Page 6 of A Bargain with the Fae King

My fingers dig into the sheets as I anchor myself, panting.

The room is empty. I don’t even need to look around to know. It’s always the same after his dream—or visions or whatever—leaves me. Color has returned to my room. Bugs hum outside my window. An owl hoots. It could be any summer night.

I turn my palm over, staring at the tips of my fingers where we touched for the briefest of moments. He’s gone, but my body, my soul, remembers. If I close my eyes, I can almost feel the brush of his hair falling across my cheek.

The circle on the hill.

There’s only one place it can be, and no bear is going to scare me away this time, not until I get some answers.

Some hours later, my door crashes open. I barely register the rapid thump of footsteps across the floor before a form leaps onto the bed, lands directly on my chest, and knocks the breath from my lungs.

My gasping groan shifts into a cough as my sleep-blurred eyes adjust to the light streaming into the room.

“Wake up. Wake up.” May chants in time with her bounces on the mattress.

“Go away.” I roll over, taking the quilt with me. If only it could block out thesqueak,squeak,squeakof the mattress as May continues her antics. How on earth do kids have so much energy?

The bouncing stops. Her feet thud onto the floor. “Supposed to tell you you’re going to miss breakfast.”

I sigh and peek out from under the covers. “Message received.”

She skips off without another word, leaving my door wide open.

Aren’t I supposed to get a break from this mess until I have my own kids?IfI have my own kids?

Conversation drifts up the stairs with the smell of freshly cooked bacon. My mouth waters, and my stomach gives a little rumble.

Now that’s a wake-up call.

I shouldn’t have slept in this morning. A wiser woman would have gotten up early and left at the crack of dawn to go investigate the doorway Riven mentioned. I’d considered it last night, been so tempted, but venturing out into the woods at night isn’t a great decision. It was a miracle I didn’t twist my ankle in a hole or tumble down a hill during my emotional flight months ago. Didn’t have to worry about the bears then either.

Besides, slipping out in the middle of the night would raise too many questions I couldn’t answer if Dad and Elise caught me. It doesn’t matter that I’m old enough not to need to explain my actions. When I’m under their roof, I’m under their rules.

I sigh in frustration and finish changing clothes. Any illusion of freedom I had vanished the day I quit college—or rather, took a leave of absence—and moved back home.

The stairs creak and groan as I hop down the worn wood into the main room that’s kitchen, living, and dining room in one. May stretches on her toes, reaching toward the paper towel-lined plate in the middle of the small kitchen island that bears a few strips of crispy bacon.

“Nuh uh.” Elise waves at her from behind her laptop where she’s stationed at the kitchen table. How she managed to spot May when she’s practically behind her can only be described as one of her many mom superpowers.

May frowns and drops back onto her feet but leaves the bacon alone.

I swipe two pieces off the plate on my way through the room and pass one off to her before crunching into the salty, meaty deliciousness that nearly makes me groan in pleasure.

The click of Elise’s fingers on the keyboard stills as she shoots me a hard, flat look.

I shrug. What can one more piece of bacon hurt? “I’m going out. I’ll be back in a little bit.”

“Out?” Her brows rise as she lifts the reading glasses from her face. “We were going to paint today. Your dad is on his way to the hardware store right now.”

“Yeah, just a quick jog. Get a little exercise before it gets too hot?” I gesture to my attire. “I’ll be back in plenty of time to help with the painting.” Maybe.

I don’t give her time to argue before I scoop up my shoes from their home near the back door and throw it open.

“May, don’t climb on the sofa.”

My lips quirk up in the corner as I catch my sister using the sofa like a jungle gym. With Elise distracted, I slip outside.Thanks, May.The cool morning air sends a little shiver over my skin, but I savor every moment of it as I lace up my running shoes. It won’t last. Never does in June. I hop down the back stairs, an extra bounce in my step.

Morning light glints through the trees, sparkling off the dew still clinging to their leaves. I’m not twenty yards from the cabin when the back door flies open to crack against the wall. The sound freezes me in place and has me spinning around on the balls of my feet.

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