Page 69 of Unraveled
“I can’t believe I’m in Fairhope. It’s so far north, and across the cursed forest, I just never thought I would see this,” I admit, unable to hide the excitement in my voice.
Nera nods, and her expression turns sad, but somehow hopeful. “We have something in common, you and I.”
“That your brother drives us insane?”
“Well, that too.” She laughs, and we sit at a medium-sized round table that could comfortably seat six, but it’s the farthest from the rest of the patrons. “But no, what I meant was that bothof us have been trapped, living like prisoners even though we technically aren’t.”
I mull over her words even after the server, Stefani, comes and takes our order of beer, wine, and a basket of rolls.
“I guess so. Back in Penumbra, I never felt like I couldn’t leave—though I guess I couldn’t. Even as a prisoner, I feel more freedom here.”
Nera’s face falls, and she reaches for my hand, hesitating only briefly before she envelops it with her own and squeezes lightly. It’s an odd sensation, the coolness of her skin mimicking the stone she is truly made of behind her glamour. “I hope you won’t feel like a prisoner for long, that you can see us as a family of sorts, like Finley does.”
It’s been nearly a month since I came here, and I can admit to myself that I don’t feel like a prisoner anymore. Not when I’m working to accomplish something that feels larger than myself. When I feel useful. Plus, breaking their curse, and my bond with Ash, is my new purpose.
“We will see, maybe once I break your cur?—”
“Shh.” She presses a hand over my lips, and it takes everything in me not to wince, just in case she nips me with her deadly nails. Surely, even if she looks human, the same curse still lingers under the mirage over her body. “Don’t say anything about oursituation.” Nera drops her hand and glances around the room, looking far too serious. Then she whispers, “It’s hard to tell a hybrid from a human, and even harder to guess who may be hostile.”
I nod just as Stefani comes back with our drinks and bread.
“But you... glow,” I whisper, eyeing the movements of neighboring tables, feeling suspicious of everyone.
“Yes, but most people aren’t observant enough to tell.”
By the time Finley comes back, thunder rolls above us.
“Why is it storming at this hour?” a man says, tucking his loose white shirt into his kilt. “Get up, you three. We have to run home or we’ll freeze out there.” The family soon rushes out of the restaurant.
The rain falls with such intensity, I see a small river running down the cobbled roads. Did we bring the storm with the dark magic that surrounds both fae royals? That’s why it’s always raining at the castle.
“I’m going to get a tabletop game for us to play,” Nera announces and takes a large bite of a roll as she gets up. She loosens the ties of her traveling cloak and promptly lays it over the back of her chair. “Birthday week, here we come!”
With Nera gone to do who knows what, and Ash getting us a place to stay for the night, Finley and I remain at the table to wait for our dinner.
I sip on my glass of wine, taking in our surroundings. From the gold-framed pictures hanging on the walls, to the dark ceilings made of rough wood and dried bamboo canes.
“I never asked you. How is it you aren’t—affected, like the rest?”
“I wasn’t with them that evening, when everything happened, and I’ve avoided the ailment so far. But I’m still affected in a way, because of my connection with Ash.”
I absently rotate his silver ring around my thumb. It’s so large it fits loosely even there. The stone snaps at my fingers, not to hurt me, but to let me know it doesn’t like my touch. “Where were you when it happened, and how does the ailment affect you?”
“I was in Hedrum.” He seems to mull over my other question as he glances at our surroundings. We were mostly alone, except for a group of a few tables back. “I can’t divulge what I’ve learned about the situation to anyone who isn’t under it.”
I frown, trying to make sense of it. “If you’re one of his human ‘tributes,’ how is it you can go to Hedrum for so long and he doesn’t chase you?”
“Ash hates the forced connection, to be honest with you, Mia. I’ve been with their family for a long time, and his compulsion to hunt me back if I step away has always been less intense than it is with you, I suppose. Before the—disaster, I used to live in Hedrum half of the year and travel back and forth often. I have a residence there.”
The wine warms my throat and stomach as I take a long gulp. Ash has told me so many times he will always come for me. It feels wrong I’m the one to get such treatment.
“So it’s different with me?”
“Every connection is.” Finley looks like he would be happier if someone were beating him raw than talking to me about this. “But that’s something you’ve got to ask him, and not for me to speculate about.”
“What’s not for you to speculate about?”
I jump as Nera sets a small wooden box on the table. How can someone who’s that tall be that sneaky? “Nothing,” I say, pressing a hand over my fast-beating heart.
