Page 25 of Deliverance

“Are you one of them?” I demand, ignoring the slight tremble in my voice. “The Unseelie?”

He chuckles, his cloaked head shaking from side to side. “No, I am much, much worse.”

A warning chill zips down my spine as some ancient part of me reacts to the threat in his voice. What does he mean by that?According to Alaric, the Unseelie are as bad as it gets. Somehow, he knew where I was and easily found me. Who is this male and what does he want from me? Everything he does is designed to cause mystery. Until now, I didn’t even know his name.

No. If he meant me harm, then he would have done it before now, there were plenty of opportunities. He is the one thing that has stayed the same since all of this went down, and I need the stability he offers me. There is a small part of me that whispers of the other feelings I have kept locked down, the ones that have been slowly growing over the last year, but I refuse to acknowledge them.

“I missed you.”

Okay, perhaps I acknowledged them. Just a crush, that is all it is. He is the only person who doesn’t treat me like I am strange or a social pariah, so it is only natural that I would develop warm feelings towards him. That is not going to cloud my judgement when it comes to him though. At least, that is what I keep telling myself.

Nyx freezes, clearly thrown by my comment. It is probably really stupid to admit this when he just told me he is worse than the fae tracking me down. Embarrassment adds to the blush on my cheeks as I realise just how stupid I sound. Tension fills the air as he moves away from the tree he was leaning against.

“You shouldn’t.” His words are solemn but firm. “You and I are from different worlds. There is no way anything could happen between us, not even friendship.” His self-deprecating loathing tells me that he is angry at himself for getting into this situation, but I am still hit with the rejection.

This is my fault. I shouldn’t have told him that I missed him, instead keeping those feelings locked away. Now he feels like he cannot be near me, not even as friends.

“It is dangerous to be around me, that is why I tried to leave,” he explains, scrubbing a hand across his face in frustration. Hetakes a step towards me, leaving the forest and standing in the realm of humans, only to freeze in place. “You will never be safe with me around, Iris. I had to check you were okay and to warn you that the fae will never have your best interests at heart.”

He turns and starts to leave. He came here to warn me about the fae, all of my notions of friendship blown out of the water in one short conversation. Although there was clearly nothing between us, and I have never asked for as much, I feel rejected. He is here out of obligation and nothing more, and now he is leaving.

My heart jumps, and I take a hurried step forward, stopping as I reach the iron gates. I cannot let him leave like this, he is important, I justknowit.

“Nyx, wait!”

He begins to glance over his shoulder, his foot paused mid-air.

My name is practically shouted across the garden, stopping whatever was about to happen. “Iris!”

Startling, I turn to face the fae stalking my way. It’s Blaise, his brown eyes narrowed as he scans the empty garden. Without even needing to look, I know Nyx will no longer be in the treeline, using the distraction to escape. Should I go after him? I want to, yet I know that will cause a whole heap of trouble, not to mention putting myself in danger in the process.

Switching his gaze back to me, Blaise narrows his eyes. “Who were you talking to?”

“Oh, just myself.” Deep down, I know that if I told him about my friend, it would cause a whole ton of issues, not to mention the warning pulsing through my mind not to tell him. Listening to my instincts, I keep my mouth shut and simply smile up at him.

He stares at me with a raised brow as he tries to decide if he believes me or not, his gaze burrowing into me like he can seestraight into my mind. When he tilts his head, I am convinced he’s seen through my lie, but he just shakes his head. “Humans are strange. Why are you out here anyway?”

I don’t bother to argue with his comment, as his discrimination works in my favour and changes the conversation.

“I needed to get some air.”

Chuffing, he gives me a strange look. “The air inside the room wasn’t good enough for you?” The barb strikes a nerve inside me, but before I can respond, he is already waving it away and turning me from the wall. “You know it is dangerous for you to be out here, right?”

Having had enough of his snarky comments, I dig my heels into the ground and spin to point a finger at him, jabbing him in the chest.

“My whole life has been flipped on its head. I have lost my stable life, there was never a chance for me to say goodbye to my family, and I was almost abducted by evil fae. Now I have been abducted by the good guys and am being dragged across the country by two fae whom I have no idea if I should trust or not,” I snap, baring my teeth in anger. “I think that a few moments alone in a guarded garden are acceptable.”

As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I wonder if I just made a huge mistake. Blaise might be one of the good guys, but he is still fae and capable of killing me in an instant. He could probably snap me as easily as a twig and still skip off into the sunset without a care. I must never forget that they are different to me, their rules and customs, not to mention physical strength, are all unusual to me.

There is a heavy silence as Blaise looks at me in surprise, and I prepare myself for the worst. His mouth turns up into an impressed smile, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

“Huh.” Taking a step back, he looks down like he is reassessing me. “You finally stood up for yourself. I wondered if that would happen. Well done, you have exceeded my expectations of you.”

I don’t know where it comes from, but I roll my eyes at his comment. Something I am learning about Blaise is that he always has a snarky comment at the ready, seeming to find it impossible to compliment me without tacking on a loose insult in the process.

His expression becomes serious as he crosses his arms over his chest. “Look, Alaric is one of the best, most trustworthy males I have ever met. If he says he is going to keep you safe, then he means it.”

For some reason, hearing this from Blaise actually helps reassure me. It could be because he so rarely gives compliments, but I have also seen how dedicated he is to his prince, and I do not think he would exaggerate or lie about this.

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