She swallows. The Schorchedlands won’t be pleasant, but I know I’ll end up there eventually. My fate as a wraith has been inevitable for several years. So, if it was between me and her? This beautiful young woman who hasn’t had a chance at life? I would choose her without hesitation every time.
“You’ll come back, though, right?”
“Yes, I’ll come back.”
“So, who’s that guy?” Her voice leaps, full of energy and life once again.
“Which one?”
“THE one. Come on. The one who came to you all smoldering on that balcony. The one who watched you the whole meeting today.”
“The one who threatened to make my life miserable and implied he’d kill me?”
“Yup, that one.”
My lip ticks up into a half smile, but there’s no life in it. No light. That’s a damned loaded question if I ever heard one.
“I heard the others call him Rev. He’s could rev my engine any time.”
I snort, uncharacteristic laughter bubbling up in my chest.
She chuckles alongside of me and I thank God for Raven, not for the first time, and not for the last, I’m sure. Every moment I’m with her, she pulls me out of my own despair. I don’t think she even realizes she does it.
She continues giggling, and I can’t stop smiling as I watch her, the life inside of her glowing in a way only I can see. Here, in this realm, she’s dim and lacking because she holds no magic. But I see the truth that’s more than physical. Raven is bright.
“It’s true.” She shrugs. “But seriously, who is he?”
I take in a long breath. My moment of joy dies too quickly as the acid of reality swirls back through my stomach.
“His name is Reveln,” I say flatly. All laughter gone. “He hates me, and those threats weren’t idle. He’s going to make my time here torture.”
“Why?” She sits up, watching my expression.
“Because I deserve it.”
“Stop it. No you don’t!”
“I killed his brother.”
She’s quiet for a long while, watching me. Studying me. “How? Like a car accident?”
“No.” I sit up, my back facing her. “Like I shoved a dagger into his chest and watched until his life left him.”
I don’t have the courage to look at her expression. Will she hate me like the rest of them when she realizes what I am? Will she fear me? She knew I’d done something bad to be banished from the fae realm, but I’d never told her what. I didn’t want to.
I didn’t want it to change the way she sees me once she knew I was a murderer.
“I don’t understand,” she whispers.
“It’s a long story, okay?” I stand, walking to the window looking out over the world I’d lost that day.
“How long ago? How old were you? How old was he?” She’s trying to rationalize it. But the truth is, it doesn’t really matter how or why. It doesn’t matter that he deserved it.
I did it.
My hands ended someone’s life.
“Over a decade ago. I was sixteen. He was thirty-nine—which for fae is adult, but still very young.”
