Page 148 of Court of the Fae Princes

Her brow rises higher. “Oh, we can’t get through here.”

My jaw ticks. “But you just said this was the right way.”

“It is, Your Majesty.” There’s a glint in her eyes that I don’t understand.

My patience snaps. “Damn it, Lady Nova, this isn’t a game to me! We need to rescue the princes! Don’t you get how much they’re suffering?”

Those pale green eyes of hers lock onto mine. “You really care about them, don’t you?”

She caught me off-guard. “Well, I mean, I…”

“You realize you’re going to a place called the House of Death with little to no training to rescue princes you also seem to be pretending not to care about, right?”

I stare. She stares. She doesn’t know I’m not their mate or that I rejected them. Does she? I hate how damn astute this woman is.

“I never said I don’t care about them… I just also feel like everything’s been rushed since I met them.”

She cocks her head, seeming to ignore my comment. “You know, I did some digging into you.”

Uh oh, that can’t be good. “Yeah?”

“You’ve been kicked around by fae your whole life. Is it true a fae punched you in the nose and broke it for not organizing his shoes correctly?”

I stiffen, remembering that day. I was thirteen. “That’s right. But so what? The fae are assholes to a lot of humans.”

“And another one ripped your thigh open with a firm kick from their steel-toed boot?”

“That’s just what it is to be human among the fae,” I say, feeling awkward.

“Is it true a fae once made you cut your hair because she thought it was prettier than hers?”

Fuck. “Where is this going?”

She shrugs. “Me thinks you have some deep-seated distrust of fae that’s completely founded.”

“Deep-seated…?” I scowl. “I don’t have any deep-seated issues. I have my own reasons for being cautious about the princes. I have my own reasons for not wanting to be ripped out of my life, away from my family, and be thrown to four men who will probably use me and throw me away like yesterday’s garbage.”

She smirks. “If that doesn’t say trust issues, I don’t know what does.”

“Oh yeah, Miss…” I glance over her, “Sword Woman, are you saying you’re like a bright pink snuggly unicorn full of hugs and kisses?”

“Unicorns aren’t pink,” she says.

“Unicorns aren’t pink,” I mock back.

That brow goes up again. “But to answer your question, no, I wouldn’t say I innately trust people, but I would trust my mates.”

Boom. Okay, well, imagine Miss Sword Woman being surrounded by four men wanting to stick their dongs in her without being their mates, while lying to them about being their mate. I’m sure she’d be barking a different tune then.

Her expression gentles. “It’s okay to be afraid, but it’s also okay to listen to that voice inside of you that says it’ll all be okay.”

I bite my lip. “And what if you don’t have that voice?”

She doesn’t hesitate. “Then you accept that you’re a little fucked up, but you’re going to be okay, and trust the world anyway.”

Yeah, I can do that. Not.

Turning back to the woods, she sighs. “These branches blocking the road have to be the doings of the House of Death. They sent those wolves after us and they’ve done this, probably thinking we’re part of a huge party from the Summer Court coming for them… and knowing that while the princes might be bound to their word, the rest of us could do a hell of a lot to get them out of whatever deal they made.”

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