Page 16 of Broken

Was it really true that if she were a shifter, they would take her in? That they would accept her as one of their own?

The thought made her shiver. Giving in to the darkness, the hunt, the killer instinct. That wasn’t who she was. She was Bright Fae, no matter what anyone said, and she revered life. Not death.

Cole was still watching her. She felt like he could see into her soul, even though his was opaque. It felt oddly invasive, and yet somehow she wanted him to see her.

She said, “You don’t understand. I’m Bright Fae. We’re creatures of the light, with life magic. Shifters are creatures of the Dark Fae. Predators. Killers. Creatures of death.”

She thought that would make him angry, but he just gave a little shrug, like it was no big deal. “Well, yeah,” he said. “Most of us are predators. But not all. I mean, there’s panda shifters. They mostly eat bamboo shoots, and don’t really want to get off the couch and run fast enough to kill anything. And, one of my best friends is a rabbit shifter.”

Despite herself, Ireland was fascinated. “A rabbit shifter? No way!” Bunnies were cute and not evil, right?

He mimicked her tone, but gently. “Yes, way. Although we do call her Murder Bunny.” Well, there went that theory. “She’s pretty fierce.”

Ireland couldn’t wrap her head around any of this. “I don’t understand,” she said, more to herself than him. “The bracelet is supposed to keep me from shifting. Among other things.”

He reached out and touched the bracelet, his fingertips brushing her bare arm. It sent a shiver all the way through her. “Tell me about this.”

She supposed he had the right to know, since he’d rescued her and all. Ireland turned around and leaned against the headboard, tucking a pillow behind her back.

She began, “I don’t know how much you know about Fae…”

“Pretend I know nothing.”

“Okay. There are two kinds of Fae. Bright Fae and Dark Fae. Their natures are opposite. Bright Fae are born of sunrise and daylight. We champion life, growth. Dark Fae are born of night. They hunt in the darkness, and they bring death.”

He contemplated that for a moment. “They can’t just go around randomly killing everything. There’d be nothing left.”

She’d never actually thought about it that way. She’d never wanted to think about Dark Fae at all. “No,” she admitted. “But they’re the source of evil. Vampires grew from Dark Fae. Other dark creatures. Their rituals involve blood and sacrifice. Of others, not themselves.”

Cole didn’t seem upset by any of this, just… considering. “And you’re Bright Fae—and half-shifter. How’d that go over?”

It hadn’t taken him long to get to the crux of the whole thing. She looked away. “I am Outcast,” she said. “My power bound, only to be used with a Bright Fae Protector.” She held up the bracelet, feeling its weight.

“Let me get this straight,” Cole said. “That bracelet Riker had. You can only use your powers when someone else is wearing that? Like, a Fae babysitter?” He shook his head. “That’s not right. Riker was human. And if he was Fae, it would be a dark one. About as dark as they come.”

That wasn’t the Riker she knew. But she didn’t want to talk about him right now. The memory of his death was still too raw.

Instead, she went on with her explanation. “When I came into my powers, the Bright Fae Council was concerned about the darkness in my spirit represented by the wolf side of me. So they had a meeting, and decided that their only course of action to keep me from going off the rails and turning dark was to bind my powers. They couldn’t take them away entirely, because I’d die. Like I said, the Bright Fae revere life.”

Cole said dryly, “I see. Like, for instance, those Retrievers that killed Riker? And tried to kill me?”

Ireland had never thought about that either. She knew Bright Fae loved life—it was the one incontrovertible fact she’d always known.

“I broke the law,” she said. “I ran away, with Riker. They were within their rights to get me back.”

Cole gave a little snort, but didn’t argue the point.

Instead he asked, “So how do those bracelets work?”

“They make a magical connection between the wearers,” she explained. “The Protectors looked after me, and guided my magic. They could use some of my powers, and regulate what magic I was able to use. So I couldn’t hurt anyone.”

Cole looked incredulous. “Did you ever try? To hurt anyone, I mean.”

“Of course not,” Ireland said. “Only, what if someday the dark wolf took over my power, and made me do bad things?” That’s what they’d always told her would happen. And now that the wolf had come out…

Cole made a disgusted sound. “Usually shifter animals only do bad things when they’ve been locked up inside a person too long, or when they’ve been traumatized. Same as most other creatures.”

“That’s—” she stopped.