“Keep quiet,” Ellis whispered to us, a trace of fear in his eyes as we turned our backs to the fire. “Don’t speak while he can hear you.”
Ode pressed her lips together, and we walked until we could no longer hear the crackling flames and shouts of the Forgotten Fae. A numbness settled over me, and I barely registered what was happening as Mason and Ellis led us into a portal, and we found our feet on grass again.
Back at the camp, the forest was quiet, and it wasn’t until Ode and I reached the front door of her little house that Ellis turned to Mason. “I’ve got it from here.”
Mason hesitated, eyeing me suspiciously like he expected me to run, but he eventually turned and strode away. Once he was gone, Ode opened the door and led us into the living room of her house.
“What the fuck was that?” she squeaked, spinning around to face us once the door was shut.
In answer, Ellis gently pulled her to him and pressed a kiss to her hair. “You shouldn’t have gone there,” he replied.
She batted him away, though her expression had softened. “You think? You said Xander was becoming obsessed looking for those books. You didn’t tell me that meant he was burning down villages to find them!”
“Xander’s changed since Corak was taken,” Ellis replied. “The king has taken everything from him. Fromus.”
“But I thought we were the good ones,” I said softly, finally managing to speak.
Ode bit her bottom lip. “We are.” She elbowed Ellis lightly in the ribs. “Right?”
He didn’t speak for a long moment. “Things will be better once we free the fae from the king’s rule. You’ll see. But you’d both better stay low for a while. Promise me you’ll remain here until everything smooths over.”
Ode sighed, but she nodded. Ellis turned his attention to me, but I only stared blankly back at him. Giving up on getting a response, he moved toward the door.
When he reached for the doorknob, I called out, “He never intends to send me home, does he?”
Ellis stilled, his shoulders tightening. “You have a rare gift, Cara. And Xander loves you,” he replied over his shoulder, then he exited the house, leaving me to fall to my knees.
CHAPTER 17
~ Cara ~
OdeandIstayedinside her house for the next week, with Ode only venturing out to bring us some food. Xander and the Forgotten Fae warriors had returned from the village, but none of them had been injured so they didn’t need my healing power. I kept thinking that Xander would search me out. That he’d find me and explain that everything had been one giant mistake. That I hadn’t seen what I thought I had. But the days passed, and he never came. The only sign that he’d returned to the camp was the bouquet of wildflowers he left for me on Ode’s doorstep every morning. Flowers that I refused to touch.
“He’s not someone you want to be around right now,” Ellis had explained during one of his visits. “We never found the books, and now that you’ve seen…” he sighed. “Give Xander time. He’ll find you when he’s ready. Just know that he’s sorry about how everything played out at the village. I’m sure he’ll try to make it up to you.”
I’d nodded mutely as if I understood, but the truth was, I was glad he hadn’t come for me. I wasn’t even sure what I’d say when I saw him face-to-face. I was questioning everything he’d ever told me, and with each passing day, the urge for me to run from this place grew stronger. The urge for me to run fromhim.
“I saw Xander in the camp today,” Ode said softly as I pushed around the fruit on my plate. “I think Ellis is right. He’s not happy about what happened. He was just surprised that we were there and handled it poorly. He said he’s going to come by later today to speak with you.”
I lifted my gaze from my plate and finally looked over at her. “Speak with me?” My heart squeezed as panic rose up my throat.
“I know what we saw was bad,” Ode said with a tight smile, “But Xander has assured me that he wasn’t himself that day. I believe him, Cara. He’s only doing what he thinks is right for the Forgotten Fae.”
As much as I wanted to believe that, I couldn’t. I could still feel Xander’s fingers digging into my skin as he wrenched me away from the boy I’d saved, and Ellis’s words rang in my head:You have a rare gift, Cara. And Xander loves you.
No, the only true love I’d felt was from my family. My father who raised me, and my sister, Raine. I had to get back to them, and if I couldn’t trust that Xander would help me return to them, I needed to find another way.
Sliding the plate from my lap, I lifted to my feet.
“Cara?” Ode said in surprise, but I didn’t explain what I was doing as I moved around the house, collecting a flask of water, wrapping some food in a cloth, and checking my blade was in my pocket. Reaching back, I braided my hair and strode toward the door.
Ode fluttered her wings, making it to the doorknob before I could. “You can’t go,” she said, her voice wavering and her eyes wide with alarm.
But I was tired of cowering in Ode’s house and waiting for Xander to find me. “I have to. You’ve been a good friend to me Ode, but my family needs me, and if Xander doesn’t intend to send me home, I have to find another way.”
Her bottom lip wobbled. “What other way?”
“I don’t know yet,” I admitted. “But I can’t stay here. I get it. There’s a lot of history between the king and the Forgotten Fae, but after what I saw in that village, I don’t want to be any part of it.”
