Page 7 of A Bargain with the Fae King

“Wait for me!” May calls as she sprints for the stairs, leaving the screen door still swinging on its hinges.

A deep groan slips from my lips. Having a tag-along was not part of the plan.

“Did you even ask Mom?” I ask.

“Uh huh.” She nods with enthusiasm. “She told me to go with you.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. Of course she did. “Well, you have to listen to me. And stay close.”

“Can we go back to those cool trees?”

A soft breath catches in my throat. All I do for a moment is blink. Too easy, but I’ll take it. “Yeah, sure.”

“Yippee!” She’s off and skipping toward the woods, her pigtails trailing behind her like little streamers.

I’ll seriously never understand where she gets so much energy. I haven’t had my morning coffee—or three—and boy, do I feel it. That hint of tiredness lingers behind my eyes that only that magical brew can cure. Wasn’t time for that this morning though.

Our trek is full of laughter, which perks me up almost as well as caffeine. The odd shadows and whispers of the day before don’t follow me. Nor do we see any bears—thank God. I’m almost convinced that whatever I felt yesterday was just another figment of my imagination until we reach the circle of trees.

The moment I pass by the massive trunks, chills skitter down my spine.

Riven?I fight the urge to call out to him. No one else is with us in the clearing, yet something tells me we’re not alone. There’s an otherness I can’t quite put my finger on, almost like something just at the edge of sight that moves every time I look its way. Even the air holds a heaviness that isn’t humidity.

Whatever it is, the birds don’t seem to mind. There’s a ton of them here, chirping and squawking up a storm. I stalk around the circle, searching for any sign of bears—or anything else.

May hoped we’d see it again today. I roll my eyes. Kids.

Even now, she dances around in the lush glade, oblivious to the weird creeping feeling crawling across my skin. This isn’t natural, and trees this big would have to be old. Really old. Some of them are wide enough to be two of me, and trying to see the tops requires craning my neck back way too far. No way would they just sprout up naturally in such a perfect formation either.

May sets about finding a four-leaf clover in the carpet of them growing around us. At least she’s entertained. After my dream last night, I assumed Riven would be here waiting for me. What other circle of trees could he possibly have meant? This is it. I know it as well as I know myself.

But an hour later, I’ve reached my conclusion.

I’m broken. I really did make him up in order to cope with the accident.

That’s it. It has to be.

In the shade of the biggest tree, May stretches out beside me on the ground, giving a wide yawn. “Dad’s really going to sell the cabin?”

I wince, my lips pressing in a hard line. She wasn’t supposed to know. I thought she didn’t.

“Where’d you hear that?” I ask, keeping my tone as cool and calm as possible. Maybe she guessed. Maybe she doesn’t know.

May glances away then back to me. “I heard Mom and Dad talking.”

Shoot. My head thumps back against the tree. Little eavesdropper.

“Is it true?”

“Guess so.” I sigh and slide down the trunk, letting the bark scrape against me through my shirt. No good lying about it if she already knows.

She frowns. “I don’t want him to.”

I offer her a weak smile. “Me neither.”

Just the thought of it makes my stomach turn over. She enjoys the trees, our hikes, sleeping in her little attic room. But there’s no way it means half as much to her as it does to me.

“Then why’s he doing it?” she asks.

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