Page 9 of Faerie Marked

The voice inside my head would not stop with the negative self-talk, no matter how hard I tried to silence it. Despite the screaming, the constant subconscious repetition I would not be good enough and I’d be forced to marry a monster, I filled out the rest of the form. I should have waited to finish until I had a clearer head.

I did it anyway.

What was the harm? Either they accepted me or they didn’t. Either they provided the out I desperately needed…or not.

“What are you doing still up?”

I jumped at the voice and swung around to see my uncle’s large frame filling the doorway. Scrambling to close my laptop before he could see the screen, I turned to face him and gathered a simple if tired smile onto my face. “I couldn’t sleep,” I told him through a yawn I didn’t have to fake. “Thought I would play around on the internet for a while to try and relax.”

“Maybe it’s a good thing you’re awake. I’d like to talk to you. I want to apologize for earlier,” he continued, butter-smooth and surprisingly not drunk.

Then he lost his balance a bit stepping forward over the threshold. Okay, maybe not sloppy drunk but definitely tipsy.

I curled my lip. “You do?”

“Of course.” He sounded surprised. “You’re my niece, and you know how much I care about you. Youdoknow, don’t you?”

William walked to the bed and took a seat facing me, nearly missing the edge and grappling to right his balance before he slid to the floor.

“I’m not so sure anymore. The latest bombshell you dropped on me raised a few questions.” My spine stiffened with his nearness. At the stench of liquor on his breath.

His brows narrowed but he didn’t say anything for the longest time. “I should have spoken to you beforehand, it’s true. I thought you would be happy with the news. A match is a good thing, especially for a half-shifter like you. We’ve kept your true heritage under wraps for long enough. It’s time for you to get your happy ending.”

A low, incredulous laugh. “I should be happy to be used as a pawn for pack relations? You must not know me well, Uncle Will, if you think a marriage would make me happy. This isterriblenews.”

“Why would you say it’s terrible news? You don’t trust me to want the best for you? This is the best thing we could ask for,” Will insisted.

“For you, maybe. But Kendrick Grimaldi is a beast.” Didn’t Uncle Will understand what lurked beneath the man’s surface? It wasn’t a kind heart.

He shot to his feet and lost his balance before settling back down and righting himself, like invisible hands clapping him on the arms to keep him from falling over.

“A man who is doing what he needs to do for the welfare of his subjects is not a beast,” Will ground out, becoming frustrated with me. “You should know. Some would say you should be grateful for me finding you and taking you in once your father died. Offering you the chance to live comfortably.”

“I should be grateful you acted likefamily?” I questioned.

He wanted to speak more on the subject. I could see it in his eyes, in the way his shoulders tensed and he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. Instead, he came out with “I hope I didn’t ruin your birthday party. Although I suppose now your birthday is over, and I’ve lost the opportunity to make it up to you on the day of. I’m truly sorry, Tavi.”

“I know you are.” I played along with the apology and abrupt turn of conversation, because both reeked of a maneuver.

Uncle Will wanted to keep me willing and compliant, a bargaining chip with the Grimaldi pack. An apology was the first step toward smoothing the way and keeping me biddable if not happy.

I inclined my head so he didn’t see the way my lips narrowed. The way everything inside of me went cold at this play he’d made. “I accept your apology. Thank you. And Iamgrateful for everything you’ve done for me.”

I thought about the admissions process I’d just gone through, about the Fae Academy for Halflings. Come what may, Uncle Will and I were stuck with each other until I could figure out an exit strategy.

I might as well play along.

“You and Kendrick will be happy,” Will said too softly. “And once you get to know him, you’ll see it isn’t a mistake and it isn’t a power play. But if you try to fight me again, if you purposely blow this match, then certain things will have to change and not necessarily for the better.”

His words dropped like stones in my gut. I opened my mouth to argue further, then nodded my head. “I understand. Just give me some time to adjust to the idea, okay?”

We ended the night with a loose hug and a request on his part for me to stop fiddling around on the computer and get to bed. I obliged.

* * *

A week passed and Friday loomed large. Although I checked my email twenty times a day, I still hadn’t heard anything from the academy. Did I expect to?

Maybe.Yes.

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