Page 59 of Fae Farewells

“Shut up, Tilly,” Ruby snapped. “She’s hidden you away from the world so she had one person by her side to manipulate. Open your fucking eyes. You would see her true nature if you weren’t constantly licking her boots.”

“She is our mother.”

Ruby laughed, though there was nothing more than contempt in the sound. “No, she isn’t. Our mother was kind, intelligent, devoted to her children and her kingdom. This woman is a fraud.”

“Technically, she’s your aunt, as Alric is my uncle. Alania is Vex’s twin, but I haven’t heard anyone say if they were identical or not.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Ruby muttered. “She’ll be dead before I leave.”

“Slow down.” I held my hand out. “We’re working toward the same go—”

“Stay out of this!” Tilly shouted at me. “Trouble and devastation follow everywhere you go. I’m not so sheltered that I don’t know of you and your cursed presence, tainting worlds with your parasitic death.”

I sighed the deepest fucking release of stress and nastiness that I could manage. I exhaled until I thought my lungs would collapse and there would be no oxygen in my body to allow speech to pass between my lips.

“It wasn’t her fault,” I repeated to myself.

And it wasn’t her fault; she was sheltered. She knew nothing except what she was told…

I did bring trouble and devastation with me.

I also brought freedom, good will, and justice.

I knew this about myself, but her words still stung. It was a new sensation that made my skin crawl. All the family members I’d met so far had liked me, seen past the rumors, or didn’t know anything about me.

I should have guessed that my luck would run out eventually.

But this girl was the same age as Hyland Drake. She was too old to be so out of touch with reality, yet too young to understand the repercussions of her words.

Hyde was resilient, a little cynical, but capable of adapting to the knowledge she was given. Old enough to understand the world around her, young enough to mold it into what she wanted.

The difference between Hyde and Tilly was their upbringings. They were so vastly different that I couldn’t hardly rationalize lumping them into the same age group.

I didn’t doubt that Tilly was mature, smart, a capable young adult… in the fae realm. The rest of the realms, though? They would chew her up and spit her out, broken and scarred, on the ground.

I kind of wanted to put Tilly in a corner and tell her to keep her nose on the wall. That was something parents did, right?

She needed a wake-up call... And if she kept pushing me, I was going to owe my dark prince a major apology. Because I was going to break her brain with all the bullshit that had been hidden from her.

This was why I didn’t want fucking children. Like ever... I would be the absolute worst parent.

A slap made me jump, jarring me out of my spiraling thoughts. Tilly held her cheek, tears shining in her eyes. Ruby was as blank as I usually was.

“You live in a fairytale world, Til. Too guarded for your own fucking good.”

“You slapped me,” the youngest sister whispered.

“I did. Someone should have done it ages ago,” Ruby growled. “You’re eighteen. Stop acting like a spoiled brat. The real world will kill you if you don’t grow the fuck up.”

“Why are you defending her?” Tilly shouted, pointing her finger at me.

I messaged my temples. “I’m curious too.”

“The Kings—her family—are the only reason Vaughn and I are alive. Sloane doesn’t deserve your bitchy accusations or your childish behavior. Stop acting like the cunt who raised you.”

Tilly hung her head, swiping at her cheeks. “They saved you?”

“I’ve been living at Samuel King’s academy, Tilly. Behind layers of wards that have protected me from the hunters Alania has sent. I left to keep you safe, because you didn’t know who she was, and you weren’t mature enough to listen,” Ruby explained.