Page 42 of Falling in Love with A Tiny Bat

Castor, calmly, sets his cool hand on mine and whispers, “I wouldn’t treat me like I’m glamoured in front of all your guests, starbeam. Rest assured, I have no intentions of lettingAshcome to any harm. I may be a villain, but I do try not to act like the monster I was born to become.” He pries my hand out of his shirt while the LARP group is still catching up by the house. Smoothing out the fabric, he murmurs, “Do recall what I said when we first met. I amremarkablysusceptible to behaving in the manner with which I am treated. At this point, I do not consider us enemies. Are you opting to change that, or are we going toplay nicely?”

Nothing inside me settles. Nothing at all.

Castor sighs. “I cannot lie. You believe that, don’t you?”

“People I do trust have proven that the fae can’t lie, yes.”

“The passive aggression oozing off that line really wounds me, child.” Castor tilts his head back, casual. “I am here to have some harmless fun with your friend group. I’m told you’re an extrovert. Imagine how painful would it be for youto spend centuries blind and alone in a land built on whispers and shadows with nothing but senseless creatures for company. Imagine having the spare few people you thought were friends keep things from you, then blame you for what you couldn’t help. Imagine the isolation. Imagine the pain…and then. If you can…imagine a second chance. Xios is the first real friend I’ve had. I know that. Because, Zahra, he trusts me to be here. Withyou. And you are the most precious being that will ever exist in his life.” Lifting a finger, he touches my chin, directing my attention toward the top floor of my house, where Alexios stands—pouting—at the window with Ash in his arms. Upon my catching his eye, his demeanor brightens, and he waves. Castor continues, “Could I be so bold as to request you treat me like a person who, by merits you witness for yourself, is innocent until directly perceived guilty?”

My chest tightens, but I squeeze my eyes shut and ask thatstupidquestion.

What can I learn from this?

Perhaps, there’s a lesson in judgment here.

And perhaps the reason it’s here is because every cell in me wants to sayscrew it, I refuse to throw caution to the wind.

“You stole a baby, Castor,” I hiss, pulling my attention off Alexios. “How are you not already guilty through my direct perception?”

He exhales a soft laugh. “Oh, my dear starbeam, with that logic…you’re raising a stolen baby, aren’t you?”

“What?”

“Tell me, if you’re holding it against me for nurturing a sapling to a life it would not have had without me, if you’re claiming that Ash does not belong to me, then he also does not belong toyou. I stole from the dryads. You know a dryad. Pila. You have access to her, do you not? You extroverts always seem to have access to just about everyone…”

My skin goes cold.

“If Ash is not mine to entrust you with,Zahra, and if you are holding that against me…give him back.” Relaxing, Castor swings his cane up to his shoulder. “Elsewise, you’re a hypocrite.”

My lip trembles. “You wouldn’t let me do that. You’d stop me. You’d have Xios stop me.”

His teeth bare in a wicked smile, and, for a second, I see the points of his fangs. “No,” he says, unable to lie, “I would not stop you at all.”

Blood drains from all my limbs.

“So, are you joining me in this crime, making it right, or…absolving me of error and admitting you’ve changed your mind where it comes to accusing me of stealinga babywhen all I stole wasaplant?”

Choked, I say, “You have no intention of harming Ash?”

“None.”

“And he…he wouldn’t have become anything else, another dryad like Terra, without you?”

“He would have grown into a regular tree, not an ounce of sentience to speak of.”

Breaths tight, I step back and extend my hand. “Consider this the start of our acquaintanceship. Call me Zahra or any derivative thereof. If you keep up thischildandstarbeamnonsense, I will hold that against you.”

Castor’s cold hand slips into mine, somewhat slick, nearly scaled. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Razah.”

“Not gonna lie. That’s a new derivative.” My lungs quiver as I shake his hand. “But, I’ll allow it.”

Chapter 11

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What misfortune it is to possess free will.

Xios

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