Page 20 of Fae King's Forbidden Love

“What about her, Saint?” I muttered, suddenly knowing exactly what he meant. He shrugged, realizing he was making me uncomfortable.

“You’ve changed,” he said. “And it’s not for the worse.”

A tickle wriggled my nostrils, sparing me from responding, and I whirled around to confront Cirilla, who appeared as thesmoke cleared. Her purple eyes popped as she looked at us, shaking her head.

“What?” I asked warily. “What is it?”

“We need to go,” she rasped. “Now.”

“Go where?” Saint piped in before I could.

“Did you find out who she is? The fae that Ivy saw?”

Cirilla nodded. “Her name is Lysandra,” she choked out. “She was one of Agnan’s orphans.”

Gooseflesh erupted over my skin. “Is she a part of King Zen’s Anti-Order now?” I asked slowly, trying to make sense of why Lysandra would want Elix. Dread overtook me with the possibilities.

Has she somehow learned about the dark magic in Elix’s bloodline and is coming to cleanse her?

The idea terrified me.

“Cirilla! Where is she?” I barked. “Where is this Lysandra?”

“If I had to wager a guess, I’d say she’s in Silverhold. We have to go to the other side of the continent. We’re in the wrong place again.”

Chapter 5

Elix

Ididn’t want to speak another word to Lysandra for the rest of the night, but she wouldn’t leave me alone, forcing me to listen to every one of the vile lies that fell from her rosebud lips.

“I know this isn’t what you want to hear, Elix, that you grew up with this idea that your parents loved one another or whatever delusional picture you painted for yourself in childhood?—”

“My parentsdidlove one another!” I roared, still bound in Lysandra’s chains, heat rushing through my head. The influx of every emotion made it impossible for me to think and act properly, but I couldn’t keep myself from lashing out when she seemed to push all my buttons so well.

Just like Saint does… because she’s my sister?

I closed my eyes. She was breaking me down. I couldn’t let this happen. I focused my eyes on the darkening night outside, determined not to let her words affect me anymore.

“If your mother loved your father so much, she never would have strayed with Agnan,” Lysandra insisted.

“She didn’t!” I moaned, but this time, my denial was much weaker. “There were rumors about dark fae who could maskthemselves as others, pretending to be the husband of several servants for the express purpose of impregnating the palace staff. My brother told me as much. And if that’s what happened, it wasn’t straying from my father. That’s assault. And just because Agnan might have been my sperm donor, that doesn’t mean he was my father.”

The blood tests had already proven my lineage. I was half corrupted. Who was to say that Agnan, the last leader of the Order of Souls, was not my father?

“Agnan was many things, but a rapist was not one of them,” Lysandra promised. “Trust me—I lived in his care my whole life.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” I snarled. “Go away, Lysandra!”

“I can do a DNA test for you here,” she told me. “We have the proper facilities to run the blood?—”

“Where the hellishere?” I demanded, looking around again at the spacious and pretty bedroom with its lovely furnishings and fresh wallpaper. “What is this place?”

Evening had fallen outside, and the glorious trees that had fallen over my purview suddenly didn’t look so quaint now. They were haunting and eerie, a set of different animal noises rising through the leaves to reach my ears on the second floor. I didn’t know Silverhold. I didn’t know anything but Goldhaven, and I wanted to go home.

“I already told you where you are. You’re in Silverhold.”

“No,” I snapped. “I meanthisplace. This room, this house, or building. What is it?”

---