Page 73 of Protected By the Fae King

“Has she been training?” he asked quietly. “Cultivating her powers?”

“Yes. She has four separate faeries, each a master of their element, who work with her.”

“Does she have a handle on her magic?” he mumbled, sounding embarrassed by the questions.

“She’s getting a much better handle on it, yes. She practices every day.”

He jutted his chin upward. “That’s all she’s really ever wanted. To know her powers. She thought that if she could get a handle on them, she could live more… normally? I don’t know.”

“I know. She told me.” I offered him a quick smile and reclaimed my own seat.

“I never had the resources to give her that. Hell, I barely use my own magic. Even on the construction sites.”

“You’ve done the best you could for her with what you had,” I told him gruffly. “You were a parent to her when she needed one, and you took care of all her needs. Although I wish you’d reached out to let me help you.”

“It wasn’t your place to help us,” Saint grumbled.

“Family helps each other, Saint.”

He pursed his lips and nodded slowly. “Okay.”

“Okay?” I repeated. “Okay, what?”

He met my eyes through his peripheral vision and took a sip of his beer again. “If Elix agrees to go with you back to the palace, you can take her.”

That wasn’t good enough for me, and I said as much.

“What do you mean, it’s not good enough?” Saint grumbled. “What the hell else do you want now?”

“Your blessing for us to be together.”

Saint grimaced lightly but nodded. “It’s going to take some time to get used to, but if you genuinely do love her, and she loves you, I can’t stand in your way. But Jace?—”

“I won’t hurt her, Saint. I wouldn’t dare. I respect you and your family too much for any of that.”

He eyed me and then grinned warily, raising his bottle in toast. I raised mine back.

“ELIX!” Saint yelled. “Come out here.”

Dawn began to stream in gray ribbons over the horizon, creating the faintest light in the alleyway behind the building as I stood to look out the window of the living room and into the city below.

“Elix!” Saint called again when his sister didn’t materialize.

“She probably fell asleep,” I said, heading toward the room to knock gently on her bedroom door. There was no response, and I opened the closed door a crack.

“Elix?” I murmured softly so as not to wake her rudely. To my utter disbelief, the room was empty. Whirling around, I lookedtoward the bathroom across the hall, but the door was wide open, the light off.

“She’s not in there,” I said, throwing the door fully open.

“That’s impossible. We would have seen her if she opened the door,” Saint laughed, rising. “She’s probably on the floor.”

He sauntered past me and walked into the bedroom, flicking on the light. Saint froze, his smile faltering to see that I was right.

“What the…?” He strode further into the room, throwing open the closet, cocking his head. “I don’t understand.” Whirling back toward me, he demanded, “Can she go invisible now?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” I said grimly, making my way toward the door. Unlocking both locks, I made my way into the hall and then the stairwell where Llyodiver and his partner remained.

“Did Miss Elix come through here?” I asked.

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