Akari finally catches my look and understanding leeches the color from her cheeks.
“Oh. Oh! I’m so sorry, Anya! I hope I haven’t caused you any trouble.”
“Not at all, child.” Anya smiles, but it is wan and worried. “You must get some rest. You both have a big day tomorrow.”
Anya rolls to her side, away from us, and promptly stills. I know she is not asleep, but I decide not to pry and leave her be. She must have come dangerously close to breaking one of those faerie oaths just now. I silently hope she doesn’t get punished for letting it slip.
It’s hours before my body finally relents its hold on the world, and I fall into oblivion with three words whirling like a hurricane through my mind:
The Wild Hunt.
Chapter Nine
The sun has barely risen when a dozen fae barge into the tent and demand that we prepare for the Selection. The terror in the air practically vibrates, and I feel the hairs on my arms rise with it. They roughly shove us toward the open tent flap. I’m secretly glad I rose early to pee, otherwise, I imagine I would be in a similar predicament to yesterday’s near-to-bursting bladder.
The glare of sunlight blinds me, and I blink quickly with my hand raised to shade my eyes. I bump into Akari and a few other girls as we all follow blindly to wherever we are being herded. When my eyes finally adjust to the light, I realize we are headed for the meadow that was filled with fae yesterday, that now contains thousands of Chosen standing in neat rows, their gauzy dresses pressing to their bodies as the wind rustles through the trees.
I’m shoved non-too-gently into a line and told to stand still. I huff at the rude bastard, then realize Akari is no longer next to me.
“Akari?” I call, stepping on my tiptoes to see over the many heads. I take a step backward, but a female fae hisses at me to get back into line. Bitch. What was with the females hissing all the time?
“Delta! Over here!”
My neck cracks as it jerks quickly toward Akari ’s voice. She is only two rows behind me. I smile and wave, and she does the same. Then I turn back to face the front before the female can go all snake on me again.
I look down and notice a caramel and brown ceramic jug sitting about half a meter in front of me. I look to my left and right and confirm that we all have one. Is this the piss jar for those who missed out on ducking to the loo beforehand? I wrinkle my nose, sincerely hoping not. While my bladder was comfortably empty now, it wouldn’t stay that way, and I couldn’t envision myself squatting over the pot while the thousands of Chosen and our fae captors looked on. Though I didn’t think pissing myself in front of everyone would be any better.
With all the Chosen in position, the fae materialize from the trees and walk among us. It’s fucking terrifying. I’m far enough back to watch as the fae make their way down each line of Chosen, pausing at some women and ignoring others. I make myself stand tall and proud when the first fae finds himself in front of me.
He pauses when he notices my outwardly calm, collected, and confident demeanor, though inside I was a trembling mess. I may need to squat on the pot sooner than I had expected. But then… the male drops a stone into the jug before me.
I startle as the pebble clangs at the bottom and echoes through the thin opening.
I glance back at the smirking fae, and he grins wickedly, blowing me a kiss before sauntering off, not bothering to glance at any more of the Chosen women. What the fuck was that about?
It’s not long before I hear more stones clattering inside of empty jugs. Each time this happens, I notice the male disperses like the one who’d dropped his stone in my pot had done, bearing no mind to any other woman. I also notice the fae perusing us at their pleasure are all male. Icould only assume the males were as sexist as human men were. Pigs, the lot of them.
The sun rises so fucking slowly throughout the morning as an endless stream of males appraise me and the others. I am sniffed, prodded, and even licked at one point. That particular male, who ironically happened to be the red-eyed devil I’d seen Earthside, received a perfectly pink handprint on his cheek that stayed tattooed firmly in place even after he had dropped his stone into my steadily filling jug. I was glad to say his magnetisms failed to ensnare me on this occasion.
Eventually, the lines thin. I groan in relief as the last male walks off the field. It’s beenhours. My legs ache. My feet ache. My ears, nose, and chest are sunburnt. I am dehydrated as fuck. When nothing happens for a couple of minutes, I shuffle impatiently and almost call out to ask what the fuck they were waiting for, but my words get swallowed by a sudden wave of nauseating terror ashewalks onto the field. I should saythey, because the other male with him is obviously High Lord Vellin, what with his crown made of literal shadows, but my eyes are fixed on him.
Just as his are on me.
He bypasses every single woman in front of me, knocking a dozen over as he clears a direct path to me. His crown, like upside-down icicles, stands tall upon his brow. It is a wonder I had missed the crown yesterday. It was obscenely large.
When he stops mere feet in front of me, he tilts his head to the side in a bird-like manner and cocks an eyebrow, as if he just knows words are begging to fall off my tongue.
Fuck it.
“Compensating for something?” I ask, nodding to the crown.
He grins, all wicked and alluring, with his canines extending slowly past his bottom lip.
“Such a feisty little bird,” he coos. His voice is warm yet ice cold, soft yet hard, rough but smooth. I could close my eyes and happily listen to his voice until my dying breath.
Wait.
I force my eyes back open, the traitorous things, and glare at Lord Draekoh.
