Page 40 of Fae Farewells

She shrugged lightly. “Or we could make her attack us first. Defense spells like that might fizzle out when she’s angry and throwing a tantrum.”

“We can’t be sure.”

“So I take a hit. That’s nothing new.”

I sighed, wishing she wouldn’t take all the hits she did, but she was an angel more than anything else.

“I was going to void into the library to look at the fae books in that collection, but I felt them put a ward on the door when we came in. It might be best for us to work through that before planning to take hits from magic none of us understands. At least until Vaughn is back.”

Her back stiffened. “She locked us in?”

“Someone did.”

“That fucking cunt,” she growled under her breath.

“It’s not unexpected, Love.”

She huffed a humorless laugh. “Oh, not at all. Make a production of welcoming us into the palace, then lock us in a fucking room so we’re sitting ducks for her to try to pick off at her leisure.”

“You have a point,” I conceded.

Sloane inhaled deeply, her shoulders rising and dropping as she exhaled harshly.

“I can’t kill her today,” she said to herself in the mirror like a mantra. Then she turned to face me, her chest brushing against mine. “I can’t kill her yet, but I’m too pissy to reverse engineer that ward with you. I’ll just end up blowing the door open, and then we’ll have zero privacy in this... I can’t even call it Hell. The Underworld is more welcoming than this.”

She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. “You’re right. I am tired. So, I’m going to meditate or take a fucking nap, anything to settle down and keep my wits about me.”

I kissed her forehead. “Okay, Love.”

She left the bathroom without taking a shower or putting clothes on, strutting straight through the suite’s living area, and into a bedroom on the opposite side. When I left the bathroom, the guys were all staring at the door she left cracked open.

“You make her mad?” Briggs asked without looking at me.

“No. She’s going to meditate or take a nap. Said she wanted to settle down before she blows the warded door open.”

Novak shrugged. “That makes sense. When was the last time she slept?”

“Does it?” Stone snapped quietly.

I raised a brow at the demon.

“Hear me out,” he requested. “Let’s have her blow the entire wall out and say fuck the niceties bullshit.”

“How did you make it through med school?” York inquired. “Where is your bedside manner?”

Stone surveyed the room before smiling at the druid. “I don’t see any patients.”

“We noticed you’ve been losing your patience rather quickly these days,” I mentioned.

“Punny,” Novak whispered.

“I’m just saying…” Stone continued. “We usually go along with whatever method of crazy she wants to do, but now we’re not. And now she’s extra pissy and sad. She’s overthinking every move, looking too far into everything that’s happening that’s out of our control.”

I shook my head, though I saw his point. “We knew coming here was going to be hard.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, then disagreed on the next breath. “But it would have been quick and hard if we told her to do whatever the fuck she wanted. Instead, we’re expecting her to stick to a plan that, in so many words, she knows isn’t the best option. Now everything is slow and hard, and that’s not her style.”

“How did you make that sound dirty?” Novak asked.