Page 8 of A Bargain with the Fae King

“I think it’s just too much work.” It’s a lie, but hopefully, she doesn’t know that. We need the money for medical bills. They just keep coming, and money has been even tighter since Elise reduced her hours to spend more time with May. My little job barely helps.

“Only rich people have two houses, and that ain’t us,” Dad said to me when I asked him about it. He was right, that wasn’t us, but he couldn’t hide the hurt in his voice when he said it. Our cabin is his favorite place too.

“Will we be able to come back here?” May asks now. “Or to the lake? What about that path we always see the deer on?”

My heart clenches. Okay, maybe she does love it too.

“I…I don’t know.” Maybe, but it won’t be the same.

She buries her head against her arm and mumbles something I can’t make out. A minute later, she’s sleeping soundly…on the ground in the woods. Every now and then, she surprises me with how much we’re alike.

I fish out my cell phone and check the time. Damn. My lips press into a thin line. Later than I thought. No wonder it’s gotten so warm. Honestly, it’s a shock that Dad and Elise haven’t blown up my phone with messages asking when we’ll be home because they—

My grip tightens as I spy the little signal bars. Or lack thereof.

No service.

I push to my feet and walk to the middle of the circle, holding the phone up in the air as if those extra few inches might make all the difference and messages will chime in. Nada. My heel grinds into the grass in frustration.

No happy vibrations chirp and buzz from messages arriving. Actually, I don’t hear anything at all. The birds have gone totally quiet too.

I sigh and pocket the phone just before a hand clamps over my mouth.

Chapter 3

Ascreamrisesup,but the hand over my mouth muffles everything. My heart thunders as I struggle against someone as hard as iron.

“Shh. Don’t wake her.”

That voice. Honeysuckle invades my nose. My body goes limp as all the fear and tension flees my form. His hands fall away, and I nearly collapse.

Riven.It’s him. It has to be.

But holy fuck, that means…

Time slows. My mouth goes dry as I turn to face the man behind me. Just as quickly, it speeds up again. Blood rushes under my skin. My pulse flutters like a hummingbird.

He’s real. Oh my God, he’s real! I blink. I pinch myself.

Until now, I couldn’t fully believe it. But he’s here. He touched me. Held me. And shit, is that armor? The memories I have of our first meeting are vague at best, but I have to believe I would have remembered the bronzy gold metal armor that adorns his tall, lean form like some fantastical knight. Pieces are strapped to his arms. A breastplate bearing a tree covers his chest. His shoulders have spikes like thorns, and the metal greaves on his boots…well, that’s kinda hot for some reason. Actually, all of it is. But it’s sonotnormal.

“Whatareyou?” I hiss in a whisper. The very last thing I need is to explain this to May. A quick glance confirms she still sleeps. Thank goodness.

His grin is heart-stopping. The glimmer in his green eyes even more so. Riven could slay me in the most delicious way with just a look, and all I can do is shiver. “Your people have had many names for us,” he says. “But most call us the fae, and our world, they call Faery.”

Fae. A freaking fairy.

“I thought fairies were smaller.” I clamp my hand over my mouth.Oh geez, Lia. You had to say that out loud.

A small laugh rumbles from his chest. It’s soft and rich, the kind that settles around me like a warm blanket.

Heat creeps up my neck. “Kind of an important detail to leave out.”

“You never asked.”

No, I hadn’t. Somewhere deep inside, I knew, if he was real, he wasn’t human. Though now, knowing doesn’t bother me the way I expected. Oh, a small part of me screeches at the top of my lungs. It holds the same primal instinct that sensed the wrongness of this whole area. The rest of me is calm though, as if I’ve finally found that one last, annoying puzzle piece that has slipped under the rug.

His gaze slides past me to land on my sleeping sister. “So, that’s May.”

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