Page 9 of A Shard of Ice

The wind whips around us, tousling my hair and stinging my eyes. I wish I could bury my head in Taylor’s back, but those days are over. Our friendship is over.

I hate all of the fae. I hate what they did to me…to my family. That means I hate him…I hate Taylor, who, just hours ago, was my spark of light in the dark. He was my confidant…my friend. Taylor was everything to me out here in this godsforsaken place. Now, he is nothing. Less than nothing.

My eyes sting, and my throat clogs, but I hold my tears at bay by swallowing thickly and blinking rapidly.

Up ahead, the desert seems to stretch out endlessly, the dunes rising and falling like waves of baking sand. Not too far in the distance, I see Lona and Tom. Cyrano is gone; he disappeared over the lip of the dune a while ago.

I am swaying in the saddle, my mouth parched, when Tom and Lona finally stop their camel next to a rocky outcrop. There isn’t so much as a blade of grass, just the odd tumbleweed. There is a thin slice of shade which they huddle under.

The camels bellow at one another in greeting as we approach. They are, at least, happy to see each other.

“Get you gone, fae!” Tom yells. Lona cowers behind him. “You should come with us,” he says as his eyes dart to me. “Let her go,” he tells Taylor.

Taylor dismounts gracefully. He puts a hand out to me, but I refuse it, choosing instead to dismount by myself. It’s a longer way down than I anticipated, and I almost land on my buttocks but manage to keep myself upright by grabbing the leg of the camel. The creature grunts in irritation, flicking its tail at me.

I wipe at my linen chemise as I walk over to the others, turning to face Taylor. “You heard Tom,” I tell him, even though my heart is racing. The three of us will make it somehow. I know we can. “Leave…now.” My voice is soft.

How can this be? How? He’s a fae…a fae!

Taylor steps forward, his hands held out in a gesture of peace. “I know you feel betrayed,” he says; his bright blue eyes are on me.

No.

They shouldn’t be blue. They’re brown. He’s human. He’s my best friend. He isn’t a fae. He can’t be, and yet the evidence is staring me right in the face.

This is wrong, all wrong.

I make a sobbing noise, gritting my teeth against the pain that is welling inside me. The pain and betrayal and anger. They’re all rolled into one big ball.

“Please, Ky, I need you to hear me out. To—”

“No.” I fist my hands at my sides and shake my head. “I don’t even know where they are. My family was dragged away by your kind. My mom, my dad, my sister, are all gone because of—”

“I didn’t know who I was…what I was. You have to believe me. I didn’t do any of these terrible things. I’m just as much a victim as you…as any of you.” He lets his gaze drift for a moment.

I narrow my eyes, anger blazing inside me. “A victim, you say?” I scoff. “That’s nonsense, and you know it.”

Taylor has always been just as big and strong as the fae. How did we not see it?

He takes a step toward me, his voice little more than a murmur. “I toiled in the mines for years. We were side by side for over two of those years. Kyrie, I swear to you on everything we hold dear that I am still the man you know. Yes, I may be different now, but my heart remains unchanged. I never hurt anyone. I never did anything wrong. I swear it.”

I flinch as if his words are physical blows. “Except you aren’t a man. You lied to me. Betrayed me in the worst of ways.”

“You’re a filthy fae,” Lona snarls. “Evil, despicable scum, the lot of you,” she sneers. “You heard Tom; get gone. We don’t want you here!”

I’m instantly irritated, and it’s aimed at Lona. It’s a normal reaction since I’ve been friends with Taylor since the day I met him. We’ve always had each other’s backs. I turn to say something to defend my friend…him…a fae…but stop myself just in time.

Her words are true.

“You need to go,” I say in a whisper.

His eyes darken with hurt, and for a moment, I want to take it back, but I can’t.

“Go!” Tom says. “We don’t want you here, bastard scum.”

“You don’t really have much of a choice,” Taylor says in a clipped tone.

“Are you going to take us captive?” Lona asks, her nostrils flaring in fear.

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