Page 39 of Fae Farewells

I didn’t like the way she felt right now.

And when I opened the bathroom door, I knew immediately why she was upset.

She stood in front of the counter, her hair still dry as she stared at her chest in the mirror.

The bruising on her wrists had faded to a pale yellow, but they held their shape, as if they didn’t want to heal. I’d never had frostbite, so I wasn’t sure how much longer it would take to heal. I kind of wanted to kick the fae in the ass for marking her so thoroughly, even as I doubted if that action would work in my favor.

She wasn’t looking at the bruises, though.

There was a new mate mark glowing brightly on her chest underneath the rest. As I shut the door, she sighed, not even glancing my way.

“You felt me?”

“Yes.”

“Came to check on me?” she inquired. “I’m fine.”

“I wish you would stop saying that. You aren’t fine. You’re frustrated, angrier than normal, sad, tired, but not fine or okay or even content.”

I moved to stand behind her, propping my chin on her shoulder as I met her eyes in the mirror. She traced the mark, exhaling deeply as she sank into my touch.

All her mate marks lined up beautifully against her porcelain skin, a slight shine that hadn’t left since all the pith tokens were absorbed. Vaughn’s mark sat beneath mine, shaped like a concave arrow pointing to the left.

We were all lined up in order of our bonds, and I wondered if that meant anything. Would they have lain differently if we’d sealed our bonds in a different order? Or would they still be exactly like this, with missing gaps in between the marks until that bond was sealed? I didn’t know if anyone had ever studied marks to that extent, or whether it was known why they popped up where they did on the body.

But I loved the flash, the peek of ownership that showed when she wore a low cut top. If she showed any cleavage, there was no hiding that she was taken.

“I’m a little upset,” she finally admitted.

I remained quiet, waiting for her to continue.

“We talked and fought. The bond had already started to seal itself, so it was a bit different with Vaughn than with you. But we didn’t get a chance to really talk about that. We left the temple, went straight to Valano…”

“And then he was gone,” I whispered, nodding my head. “We all knew his part of this plan. He’s not avoiding—”

“I know he’s not. It’s just... for once, I kind of wanted his pillow talk.”

“There’s no shortage of pillow talk with the fae. You’ll beg him to shut up when he’s back with us.”

She snorted, then scowled at herself. “I want him back.”

“He’ll need more than a couple of hours to get your parents out of the dungeon, Love.”

“I get this is the best way to go about all the shit we need to do here, but it would be so much easier to walk in, kill anyone who gets in the way, and take what we’re here to get.”

“Easier, yes. But right?” I challenged.

She frowned. “No. They’re just following Alania’s orders. I get that too.”

“But you can’t kill her until you know they’re safe. We know that.”

“I don’t want to risk my parents or Freya. Or Vaughn, though I know he’d object. If I could guarantee that Alania didn’t have some kind of failsafe in place, I’d go kill her now.”

I nodded. “You saw all the magic surrounding her throne, yeah?”

“Yes. I felt it more than I saw it, but I know it’s there.”

“We could dismantle the spells in a few minutes, but we’d need to be alone in the throne room.”