devious if he wants to kill me. A knife across the throat would do the trick and none of the rebels would complain. Most likely, they’d celebrate.
My fingers bring a wedge of soft white cheese to my mouth. It touches my tongue, triggers my taste buds. If Aren and Sethan weren’t watching me, I’d sink back against the bench and moan. The cheese is absolutely delicious, but then, in my half-starved state, I’d be content even with the bitter-bark the fae are so fond of.
I chew and swallow and reach for another wedge, ignoring Aren’s satisfied expression as he turns to speak to Sethan in Fae. I tear a strip off the flatbread and fold it around an orangetinted cheese. Before I finish that one, another is on its way to my mouth. I save the fruit for dessert and try to slow my pace. Even so, I devour the whole basket in a few minutes. Now, if I could just get some sleep, I’d feel so much better. Even a fiveminute nap would be heavenly.
The two fae finish their conversation as I set aside the basket. Sethan doesn’t look happy.
“I trust your judgment, Aren, and I hope you’re right. McKenzie.” He gives me a shallow bow before he trots down the porch steps. I watch him walk into the forest. A blink of light indicates he’s fissured out. Unfortunately, his shadows are unreadable behind the foliage.
“I’ve bought you an extension on life,” Aren says, leaning against the porch column. His casualness and the intensity in his silver eyes make an odd combination. I don’t like the way he’s observing me. I like even less the way the moonlight glows behind him, making him seem mysterious, almost debonair. When he doesn’t say anything else or look away, I shift on the wooden bench.
“Okay,” I say slowly, because the silence needs to be broken. “Do you want me to thank you?”
“You’ll help us eventually.” He sounds so certain.
I shake my head. “No. My allegiance is to Ky—King Atroth.”
He smiles a little. “I’ll earn your trust.”
“I’ll doubt everything you say.”
He chuckles, pushes away from the column, and crosses the porch to stand in front of me. He takes my right hand in his. As he pulls me to my feet, I make the mistake of looking into his eyes. This close, I can become lost in them, especially with the heat of his edarratae traveling up my arm. He dips his head, staring down at me with mirth on his lips.
“You will be an interesting challenge.” He draws a finger along the line of my jaw and lightning floods inside me, shooting down my neck and into my core. I’m lost for a moment, unbalanced, and burning with a need I’m afraid to identify.
Finally, Aren steps back. He opens the front door. “Come, nalkin-shom . I’ll tuck you in.”
When at last I regain my composure, I give the bastard my coldest glare. For some reason, he finds my defiance amusing.
FIVE
I BECAME AN insomniac ten years ago. I was a sophomore in high school, president of my class and enrolled in every advanced course the school offered. My teachers loved me, my friends respected me, and my parents were proud. Meeting the fae changed all that. At first, I wasn’t sleeping because I thought I was going crazy, hallucinating because no one else could see the lightning-covered people searching the corridors and classrooms. And it was clear they were searching for something. For someone. For me.
A false-blood named Thrain realized I had the Sight and dragged me into the Realm. He used me to wage a war against the king. When I refused to read the shadows for him, he starved me. He hit me. He threatened my friends and family. I had no choice except to help him. No choice, that is, until Kyol freed me. He returned me to my world, and I couldn’t sleep because my blood burned in my veins when I lay down at night. Kyol intrigued me. He protected me, and when King Atroth asked me to help him capture Thrain, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. That was when the nightmares began. Some of Thrain’s fae
My fingers bring a wedge of soft white cheese to my mouth. It touches my tongue, triggers my taste buds. If Aren and Sethan weren’t watching me, I’d sink back against the bench and moan. The cheese is absolutely delicious, but then, in my half-starved state, I’d be content even with the bitter-bark the fae are so fond of.
I chew and swallow and reach for another wedge, ignoring Aren’s satisfied expression as he turns to speak to Sethan in Fae. I tear a strip off the flatbread and fold it around an orangetinted cheese. Before I finish that one, another is on its way to my mouth. I save the fruit for dessert and try to slow my pace. Even so, I devour the whole basket in a few minutes. Now, if I could just get some sleep, I’d feel so much better. Even a fiveminute nap would be heavenly.
The two fae finish their conversation as I set aside the basket. Sethan doesn’t look happy.
“I trust your judgment, Aren, and I hope you’re right. McKenzie.” He gives me a shallow bow before he trots down the porch steps. I watch him walk into the forest. A blink of light indicates he’s fissured out. Unfortunately, his shadows are unreadable behind the foliage.
“I’ve bought you an extension on life,” Aren says, leaning against the porch column. His casualness and the intensity in his silver eyes make an odd combination. I don’t like the way he’s observing me. I like even less the way the moonlight glows behind him, making him seem mysterious, almost debonair. When he doesn’t say anything else or look away, I shift on the wooden bench.
“Okay,” I say slowly, because the silence needs to be broken. “Do you want me to thank you?”
“You’ll help us eventually.” He sounds so certain.
I shake my head. “No. My allegiance is to Ky—King Atroth.”
He smiles a little. “I’ll earn your trust.”
“I’ll doubt everything you say.”
He chuckles, pushes away from the column, and crosses the porch to stand in front of me. He takes my right hand in his. As he pulls me to my feet, I make the mistake of looking into his eyes. This close, I can become lost in them, especially with the heat of his edarratae traveling up my arm. He dips his head, staring down at me with mirth on his lips.
“You will be an interesting challenge.” He draws a finger along the line of my jaw and lightning floods inside me, shooting down my neck and into my core. I’m lost for a moment, unbalanced, and burning with a need I’m afraid to identify.
Finally, Aren steps back. He opens the front door. “Come, nalkin-shom . I’ll tuck you in.”
When at last I regain my composure, I give the bastard my coldest glare. For some reason, he finds my defiance amusing.
FIVE
I BECAME AN insomniac ten years ago. I was a sophomore in high school, president of my class and enrolled in every advanced course the school offered. My teachers loved me, my friends respected me, and my parents were proud. Meeting the fae changed all that. At first, I wasn’t sleeping because I thought I was going crazy, hallucinating because no one else could see the lightning-covered people searching the corridors and classrooms. And it was clear they were searching for something. For someone. For me.
A false-blood named Thrain realized I had the Sight and dragged me into the Realm. He used me to wage a war against the king. When I refused to read the shadows for him, he starved me. He hit me. He threatened my friends and family. I had no choice except to help him. No choice, that is, until Kyol freed me. He returned me to my world, and I couldn’t sleep because my blood burned in my veins when I lay down at night. Kyol intrigued me. He protected me, and when King Atroth asked me to help him capture Thrain, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. That was when the nightmares began. Some of Thrain’s fae
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