Touch (Touched by the Fae 3)

This just got a whole lot more complicated.

“Go on,” he says. “Touch it. You’ll see that I’m telling the truth.”

He doesn’t have to tell me twice. If he thinks I’m about to just take his word for it, he’s got another think coming. I was going to do it anyway, even though my special talent at being a human lie detector is telling me that he is actually being completely honest right now.

I step closer, lifting my hand to the space between the doorjamb. So. Yeah. There’s definitely a resistance. A barrier.

Dropping to my knee, I reach for the edge of the circle. It’s even more difficult. I push.

The instant my finger comes into contact with the mix, it begins to sizzle against the leather of my glove.

I yank my hand back.

“Told you, Riley. Perfect place to keep an errant halfling who just doesn’t know how to stay put.”

He keeps saying halfling like he freaking knows. That can’t be possible. I didn’t know until I was long gone from Black Pine. My hair is braided to cover the tips of my ears. No way he should know.

“What do you mean, halfling?” I say, bluffing.

“Part human. Part fae. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I know what you are and now? I’ve got you right where I want you.”

Maybe I should’ve been expecting it. This room is obviously set up to be a prison just like the fairy jail he mentioned and, based on him having the necklace already, my old psychologist already knew more about the fae than even I did.

Then again, how the hell was I supposed to guess that Dr. Gillespie was going to trap me in a secret room if I ever dared to go back to the asylum?

This is crazy. It isn’t lost on me that this is happening in a glorified psych hospital, either, but this is nuts. He can’t do this.

“Let me out. You can’t hold me like this.”

“You’ve let the wrong people whisper in your ear for too long, Riley. Not only did they trick you into believing that the fae aren’t real, but you don’t know the rules, do you?”

“Rules?” I burst out. “What rules? ‘Cause I’m pretty sure there’s a rule against shoving someone in a closet and trapping them with magic salt.”

“In the human world, maybe. When it comes to someone from Faerie staking their—”

Their what?

Dr. Gillespie stops talking. At first, I don’t know why, then I realize that two familiar voices are having a carefree conversation right outside of his office. It’s muffled, due to the closed door, and I might not be able to understand exactly what they’re saying, but I know who’s out there.

Amy and Frankie.

I open my mouth to scream. I don’t even care if I get in trouble over escaping the asylum all those months ago. The techs will help me get away from Dr. Gillespie. I’m almost positive.

I take a deep breath—

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. This is between you and me. They couldn’t stop what I have planned even if they tried.”

I don’t want them to stop him. I just need a distraction.

“Worthless humans,” sneers the doctor. “Not a drop of Faerie in either of them, not even a touch. You don’t want to involve them.”

Just because they’re human, it doesn’t make them worthless, I think to myself. However, before I can come up with a retort, I must’ve given away my opinion on my face because Dr. Gillespie’s whole demeanor changes.

“Ah,” he remarks, a gleam in his big, blue eyes. “Worthless to me, but maybe not so much to you.”

I never see where he pulled it from. One second, his hands are empty. The next? He’s holding a switchblade that glimmers in the fluorescent bulbs. It’s gotta be at least six inches long. Pristine steel. A real sticker

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