Page 40 of Hidden

She gave a small huff of amusement and tucked a strand of hair behind one gently-pointed ear. “Truly, I’m shocked.”

She plucked a vine from the basket and twined it about the nearest pillar, making a loose knot as she murmured in a tongue he didn’t know. Then she took the branches and berries, the garlands of flowers and swatches of moss they had gathered and bound them to the pillar with the length of vine. All the while, she kept speaking in a lilting, sing-song voice.

Rafe felt the spell gather before he saw its effects. As Lila raised her hands, palms out, the air seemed to thicken, the scent of something sweet and slightly burnt clogging the back of his throat. Sounds grew muffled for a long, disorienting moment before the earth bucked beneath his feet. Rafe stumbled, barely catching himself as the building air pressure seemed to release with a pop.

Green ran along the pillars like ink flowing from a brush. One after another, vines spiraled up the polished wood and then crawled along the ceiling until reaching the next pillar, then the next. Wherever they passed, flowering branches of every hue sprang from the wood, weaving above the now-mossy floor. White blooms opened along the ceiling like a carpet of stars, each glowing with a gentle, otherworldly radiance.

Finally, long, ornately carved tables and benches grew in even rows, each one of rare wood polished to a mirror shine. As Rafe watched, open-mouthed, the chamber shifted and shrank until it comfortably fit dozens of tables. When the buzzing presence of the spell faded, he was aware of the gentle perfume of new vegetation. The room was alive, called into being from the woods around them.

Lila lowered her arms. She’d gone pale but for a bright flush of pink along her cheekbones. With a shaky breath, she spun in a circle, admiring her handiwork. Her hair swung as she moved, fanning out in a wheat-pale wave. For a fleeting instant, he saw the young girl she must have been, innocent and astonished by her first glimmers of power. Dazzling.

Her spin brought her close enough to brush against his side. Unthinking, he caught her, fingers closing around the bare skin of her arm. There was lean muscle beneath the soft warmth. Instinctively, he pulled her close, drinking in the electric scent he’d first detected in the midnight woods. She’d been his prey that night, something to be tracked.

The enemy. Someone to outwit, outsmart, outfight. But now none of that seemed wise or right.

A heady wave of confusion made him pull back, though he still held her arm. Her silvery gaze locked with his, watchful but unafraid. Whatever vulnerability he’d seen a moment ago had vanished.

He released her arm and fell back a step. Fear he could have coped with. Even anger. Not the penetrating assessment written across her face—or her frank refusal to judge.

He didn’t know how to weave his way through her contradictions. Her mouth parted, as if to speak, but hesitation filled her eyes. Was she just as perplexed?

A prickle against his consciousness made him turn. The other fae—the mother—lurked at the opposite end of the hall, her brow creased in a frown. The two hooded monsters she called her servants flanked the door.

“There you are,” Galeeta said, starting toward Lila. “You took your time.”

Lila tensed, drawing inward like a turtle ducking into its shell. Rafe barely stopped himself from stepping between them. He contented himself with glaring at the servants, who didn’t stir from their posts.

“Do you like the result?” Lila asked her mother.

The older fae glanced around the room, then gave a judicious nod. “You remembered your lessons.”

Lila folded her arms, guarding herself even as she braced her feet a little wider. “I should hope so.”

He’d seen that reaction among wolves—seeking approval and safety but getting neither so choosing defiance instead. This was a pack without a good Alpha.

As if sensing his judgement, Galeeta scowled. “Time to kennel your pet. We need to talk.”

Lila glanced Rafe’s way, her expression saying she’d rather he stayed. He was a buffer she didn’t want to give up. His protective instinct, foolish puppy that it was, rolled over and showed its belly.

Every instinct screamed not to abandon Lila. Fido’s balls, what was he thinking? The fae were the enemy who’d put him in chains. They’d killed his kin. He was there to seek and destroy at least one of their kind.

Now the servants approached, their steps silent on the moss-strewn floor. Rafe gave a silent bow to the two females and surrendered to the monsters without a fight. He had priorities, and survival was at the top of the list.

Lila watched Rafe go with an unexpected sense of loss. The first time non-fae witnessed a display of her green magic, it inspired awe in some and fear in others. The power eclipsed Lila herself in their minds. Ever after, she was just a vessel for her spells.

Rafe wasn’t exactly on her side, but since they’d met, she felt Rafe had seen her. Warmth kindled inside her like a tiny glowing star. She wished it meant more—could mean more—than it did.

Galeeta waited until the doors closed behind the wolf and his two guards. Then she made a sweeping gesture that captured the leafy room. “A fine job with the vines. Not all fae manage so well after living in the city. Their magic grows weak. Some say it’s the bad air, or the amount of technology spewing out harmful vibrations.”

“I’m not sure that’s a thing,” Lila said.

Galeeta gave a delicate shrug. “It doesn’t matter. What’s important is that the power in House Fernblade runs strong. That will matter to Lord Farras.”

“Why? He’s known our family forever.”

“Our houses were meant to be joined, if you recall.”

Lila kept her features still, but her dislike must have shown anyhow.

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