Freed (Imprisoned by the Fae 3)

“So you know about that?”

“He didn’t tell me, but… it wasn’t hard to guess.”

Riley accepts that answer. Good. Now that I know she can ping me for lying, I’ve got to be a little more careful in what I say.

“He was wrong. Obviously. But, before he finally figured it out, he killed my sister.” When I don’t react, she lets out a dark, unamused chuckle. “Let me guess. He told you that, too.”

“Um. Yeah.”

“He’s fae. I never wanted to believe they were real, even if I had Nine on my ass telling me all about them. But because I spent so long pretending they weren’t after me because of a stupid prophecy, I fell into a trap. He wanted me to go to Faerie with him. I said no. He thought my sister was holding me back and, like any fae, he removed the obstacle, then lost his temper when I still said ‘fuck you’. He burnt the house down with his faerie fire.” She looks down at her hands, eyes marveling at the leather. “I hated him for a long time, but eventually I realized he was fae. He can’t help what he is any more than we can.

“I felt bad when I found out he was in prison. I asked Oberon to let him out, but he told me that it was impossible. I mean, obviously, you guys found a way around that, and I’m glad. I’ve got Nine. I’d say that you’d be good for Rys but… well, then I realized there was a Jim.”

I was wondering when Riley was going to get around to that.

“He wasn’t lying when he said he was your boyfriend, so he definitely believes that. What about you, Elle? What’s going on?”

I shrug. “I wish I knew.” And that’s the fucking truth. “Right now, I just want to start this whole thing over. We’re supposed to be finding the Winter Queen for Oberon. And unless this missing queen is in lockdown with Jim, this is a big complication we don’t need.”

“They’ll get him back,” Riley says, so confident that I’m really hoping she knows something I don’t. “I heard Rys. He’ll do it for you, and I know Nine. The two of them barely get along, but… let’s just say, I’ve seen the two of ‘em partner up before. It usually ends up working out.”

Yeah?

Fingers crossed.

10

I can’t stop thinking about Rys.

It dawns on me after our earlier conversation kind of just dies down that, while Riley seemed a little iffy when it came to Rys calling me Leannán, somehow she never got around to explaining why.

So I ask her, and after a moment’s pause, she explains that, in the fae language, Leannán basically means “fairy lover”, but there’s more to it than that. The Leannán sidhe are a sect of fae who take a human lover.

Just like Rys did.

Only… he was calling me that way before I ever thought about letting him touch me. And way before the first time we had sex. So what’s that about?

Of course, once she tells me that little tidbit, it’s all I can think about.

He loves me. Whether that means anything for our future together, I never really doubted that. And, regardless of what happens next, right now so does Jim.

They need me, too. Both of them.

I look at Riley. She’s sitting on the ground now, pulling her shadowy cloak close, munching on some crackers that she pulled out of a shadow pocket; like Nine, she can use them at will. Me? I already ate one of my apples, not because I’m the least bit hungry, but because I don’t want to risk getting sick if I wait too long.

Once she’s done, she wipes her hands on her pants to knock off the crumbs. She reaches into the pocket again, grabbing a jar full of crystal clear water. She offers me a sip—I shake my head—before downing all of it.

“Jeez. I didn’t realize how thirsty those crackers would make me. Good thing that this Faerie water is amazing.”

I look at the empty jar in her hand. “Are you allowed to drink it?”

“Yup. The water doesn’t affect humans. It’s not like the food, where you can end up starving to death if you don’t get enough.”

She says that last part so bitterly that I know there’s a story behind it. Considering I’m already addicted to faerie food and I get sick if I miss one day’s worth, I don’t want to know. I can’t imagine going more than one day—the cramps are that awful—but to starve to death you’d have to go without for way longer than that.

I shudder.

“You okay?” Riley asks.