Fuck, she hated crying. But now she was angry crying, and at least that was cathartic in some way. “And now what do I have to put up with? I get trapped inthisfucking hellhole! And now I have a bunch of youfae assholesstomping around telling me that I’m stupid and worthless! Well, guess what, you kitchen sink reject, I have news for you!Don’t you think I already fucking know that?”
Ibin and Nos stared at her in stunned silence.
Before Ibin started laughing. At least it didn’t seem to be in a mocking way. “Oh—ohshit,Nos—the look on your face. Oh, honey—Ilikeyou.” Ibin stood, her gossamer dress flowing around her as she did. “You and I are going to get along just grand.”
Before Ava could do much of anything, Ibin was hugging her. Just strolled right up to her and pulled her into a hug. She was warm, and soft, and despite how much Ava hated it and knew she shouldn’t—it felt nice. She needed it.
It actually calmed her down.
After a moment, Ibin let her go, and rested her hand on her shoulder. “I’ll just tell you, then, shall I? Skip all the nonsense. What Nos wastryingto say, before he went and insulted your intelligence”—she shot another glare over at the other fae—“which isn’t a great way to get her onourside, by the by—is that Serrik should stay trapped here for a very, very good reason.”
“Which is?”
“Well, you see…” Ibin’s expression was one of sadness and worry.
“He plans to rip Tir n’Aill, the fae realm, away from Earth. Separating the two forever.” Nos returned to the fire.
That didn’t sound so bad. The fae were dicks, as far as she could tell. “And? What would that do?”
“Oh, nothing major.” Ibin’s smile was halfhearted and didn’t last. “Only bring about the mass genocide of the entire fae race.”
CHAPTER SIX
Ava shook her head.
This wasn’t her problem. It wasn’t. Genocide? Ripping worlds apart? A book that couldn’t open, filled with all the magic spells that would ever exist, that she couldn’t evenuse?
This was too much.
“One of you abducts me. Another one tries to eat my eyes. And now?—”
“One saves your life,” Nos interjected, motioning to Ibin.
“Andyouare a massive dick, and not doing anything to throw the curve here, pal,” Ava snapped at him. “I get it. I do. You’re frustrated. I’m an interloper, and if Serrik was right and this thing here is going to get me hunted by who-the-hell-knows-what—” She pointed down at the book angrily. “Then I wouldn’t want anything to do with me either. But you need to step thefuckoff. I’m not your enemy.”
“Yet.” Nos turned to face her, glowering at her with his mismatched eyes. “How long before you decide we are your enemy, and you side with the bastard in his quest to destroy us all?”
“How long before you give me a reason to?” Christ, she wanted to smack him. “Because you’re doing a real damn good job so far.”
“Both of you, stop, stop.” Ibin waved her hands. “Please. Friend?—”
“Ava.” She realized they didn’t know her name. “It’s Ava.”
“Ava,” Ibin repeated. “You’re tired. Soaked to the bone. At your wits’ end. And as loathe as I am to put you in a position wherehecan talk to you again, things will look better in the morning when you’ve been able to rest.”
Yeah. Right. Whatever.
Sleep did sound good. Even if it did probably mean more Serrik.
And getting out of the soaked and terrible clothing she was wearing did sound fantastic.
“Andmaybeby the time you wake up?” Ibin fixed a withering stare at her companion. “I will have convinced my friend here that we need to do a better job of convincing you why slaughtering us all isn’t the best course of action going forward.”
Nos grunted and turned to the fire, leaning an arm against the mantle of the fireplace.
Ava was sorely tempted to ask what crawled up his ass and died, then to ask that if he even knew if it was his original ass or not, but she decided that purposefully provoking the man was probably not a good idea.
She might be immortal. But she could still suffer. And she had to remember that.
