Page 21 of How to Keep a Fae

“Let them down,” Cecil says, his voice devoid of emotion.

A fresh agony assaults me as they release my wrists. I sink to my knees, still facing the wall, and suck air through my teeth.

Jayga slams his fist against the wall and somehow retains his feet.

“Leave them water,” Cecil says. “They will stay here until they cool off.”

I hear shuffling feet behind me—a clatter. And then the creak as the door shuts, sealing us in.

A single sconce from the corridor feeds in through the barred door, casting shadows around me.

The madness recedes. Disappointment in myself and what has come to pass moves in to take its place. “We’ve acted like a couple of whelps.”

“Aye,” Jayga says gruffly. “We have. I got myself skewered on an orc pike once, and it didn’t hurt this fucking much.”

I huff a chuckle. It hurts like a bastard, and I suck in a sharp breath.

Then I remember what he said, the catalyst, and a heavy shadow falls over me. “Did she really say that, or were you just baiting me?”

He doesn’t answer for the longest time. What does that mean?

I can’t stay on my fucking knees forever, so, with a grunt, I push myself up and stagger over to the bucket of water. I drink greedily from the ladle. His feet drag as he approaches—I offer the ladle to him. He takes it and drinks.

I’m still waiting—waiting for him to answer. But I’m not angry anymore, just fucking sad.

He drops the ladle back into the bucket with a splash and turns to meet my eyes.

I don’t see the gloating I expected.

“She did,” he says.

The pain left by the whip is nothing compared to the pain of those two words. Only his eyes are still on me, and I know there is more.

“But I think she loves you too.”

My nostrils flare. “Don’t fuck with me, bastard.”

He scowls right back. “I’m not fucking with you. I couldn’t stop thinking about what you said in the warrior hall. How you’d fucking end me for her. So when they allocated me to her, I asked her straight if she cared about you. It was there, written all over her face. Obvious. She does.”

My thoughts are nothing but a scattered mess. The pain is not helping me make the words make sense.

She loves him? She loves me, too?

He huffs a bitter chuckle and then grimaces. “Both in love with the same fae feeder. What are the chances? What are the chances that she cares about both of us, too? Aye, and to think I’d grown to call you a brother before all this. Even as miserable as you are most of the time. If I unpicked the nonsense with Adaline layered all over it, I still do. I don’t want to be at war with you. You put up with my jabbering. That’s more than most. We fight well together. You’ve had my back. I’ve had yours. You’ve saved my fucking life more times than I can count.”

“And you’ve saved mine, too,” I admit gruffly. Emotions are rolling around in my skull. Complex. Confused. “I don’t want to be at war with you either. But I love her. The thought of not having her is...” I trail off.

He nods.

He understands.

He moves over to the low bench. He gingerly sits down, his back ramrod straight. I go and sit beside him.

“I don’t want to be at war with you either,” I repeat.

“Aye,” he says. “We’ll work it out.”

Jayga

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