Page 47 of How to Keep a Fae

Neither of those things feels real.

The warriors are finishing a training session when I enter the practice pit.

The first thing Jayga does when he sees me is storm over and punch me in the face.

“Uff!”

And just like that, everything feels right. Everything feels real.

“Asshole,” he growls, voice low, chest heaving like he is thinking of punching me again. “You fucking left her with me. Me! I don’t have a fucking clue how to handle it.”

“Is she alright?” Panic replaces the euphoria of returning.

“No. She fucking missed you. So no, she’s not alright. It’s been rough.” He sucks in another deep breath. “Fuck, I’m glad to see your sorry ass.” He hugs me and thumps my back—I grunt, and he takes a step back, eyes narrowing on the blood trickling from the stab wound down my leg.

“Raiders,” I say. “Happened just before we returned.”

The other warriors gather around. Heavy-handed bastards, the lot of them. By the time they have finished thumping my shoulders and back, the wound has opened, and the blood is leaking down my leg.

Cecil wades through them and motions to me. “Follow me, warrior. The rest of you are dismissed for the evening.”

I know what that means for them. They will be drinking beer in the warrior hall.

I know what it means for me as I am led through familiar passages to the feeder house where Adaline will be found.

Cecil leans in to speak to the house mistress. Denna bestows me a haughty glare, muttering about ‘interruptions to the peace,’ before she nods and takes me to Adaline’s doorway.

Here, the sour-faced house mistress stops and stares up atme. She is a tiny fae, and I tower over her, but her stare leaves me deeply uncomfortable.

I’m nervous and sweating; the pain where my father stabbed me is beginning to burn like a bastard.

“Go gentle with your feeder,” she finally says, but does not move nor avert her intense stare. I get the impression she wants to say more, but suddenly, and without calling Adaline to the door, she turns and strides away.

I blink a few times before I turn to stare at the simple cloth covering between me and the woman I love. A deluge of thoughts and feelings slams around my mind like a herd of drunk elephants.

What my father said…

What Jayga said…

What I did with the stone…

Finally, what the house mistress said with something close to compassion in her eyes.

Pushing the covering aside, I step into Adaline’s nesting chamber.

Adaline

I’m reading a book or trying to. I don’t think I’ve read a book properly since the day August left.

Warriors go on quests. It is part of life within Sanctum. But I miss him. I’ve missed him every day. So many days that merge into a long indeterminate line.

Some days are better.

And some days are worse.

Most are worse.

When I’m not thinking about August, or seeking oblivionin Jayga’s arms, I think about my lost father and my indifferent mother.

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