Page 12 of Tempting the Fae Lord
“Gale, stop this nonsense. I should not fly you in one arm and a newborn girl in the other. If you’re so eager to visit the capital, we can consider arrangements for you to make the journey, but you’re safer here under my protection. Perhaps when you’re a bit older, we?—”
“No, you misunderstand. I meant through the gate. To do the swap.”
His posture stiffens. “What?”
So much for not asking now. “Take me through the gate with you.”
He knits his brows. “Don’t be foolish, child.”
My chest hollows, and a lump forms in my throat. “Not a fool. Also, not a child,” I say, but I can’t meet his eyes. Instead, I address somewhere in the vicinity of his right elbow. Until his right elbow gets closer, and oh, those are his fingers under my chin, tipping my face up.
“No. Not a child anymore, I can see that,” he says softly.
I stare into his dark eyes.
Pools of the blackest ink stare back. “But, Gale, the other side is dangerous. You must put a stop to this line of thinking. If you’re unhappy here, I’ll set you up to succeed anywhere you desire to go onthis sideof the gate. Lemossin, Tierney, Willowood. You have only to name it, and I shall make it so. You’re not a prisoner in my lands.”
I blink, tongue-tied. His eyes are so pretty this close, shadowy and fierce and wide and clever and focused solely on me.
His offer comes as a surprise. I’ve never felt like a prisoner, but I also never thought he’d let me go so easily.
It’s a bit disappointing.
It’s not that I want to leave him or to leave my home—not forever anyway. I just want to find my family.
The family he stole me from.
I jerk my chin from his fingers and regret the loss of his touch immediately.
“I must be going.” He steps back. “We can discuss this another time. Go eat with everyone else and forget about the other side. The gate is my burden and mine alone.”
His footsteps echo quietly as he leaves.
Instead of going to dinner, I race to the southern tower and leap the winding stairs three at once. Out of breath, I make it to the top and out onto a small ledge on the roof in time to see him take flight.
Massive black wings snap open from nowhere and beat a strong rhythm, lifting him skyward. It’s a majestic sight to behold, and one I’ll never tire of. Not that I see it often.
As if he knows I’m watching, he executes a midair pirouette and darts his gaze to my exact spot. I gasp. Another flap of his mighty wings and the moment is over.
He flies away from me.
I watch until he’s a tiny dark speck blending into the cloudless dark night.
Well, that could have gone better.
Chapter Four
TheGatekeeper
Foolish mortalwith the rash habit of throwing himself headlong into danger at every possible opportunity.
Through the gate with me? Reckless fantasy. Never.
And everyone is a child when you’re as ancient as me, but Gale more than most.
Of all the babes I’ve brought over from the other side, all the souls ever under my protection, he’s been the source of the most anxiety. If my hair were capable of going gray, it would be from Gale’s doing.
Impulsive boy, with a temerarious nature and a knack for finding trouble. He’s definitely kept Eulayla and Chester on their toes, a storm none of us saw coming. But I shouldn’t complain. He keeps things lively.
