Page 80 of Unraveled
“I was trying to. It’s not like I had a lot of time, and I find it peculiar you followed me here after being such an ass. Where did you leave Yvette?” I turn away from him and peek around the curtain. Not sure what I expect, but it’s not him pulling me back.
We’re so close his breath warms my face as he leans down to whisper, “We have to leave. When Yvette wakes up, every hybrid in this place is going to be looking for us. If your friend wasn’t one himself.”
My breath stumbles out of my lips as I meet his eyes, and now I understand the underlying panic there. The pressure in my stomach bubbles more insistently the longer I stay here, and my amulet drums quicker.
Thump, thump, thump.
It’s giving me a headache.
“Hybrids, here?”
He nods, and I’m not even surprised. Not with how I’ve been feeling.
“What do you mean when she wakes up? Did you put her to sleep?”
His throat bobs, and he leans against the wall, peeling the curtain back and studying the moving bodies on the other side. His face darkens. “I was looking for you when I realized this place is crawling with hybrids, but you’d disappeared, and Finley didn’t know where you went.”
Guilt churns deep inside me. “I felt something like I did back in Penumbra, when I was in the library there, and I was coming to tell you that perhaps they’re holding fae grimoires here...”
“And—” Ash pauses, turning to me. “They feel like the ones in your library?”
“They don’t speak the human tongue . . .”
He rubs his jaw, considering. “There’s an enchantment in this place that makes the glamours fail.”
“Is that why your eyes are gold?”
He nods. “I noticed Nera’s eyes changed when we were dancing. I asked Finley to get her out while she still looked human and went searching for you. It’s not a coincidence Yvette, if that’s even her real name, found me shortly after.”
He’s here. It’s the same words, over and over.
“She knows who you are?”
“That I’m the king? No. I rarely go anywhere without Naheli, so they would expect her to be here as well.”
It makes sense. Ash has power like no one I’ve seen before, but after he bonded with the spirit, he has to be almost invincible. Unless he was forever cursed, and his people all turned into beasts.
Cold rushes through me, and my fingers grow numb and clammy. It’s getting harder to ignore the magical whispers. “Why not leave with them? It’s dangerous for you here.”
“Hybrids rarely attack in crowded places like this. There are many powerful sorcerers in Hedrum who still speak in support of the fae. Plus, the hybrids don’t want to appear to be the aggressors. It goes against the narrative. I was hoping to draw them away and give you enough time to escape.”
“Everyone out there looks human. How did you know?”
“Not all hybrids pass for human, Monster. Yvette smelled like fae to me.”
“You would know, since you were close enough to count the freckles on her face.” Heat flares through my veins. It’s entirely unpleasant. I shift away from him, ready to have some space, and I hate the shadow of a smirk that graces his features.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’re jealous.”
I scoff. “Please?—”
“What is it, Mia? You hate me one minute, the next you’re kissing me, then you act like nothing happened but get mad when I speak with another woman?”
“I wasn’t mad that you were speaking with her.” I know the lie isn’t fooling him—nor me. “I was mad because you treated me like I meant nothing.”
I hate that the truth always pours out of me with him.
“I acted like an ass because I can’t fake not caring about you.” Ash’s eyes cut to my lips. “I’m tired of pretending I’m not thinking of you every waking moment. Of how much I want you to laugh with me. I almost gave away who I am in front of everyone here when that bastard put his hand on you. So no, Mia, I won’t leave you here because there’s a small chance they saw you come in with us, and they will torture you to get to me. Especially if they know you’re mine.”
