Page 57 of Forsaken Secrets

"Fine," he grumbled. "But it's not like I know all that much."

Lynk walked ahead of us, stepping over rubble and more burnt skeletons. I looked at Eli expectantly.

He groaned, but nodded. "Until today, I thought it was only possible for Fae to be Eaters."

"Fae? What do you know about Fae?"

"My mentor, Jaiel, is one …"

I grabbed his arm. "You know a Fae?!? Don't tell me you speak Fae, too?"

His eyes widened.

"You DO! I knew it! When I saw those Fae notes in the journal, I assumed you had a translation lying around. But you don't, do you? You can read it! Did he teach you?" The words came out in a torrent. I'd always dreamed of learning Fae, but it was reserved for the wealthy.

All those hours spent scraping together what little bits I could from the books the Harlsteds had gathered … Gods. Life really wasn't fair sometimes.

"So, is Jaiel an Eater?"

"Yes. Though don't ever tell him I'd told you. He'd kill me."

"But what is an Eater?"

Eli shrugged. "He just lets out his shadow monster, and it eats up whatever wraiths are around. I don't know the mechanics of it, though. He doesn't like to talk about it."

I gasped. "It eats the wraiths? Does he have a relic like Lynk, then?"

Eli shook his head. "He told me that he's too young to get the Fae gifts and was born empty — or some nonsense like that. His parents sent him here, and the Empire did something to him that gave him the shadow monster. He's never told me much about that time in his life, but I get the impression it wasn't good."

I nodded, "Poor guy." To be sent to a foreign country to be experimented on? What kind of parents would do something like that?

"Wait." I stared at him, pieces clicking into place. There weren't many Fae in our country. Not since the wars. But I'd heard that there were inroads being made, and they'd sent a young Fae prince over to work with our Kings.

That couldn't be him, though, could it? The world wouldn't be that small …

"Eh. Don't feel too bad for him. His life is pretty good now. Plenty of money, a good job, and alllll the women love him. That damn charisma of his is powerful, and being a prince certainly helps!"

My jaw dropped. It was the prince. Eli knew the Fae prince … Holy hells!

I itched to pull out my notebook and ask more questions, but this wasn't the time. "So he's a Fae prince. Has some kind of charisma that draws people to him. AND he can absorb wraiths?"

"He's also devastatingly handsome, and knows it."

"Of course he does." I grimaced. "All the most beautiful ones do."

Eli glared at me, green eyes twinkling. "I think you just insulted me, my lady. Either I'm vain or I'm not beautiful enough to be vain!? What a conundrum …"

I gasped, realizing how my words had come out. "Not at all. You're just more handsome than beautiful. You know?"

Eli waggled his brows. "I see. So I'm handsome …"

No. No. I was not going there with him.

I shook my head, cheeks warm. "Oh, stop it. You know what I mean."

"Well, are you two kids done flirting back there?" Lynk's voice echoed through the chamber, and my cheeks heated.

What was it with him calling us kids? And we were not flirting!

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