Page 84 of The Unseelie Court

But what other choice did she have? She needed more power if she wanted to fight Serrik. And the only way togetmore power was more shards, so…two out of three? Fuck. Was she really debating becomingtwo-thirdsof a cosmic horror?

She wasn’t awake enough for this. She needed coffee and something to eat.

Heading back into the room, she pulled up short. She wasn’t alone. “Who in thefuckare you?”

Standing in the middle of the room, was a stranger, smiling at her in sheepish apology. She wastiny.Couldn’t be taller than five feet, and if she weighed more than a hundred pounds, Ava’d be shocked. Her chin-length straight hair was a chestnut brown that shone with metallic shades of blue, red, purple, yellow, and green—almost like a peacock. Or a beetle.

She remembered now—she was the same little creature she’d seen the night she dropped the train on Rig.

The metallic-haired fae stared down at the floor. “Hi—um—sorry—I thought—you were still asleep—Ibin sent me in to check on you and—um—I’m sorry—” She tried to hurry back toward the door. No, that wasn’t quite right. Whoever the little fae was, the only appropriate word for what she was doing wasscurrying.

“Wait. Hold up. Whoareyou?” Ava felt weirdly violated. Ibin had just let some rando into the room with her? That didn’t make any sense. “What’s going on?”

“Well, um—Ibin needed help watching you, since you were asleep for eight days, and?—”

“What?”

Ava’s sudden outburst made the tiny fae almost flatten to the ground in shock, she recoiled so fast. The little creature looked at her with a wide-eyed look of pure fear.

Oh god. The little thing was actuallyafraidof Ava.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shout.” How could anybody be afraid of her? Especially standing there wrapped in a damn towel. “I just—eight days? Are you serious?”

The little creature nodded rapidly. “Ibin called me to help. That’s all.”

She just couldn’t get over it. The two words just skipped over and over in her mind like her grandma’s old record player needle trapped on a scratch. “Eight days. That can’t be right.”

“It…it is, though.” The tiny fae assured her, still looking ready to bolt at any sudden movement. “Ibin said you collapsed in front of the door. Nos carried you back here.”

Ava’s mind raced. Eight days. She’d lost more than aweek?How was that possible?

“I—I mean, I don’t understand what you’re going through, but…” The little fae’s eyes focused on the on her arm. She shifted uncomfortably. As she moved, Ava noticed delicate beetle wings fluttering nervously behind her back, iridescent and catching the light with shades that matched her metallic-colored hair.

“You still haven’t told me who you are.” Ava was suddenly very eager to change the subject.

“Oh!” The little creature seemed flustered all over again. “I’m Bitty. Or—or Bit, if you prefer. I’m just…well, I’m nobody important, really.”

“Bitty.” Everyone and everything in the Web was suspicious. “And why exactly are you here?”

Bitty’s wings fluttered again. “Ibin needed help watching over you. Making sure you were still breathing, getting water into you when possible.” She shrugged. “I don’t have much else to do around here.”

“I meant in the Web, Bitty. Why’re you trapped in the Web?” Oh man. This little thing looked like it was one good startle awayfrom having a heart attack. And Ava thoughtshewas at her wits’ end.

A flicker of sadness crossed Bitty’s features. “Um…not for doing anything terrible, if that’s what you’re worried about. More for…not doing anything at all.” She gave a self-deprecating smile. “I’m what you might call a disappointment to all fae kind? No magic to speak of. Might as well be human, except for the wings and the longevity.”

Ava felt a pang of sympathy. She was very much wishing she was back in the “useless” camp, as of late. It was a much more boring, much safer place to be. “So you’re…Ibin’s assistant?”

“Friend, I hope?” Bitty frowned. “If people around here can even have friends…I make myself useful where I can.” Her metallic-colored hair shimmered as she spoke, the colors shifting slightly in the light. “Ibin and Nos have been taking turns watching over you, but they both needed to attend to some things, so I volunteered.”

Ava’s stomach growled loudly. Oh god, she was so damn hungry. “I need to get dressed.”

“Okay.” Bitty smiled.

She stared at Bitty blankly. “I need to get dressed, Bitty.”

“Okay?” Bitty blinked in confusion.

Ava sighed and shut her eyes. Right. Fae. “Bitty, I’d like to not be naked in front of you.”

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