“No. Perhaps not. But you’re wrong when you say that the Unseelie doesn’t have cause to go after the human.”
“Helix—”
He ignores Rys, coolly watching me with eyes that are blazing. The captain’s not as unaffected as he wants us to think. “Do you want to be imprisoned again?”
What? Clutching at Rys’s arm, probably taking a chunk out of his flesh with my nervous fingers, I remind him, “You said—”
“I said I wouldn’t send you back to Siúcra. And I won’t. But Siúcra is by no means the only prison in Faerie.”
And there it is. The tricky fae bullshit that you’d think I would’ve learned by now to expect.
“Oh, no,” I whisper.
Helix breathes in deep, a scowl twisting his features for a heartbeat before he composes himself. Yeah, well, he has no one to blame but himself for that burst of sudden fear screaming out of my pores.
Another sigh, and then, “Dusk could very easily use your slight against him as cause to see you imprisoned again. After the… incident… I sent him to Samradh once he recovered. Perhaps he’ll find a cell for you there.”
“Helix,” snaps Rys, “you go too far.”
“I do what I must.”
Using his hand, wielding it like it was a sharp blade, Helix makes four quick slashes in the air in front of him. I know what he’s doing. As soon as the small rectangle begins to g
low, he shoves his hand inside of the portal he just created. When he pulls it back, he’s clutching a wooden box that is way too familiar.
He flips the lid. I don’t have to look inside to know what I’ll find nestled there.
“I have the irons right here. It’s your choice.”
The last time he had that box, the last time he gave me a choice, I chose prison. It was either that or be Veron’s willing pet, and I had been so cocky, so sure that I’d find a way to break out of the ridiculous fairy jail. It didn’t seem so serious then.
Now?
Now I know better.
Choice, he said.
“I don’t want to go back to jail,” I say honestly. “What’s my other option?”
“Join Rys and me when we travel to Court. Do that and I’ll keep you out of Samradh unless my king says otherwise.”
I think that’s the best offer I can expect. “Okay. I’ll go with you.”
Helix closes the lid on the wooden box. He shoves it back into the portal, waving it out of existence. “I thought you might.”
At my side, Rys makes a frustrated noise in the back of his throat, his chest heaving as if he wants to lunge toward the Seelie captain and only my hand still digging into his forearm is holding him back.
That’s a good thing. I might’ve just dodged another trip to fairy jail by giving in to Helix’s demands. If Rys ignores Oberon’s summons—or, more likely at this moment, tosses Helix out of this house—he might end up in Samradh in my place.
I can’t let that happen.
I loosen my death grip on Rys’s arm, running my fingers along the spot where my fingernails gouged him while still keeping my attention on the biggest threat in the room.
“When do we leave?” I ask Helix.
“As soon as the two of you are ready.” Helix’s focus is back on my hand, watching as I stroke Rys’s skin. He frowns. “I’ll allow you a few moments to get presentable. Remember. You’re going before the king.”
As if I’ve already managed to forget that.