Page 129 of The Fae Warrior's Queen

“We are not your friends,” I refute with vigor.

“Well, we’re not enemies.”

“Like hell we aren’t. You’ve imprisoned my granddaughter!” My shout echoes off the cathedral ceilings, and my temper boils hotter than it has in a long time.

I want to punch this guy’s smarmy face.

I think I’ll do just that.

Without contemplating the retaliatory response I might receive, I march toward him with my fist ready.

Unfortunately, Kai intervenes. I don’t even get three steps before his arm is snaking around my front and pulling me back against him.

“What are you doing?” I wiggle in his hold. “This is Zaylee’s captor. Let me go.”

“Sunny, don’t get me wrong, you have every right to be upset, but we want to be in a position to negotiate, and this man might not be very cooperative if we maim him.”

Part of me wants to be angry with Kai for being so calm right now, but I see what he’s doing. If Zaylee’s ability to be free depends on a barbarian’s agreement to release her, I need to play nice.

Which is really fucking hard to do.

“I just want to slap him around a little,” I complain indignantly.

Snickering, the man strides by us lazily like I didn’t just almost attack him. “Zaylee has done worse to me. Don’t assume I haven’t been punished for my actions—I have.”

“What did she do?” Still in Kai’s embrace, I shuffle around to keep the guy in my sights as he climbs the stairs.

“My hair used to be very long, and I was proud of it. Considering how difficult it is to grow hair in this universe, I was quite perturbed to lose it.”

“She burnt it off?” I assume.

“Every single bit of it.”

“Good.”

Grinning like he’s not bitter about Zaylee’s retribution, he stops at the head of the box. He lays a hand on it, and I don’t miss the possessive action.

“I don’t even know your name,” I say cordially, grappling with the need to be amiable and my desire to claw this guy’s eyes out.

“You’ll have to excuse me.” He bows slightly. “I’m not used to introducing myself to new people. I’m Madden, one of the leaders of my tribe. As I said before, any friend of Zaylee’s is a friend of mine. You might not feel that way about me, and that’s fine. You can try to hurt me, though I guarantee you won’t be successful, so I suggest refraining from needlessly exhausting yourself.”

Such an arrogant jerk. “Why did you abduct Zaylee in the first place?”

“I didn’t,” Madden replies. “My brother Hyram did. He saw an opportunity when he spotted her wandering in The Unknown. He thought we could ransom her to one of the overlords, but his decision was spontaneous and impulsive, and he didn’t realize Zaylee was just sixteen until he got back to our camp where the dust storm was settled. Hyram and I might be bad men, but we don’t exploit children. It’s our one rule.”

“How noble of you,” I drawl sarcastically, unable to keep the snide comment to myself.

Faeries normally don’t pick up on facetiousness, especially dark fae who’ve been banished from society for half a million years.

However, Madden does. He must’ve learned it from Zaylee, and one side of his mouth twitches with humor before he continues, “I never had intentions to let her be a slave, which is why I’ve hidden her here. I went against my tribe and defied my own brother to protect her.”

As I look around at the space, I begin to see the temple differently. It might not be a prison. Maybe it’s a fortress.

Still, I have so many questions. “Are you telling me she’s never been harmed?”

“Not even a little.”

“How long has she been here?”

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