Page 51 of Fae King's Forbidden Love

The cold of the fruity drinks lingered on my lips even then, but I struggled to recall what we’d discussed as I shoved theheavy blankets aside, the warmth of the day already seeping into the tent.

“Elix?” I called out. My tongue lolled in my mouth thickly, dry like cotton, and I frowned.

“Alpha?” Llyodiver’s voice called from outside the tent’s flap, and I exhaled with some relief.

“Come in, Llyodiver,” I ordered. The leather of the flap lifted, and I faced the head of the Guards, his expression etched in confusion. Alarm spiked through me again as I caught the paleness of his cheeks.

“What happened last night?” I demanded. “How did I get into the tent?”

Llyodiver stared at me helplessly for a moment, unspeaking, before he cleared his throat. “I… I’m not sure, Alpha,” he mumbled. I was on my feet, in his face.

“What do you mean, you’re not sure?”

“I woke up about half an hour ago in my own bed,” he explained nervously. “With no recollection of how I got there, either.”

I shoved him aside and strode into the camp, my heart pounding. “Where is Elix?”

My head swiveled from one side of the vast setup to the other. A few of the servants worked on breakfast already, most unaware of my mounting panic.

“I’m not sure, Alpha.”

“Have you seen her this morning?” I insisted, striding out into the morning. “HEY!” Everyone turned to look at me, bowing respectfully as they saw I was awake. “Where is Miss Elix?”

My question appeared to perplex them.

“She was with you in the tent, Alpha,” one of the female servants offered. “You were carried in when you fell asleep.”

Dread washed over me, the lost fragment of the evening resurfacing with her words.

We were talking, and then I got insurmountably tired by the fire…

My eyes darted toward the wooden chair where we had been lying, my legs carrying me toward it.

“What is it, Alpha?” Llyodiver demanded as I sniffed the air. The chaise was free of the blankets we had used the previous night, but the scent of the strawberry and lime concoction we’d consumed faintly remained under the fresh morning dew.

“The drinks…” I mumbled more to myself than anyone else. I whirled around to look for the servant who had made them, but I couldn’t see him. “Where is the one from last night? The tall one with the dark hair?”

Unease began to stir among the half dozen servants as they muttered to one another, but Llyodiver marched along with them, looking for the fae I sought.

“Where is he?” the guard demanded as I advanced on the others.

“Where is Miss Elix?”

“I don’t know, Alpha. I helped to carry you into the tent, Alpha. She was fast asleep with you!”

“Didn’t you think that was odd?” I roared, panic fusing with my dismay. I’d had every one of these staff members vetted. I was sure they weren’t a danger. How could something like this have happened right under my nose?

“Elix has to be around here somewhere!” I insisted, realizing that questioning the servants wasn’t going to get us anywhere. Half of them were clueless—their shock was palpable, their fear evident. The other half were in tears, waiting for me to strike them dead where they stood.

The servant I sought was nowhere among them.

“What’s his name?” I demanded of the nearest employee. “The one missing?”

“Alpert.”

I whirled back toward the tent to find my phone and nodded at Llyodiver to keep searching.

Cirilla answered on the second ring, and she groaned when she heard my voice.

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