. I couldn’t tell if the hunger in his expression was for me or my blood. He could stay hungry. In fact, he could starve.
His mouth tugged into a cocky half-grin. “Does that mean you’re hooked? If you want me to come to your bedroom tonight, all you have to do is ask.”
I gasped in outrage. “Absolutelynot. Last night, I was in a state of duress, which you took advantage of. It won’t happen again.”
He had the nerve to scoff. “You kissed me first, if I recall. And you’re going to kiss me again,” he challenged. “You won’t last three days.”
“Why? Do you plan on eating me before then?”
He laughed, rolling his eyes. I kept a healthy distance from him while we walked to Robert. He leaned down and whispered, “I plan on doing much more than that.”
nine
Ireturned to my room to freshen up. Too soon, Galen was leaning against my door frame in a dark green tunic and tight breeches that showed off his muscular legs. “Ready to go for a ride?”
I smiled up at him instinctively, like I’d been trained to do my entire life.No.I was in a new world, and I was making new rules. I let my face drop into a scowl. “It depends. Do I get my own horse this time?”
“Whatever you want, it’s yours.” He grinned.
