Page 31 of Cursed Evermore
I didn’t know what to think of encountering him.
Had he even been real?
That was the main question on my mind from the moment he disappeared in the alley.
He left the tavern. There was only one door and one way he could have gone.
So, maybe I’d followed a ghost of my imagination.
Portaling could really make your head spin. As I knew. So, seeing a handsome Fae stranger and dancing silver threads could just be another side effect of using high-level magic.
If I were to tell my family what I saw, I was certain they’d think I’d imagined it. Grandmother had never talked about seeing silver threads in magic. And as for seeing a Fae?
My assessment was the same as it had been last night.
They had no need to come to the mortal lands, let alone a place like Stormfell. There was nothing here for them.
The Fae kingdoms like Galaythia and Thalyrius were the largest continents in Vaelthorne, rumored to be the most beautiful in the world, where you could get everything.
Father used to describe his visits there for his assignments as heavenly. He’d always have some exciting story to share about magical creatures and the landscape which was so different from ours. He’d made it sound like something from a dream, so I couldn’t begin to think of any reason that would have brought the Fae here.
They knew they were most hated in towns like Stormfell. The more religious the town, the more despised a magical being was because magic challenged their beliefs.
Only the Gods were supposed to have powers. Anyone else with such power was seen as a threat to be eliminated regardless of the Accords and treaties between realms.
That was why we had ambassadors like my father, who ensured peace. At least where they could.
I closed my eyes. Silver-blue eyes instantly stared back at me from inside my head. It was like I’d gone back to last night and was sitting across from him again in the tavern.
Those haunting eyes, alive with mystery and desire, sent shivers racing down my spine. My entire body tingled with carnal energy.
Crazy or not, real or imagined, my body still burned with that uncontrollable heat.
It was the way the handsome Fae stranger had looked at me.
Those eyes held me in place, scanning over me as if he was committing every inch of my body to memory. The rawness in his stare had reached past my mind and made me forget life for those moments in all the right ways.
I was certain no one had ever looked at me that way before. If they had after the curse, I would have noted it in my journals. That’s not the sort of thing a girl wants to forget.
How could I have had such a vivid imagination of a man I’d never seen before? Especially if I’d never seen Fae before.
It was almost easier to believe I’d imagined him than consider the possibility that he was real. There were less questions, less to think about, less to figure out.
Did it even matter?
Thayden would be here before sundown, then I’d have to cast everything to the back of the beyond and think about starting my new life with him.
It all just felt like fucking shit.
Maybe I should listen to Emabelle and get laid. She may throw me into a tailspin with her zany suggestions, but she wasn’t wrong.
Didn’t she say getting laid would fix my mood, clear my head, and remind me I was still alive? Gods, I needed all of that. There was just one small problem.
The next few days would be like living in a prison with everyone keeping a closer eye on me. There would also be extra people around for the engagement celebrations.
A knock on the door nearly made me jump out of my skin.
Regardless of the hour, Emabelle never knocked, so I knew it had to be either Mother or Grandmother. The servants wouldn’t come up here this early.
