Page 55 of Crown of the Fae King

He shook his head. His voice softened. “Lennon. What is it?”

I exhaled loudly. “Is…is that woman dead, like you told the…bug?”

He stilled, looked away, then pulled me aside a little. “She is dead. And she was no woman, she was a fairy. She chose to die rather than answer my questions.”

I recoiled, but barely, not wanting to make a scene yet again. “What did you do, torture her—”

His grip tightened on my arm, and I sucked in a breath from surprise alone. He let go and hurried over to his computer. He waved the brothers close, then scribbled something on a Post-it. “This is the password. I’ve downloaded all the files to this. But Lennon and I must take a short trip. We’ll be back by supper.”

I knew he wouldn’t harm me. I knew I was safe with him. But I took a step back anyway, when he came around the end of the table, and he noticed. He stopped short and held out his hand, leaving the choice to me. If I wanted to go with him, I’d have to close the distance.

Persi was watching. She caught my attention, then patted her jacket pocket, letting me know Hank was still in good hands.

I waited another few seconds just to make Wickham sweat, then placed my hand in his. “This better be good.”

23

Freezing The Ocean

Iwas blind for a long time.

Wickham dropped my hand but stayed close. As my sight improved, I realized we hadn’t gone from day to night, just from a well-lit study to a dark…dungeon.

God, help me!

I stood facing an eight-foot stretch of iron bars with a gate that took up half that space. Unlike a jail cell, there was no sink, no toilet, only a cot, a small table, and a chair. All empty. Apparently, I wouldn’t have to share with anyone.

Or had Wickham brought me there to scare me? If so, that lack of toilet thing did the trick.

“Relax, woman. We’re not stayin’.”

I took a deep breath and didn’t realize I’d been shaking until the tremors eased, then stopped. “Maybe you should have said that before popping us here.”

“My apologies.” He pointed to the chair. “This is where I brought her, questioned her. All from outside the cell. Never touched her but the once, to bring her here. But rather than answer my questions, she used one of those purple fingernails to slit her own throat. Immediately, the universe gaped open to take her body back to her own realm.”

“Soyoudidn’t execute her.”

“I did not. I swear it on the lives of my sons.” He took a deep breath, held it, then let it out slowly. “Just for you, I’m going to break a vow. Come.” He wrapped his fingers around my upper arm, and we went back into the light.

He released me again, and this time, he walked away, stopping with six feet of beach sand between us. I turned toward the ocean and found it suspended.

“Like a picture,” I said quietly.

“It is a picture,” he said.

I laughed. “This is my first time seeing the ocean, and it’s not moving.”

“We’re on a small island…out of Time and out of Place. Roughly four hundred years in the past.”

My mouth watered, but even Dramamine couldn’t have helped me with that one, and I bent and boked in the sand. Wickham, ever the gentleman, looked away. When I straightened, he pointed to a hut down the beach. The sun was just coming up on the horizon further on.

“My family is there, suspended whilst they sleep. When they wake, I will be here, to spend another day playing in the water with them.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I have removed them fromTime, removed them fromPlace.It is the only way I ken for certain that O’Ryan cannae get to them.”

“And when will you wake them up?”

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