AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Raven?” my raspy voice called out, searching the room. Rising, I tottered to the bathroom, pushing the door open. Empty.
I couldn’t stop the tightening in my gut, the anxiety of waking up to her gone. We had no idea who these people really were. I trusted no one and hated her being out of my sight.
Shoving my feet into boots, I tied my hair back, striding out of the healer’s pod.
Hazy sunshine washed down on the cocooned encampment. Snow piled up around the edges of the spell, leaning against it like it also wanted to absorb the warmth on the other side.
A handful of people moved around, doing chores. My fingers itched to join the woman in the garden, feeling the dirt slide through my hands, the smell of life growing. Getting closer, I noticed she was harvesting mushrooms. A quiet snort huffed from my nose, the fungi reminding me of Bitzy and Opie, the two sub-fae Brexley “adopted.” I recalled the serene smile on that cranky imp’s mouth when Bitzy was high. It was the only time you’d see her in a good mood, which was contrary to Opie. He always could turn anything into a good time. Especially when he was destroying centuries-old, one-of-a-kind fae books and making dresses out of the pages.
A stab of pain dropped the smile from my lips, and a deep hole ached in my chest that I hadn’t let myself feel in a long time. I missed my friends. I even missed those two. Every time the hollowness crawled up into my chest, I snorted more fae powder, deadening my emotions, getting myself so addicted to the numbness I couldn’t go a day without. Sometimes more.
My feet faltered, a notion hitting me.When was the last time I got high?I couldn’t deny I craved it, wanted it badly, but it didn’t feel like a necessity as it was before, an obsession I couldn’t function without. It simmered underneath, yet it was something I could control, which of course made me want it more because, deep down, I knew I was healing. I didn’t need to totally disappear into the void, and I was afraid of what caused that.
Whomay have caused it.
Buckling down my straying thoughts, I glanced around, searching for the culprit of my annoyance. The spelled area held a quiet gentleness, as if the air didn’t even want to speak above a whisper, knowing most were still sleeping.
Scanning the various areas, I hunted for Raven, letting the smells of food lure me toward a large white tent across the site. Pushing the flap to the side, I stepped in, scanning the space. The aroma of fresh coffee, eggs, and bread filled my nose, coming from a help-yourself kitchen area on one side with various breakfast foods on display: polenta, bread, eggs, fresh veggies, milk, juice, tea, and coffee. Mismatched tables and chairs were scattered around, filled with a fusion of human, fae, and bi-species—families, pairs, and single people sipping on their drinks and munching on breakfast in a happy cadence.
Kids running around laughing, acting likekids. Ordinary. Normal.
It was a shift from the mood of the night hours. A more family-type atmosphere. Not like how I grew up.
My attention was pulled like a force field to a figure against the wall of the tent, sitting with a coffee, her expression solemn as she stared absently down at the table, lost in thought.
Relief slid out from my mouth.
Raven’s dark hair was loose around her face, partially hiding it, trying to keep it as a barricade. She played with her ring as she always did when she was agitated. That uncomfortable feeling of knowing her, how she thought, and her behaviors gripped my lungs, twisting my relief into anger.
Striding over to her, I gritted my teeth.
“Don’t ever leave me like that again,” I seethed. Her head popped up, and I realized quickly what it sounded like. Vulnerable. Needy.
“Excuse me?”
Yanking out the chair across from her, I sat down, keeping my voice low. “We don’t know these people. We can’t trust anyone. So for now, you don’t leave my side without me knowing.”
For just a blink, I swore her green eyes turned a reddish color, her spine stiffening.
“And here I thought fae men weren’t misogynistic.”
“Misogynistic?” I sputtered. “It’s called common sense. We don’t know these people.”
“I can handle myself,” she stated firmly, the words bouncing off me like she shoved me. But, more than her anger, it was the walls she was placing around herself, putting me on the other side.
“I know, but not if they all came for you at once, and I didn’t know… couldn’t get—” I stopped, about to utter what I was most afraid of. I wouldn’t be able to get to her.
She sat back, her expression between arrogant and condescending, a smirk playing on her lips. “You have no idea what I can handle.”
“Not with that.” I nodded to the bracelet she hid under her zip-up sweatshirt, the air warm enough for her to be without, but keeping it covered was smart. They didn’t need to know she was at a disadvantage.
Her lips dropped to a scowl, sipping at her coffee, her fingers absently rubbing at it over the fabric.
It hit me again how she still seemed to come off unaffected by it, not like the rest of us seemed to. In prison, when they put it on me for punishment, my bones turned into lead, my energy lethargic. Killian almost died from the mix of iron and goblin metal daily around his neck. Yet, after weeks of knowing her, she seemed the same.
Critically, my awareness moved over her, recalling how the Druid reacted to her. A hint of suspicion rubbed at the back of my mind, almost wanting to find a fault. A reason to push her away.
Was she some spy working for Sonya? Someone to play on my need to protect and help? Getting close to me while feigning to be some innocent bystander? Forcing her way into my life, finding out my plans, while I thought it was all coincidence?
