Page 76 of The Fae Lord

“What message?”

Maura drops the blade of grass and turns back to me. “She told me Alana was going to save us from the coming terrors of the world. That she created her. Imbued her with empathic magic when she was in Magdalena’s belly and left her with us to be protected until the day the earth needed her.” Maura bites her lower lip. “I think that day is now.”

“But you hated her.” I step in front of her, squaring my shoulders, anger pressing its whispering lips against the inside of my skin.

“I never hated her,” Maura snaps. “I was afraid of her. I didn’t trust the Lady of Luminael, and I didn’t trust the Sunborne. And I don’t trust empaths.” She spread her wings and they flutter with annoyance. “I was waiting for Alana to prove herself. But every time I thought I knew what she was, something else happened.” She meets my eyes. “But that is the past now.”

“You believe she is to be trusted now?”

Maura wrinkles her nose and tucks her silver hair behind her ear. “I don’t know. But I believe we’ve run out of time for guessing games.” She points to the shield, the spot where Finn and Briony crossed through it. “We should follow them.” She meets my eyes. “Are you with me?”

I nod firmly. “I’m with you.”

THIRTY-ONE

Garratt

Elodie rearranges her skirts and wipes her lips. I smile down at her. Fuck, she’s beautiful when she’s all flushed from her orgasms.

Annoying as hell, still, but beautiful.

“So, you’re playing them?” she asks, hopping up onto the bar and swinging her legs.

“Get down from there. We’re opening soon.” I frown at her.

She waits a moment, then does as she’s told.

“Of course, I’m playing them. You think I’m stupid enough to choose sides in this thing?” I pour her a mug of ale, then one for myself.

This time, she slides onto a barstool as she takes a sip of her drink.

“How long have you known?” she asks, eyebrows quirking with curiosity.

“My mother was a guardian of the library.” I shrug. “She told me all its secrets. I’ve known this was coming since I was a boy.”

“And that’s why you don’t give a shit about whether you live or die,” Elodie says, nodding as if my entire personality has just suddenly begun to make sense to her.

“I guess so,” I muse, downing half my drink. “Just all seems a bit pointless. Eldrion’s mother saw the end of the city. Demons, fire, floods. She saw it. So, what the hell made her think she could stop it? Is that how these things work? She just gets a version of the future and then has the chance to stop it becoming reality?”

Elodie frowns at me. She’s not the sharpest elf in the city, and I’m losing her. But I’m speaking more for my own benefit than for hers.

“Orrr,” I say, biting my inner cheek. “Is that the point? It’s fated to be that way, and every step she takes – any of us takes – is simply drawing us closer to the inevitable conclusion.”

“Which is?” Elodie frowns.

“Death.” I shrug, laughing, even though she looks alarmed. “If you believe in fate, and believe fate has already decided, then that vision is going to come to life no matter what she did to try and stop it.”

“What did she do?” Elodie taps her fingernails on the bar. “You haven’t actually explained. You’re talking in riddles.”

I sigh and tilt my head. I’m unsure whether I completely trust her, but I figure the end is fast approaching so does it really matter? She’s not stupid enough to betray me to Eldrion or Finn at this point; she has too much to gain by being at my side.

“Eldrion’s mother created the empath Eldrion has been seeking. She made her what she is because she thought she’d grow into this powerful being capable of stopping the demons from killing us all.”

“What demons?” Elodie asks.

I shake my head and shrug. “The ones from the vision, I suppose.” This part, I can’t trust her with. I’m not even sure I trust myself with this part.

“But Finn and Eldrion both want Alana? The empath?” Elodie’s voice has become a little nasal. It’s because she’s thinking.

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