Page 70 of Dark & Dreadful Brutes

Right.

It wasn’t really his home. He wouldn’t have given it to me if it was. His feelings for me were only because of the bond, and they would end with the eclipse, too.

If only I could figure out a way to stop developing feelings for him…

We continued walking, both of us lost in our thoughts. I itched to take his hand, but it was still buried in his pocket, which was probably a good thing anyway.

My stomach rumbled as we neared the houses, and Ravv growled at me. “You didn’t have breakfast?”

“Someone abandoned me in a room all night and insisted I stay put.”

His anger vanished, though his jaw clenched. “I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing to me. If you want to be better, be better.”

He jerked his head in a nod.

I hesitated, and then added, “Thanks for caring enough to apologize, though.”

He nodded again, the movement slower and softer.

“This is Jern and Gora’s house,” he told me as we stepped up to a thick, icy door.

I rapped my fists against it and winced at the hardness. It may as well have been stone.

I heard murmuring on the other side of the door, and then it opened just a crack.

Gora’s suspicious eyes met mine—and then relaxed. She tugged the door open, and Jern yanked me in for a tight hug.

“Veil, we were worried about you!” he exclaimed, pulling away to look me up and down.

Physically, I knew I looked fine.

Emotionally, the last few weeks had been tremendous. And not in a good way, for the most part.

At least I was out of the cellar. I had to keep reminding myself of that.

“You look great!” he added, eyes bright and happy.

“So do you. Look, you’ve finally got some squish!” Both of them had filled out a bit, and it made me happy for them. They had on long sleeves and pants, much warmer clothes than me or any of the fae. Gora didn’t match the typical fae women’s style, but I imagined short dresses were far too cold for someone who wasn’t bonded with a fae.

Jern grinned. “Finally!”

He dragged me in for another hug, and Gora squeezed us both.

It was strange to see them clean. To see them happy.

“Show me your house,” I told them. “Tell me everything. Do you have jobs? What have you been doing?”

“I’ll wait outside,” Ravv said, staying on the doorstep when Jern shut the door. “Ask them for food.”

“The journey here was long and painful,” Gora admitted. “But the fae have been friendlier than we expected. They gave us this place to live, and the first week, they kept it stocked with food for us. They asked us to help out on their farm, and have been paying us plenty to do so.”

“We eat like kings,” Jern agreed, still grinning.

My stomach chose that moment to rumble.

“Speaking of kings…” Gora eyed me.

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