Page 46 of Chaos and Destiny
“Fun hater.” I smirked.
We climbed down, and I didn’t care that the males wouldn’t look at either of us.
“The forest is dangerous, Wren,” Kai whispered.
“We had it under control,” she snapped.
I didn’t wait for their argument to start. I just began walking. They could follow or stay behind and have a picnic, I didn’t care. Unfortunately, it only took about twenty paces until the clingy prince was hot on my trail and mad as a grendel. I could only smile as I continued to walk ahead of him, pretending I didn’t notice the way he huffed in anger as he stalked behind me.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled.
“Oh, look at the handsome prince. So sorry he kidnapped the poor tiny female for reasons her little ol’ brain was just too small to understand. No need for a reasonable adult conversation to explain things, just a fucking shit load of chaos wrapped in a pretty package of forced destiny. But you’re sorry, so it’s fine. Tell me, did it physically pain you to say that?”
“Yes,” he said. “I locked you in my rooms to make sure you were safe. I don’t know how this is supposed to work. How is this going to go if we can’t find a way to get over it? I’m just going to follow behind you and rush in at the last-minute hoping to save you every time you do something stupid?”
“Call me stupid one more time, you alpha fucking male asshole. Then we’ll see how this is going to go.”
“No. I didn’t mean that. Damn it. You are so infuriating.”
“Hang on one second. Let me find you a mirror.”
Chapter 15
TEMIR
Where were you last night?” Gaea asked, jerking her head in a tilt.
I sat in the leather chair behind my old wooden desk and took a lingering deep breath. “Please, come sit down. I have something to tell you.”
Her face lost all color as she crept to the worn chair across from me. She sat and folded her hands into her lap, waiting for me to drop a bomb on her. It seemed that was all we had been doing lately.
“What is it, Tem?”
“I was out last night.” I shifted in my seat. “There’s something I want to tell you, but not here.”
She moved her hand across the desk and I took it. We scattered into pieces, and then we were standing whole, in the middle of a tall grass field surrounded by soft rolling hills and a breeze that blew her long chestnut hair around her. I took both of her gentle hands into mine. She looked at me, quietly patient as I tried to find the right words, but nothing came.
“I’m not sure how to say it other than just blurting it out,” I said.
“Mother above, Tem. You’re killing me with anticipation. Just spit it out already.”
“I joined the rebellion.”
She dropped my hands. “You what?”
“I joined the rebellion.” I scratched the back of my head and raised my eyebrows.
“I knew it.” She shook her head and walked away, turning her back to me. “It’s so dangerous, Tem. Do you always have to be the righteous one? He will kill you.”
“I know it’s dangerous, but so is everything else. Living as a lesser fae is dangerous.”
“But you’re not,” she snapped. “You live in the castle.”
“No, but I could be. If I didn’t have magic, I would either be stuck in that fucking barn or dead long ago. I won’t sit by and do nothing anymore. I won’t dream about escaping only to be hunted. I want to actually do something. Make a difference to someone.”
“You make a difference to me and to River. Isn’t that enough?”
“No, it isn’t, and you know that,” I said, frustrated. “They need me to travel to Narth, and since I can’t take the time to walk there, will you take me? I know it’s a lot to ask, but I can’t think of another way. I ... we would potentially be saving a magical fae.”
