Touch (Touched by the Fae 3)

Why won’t he wake up?

I remind myself that the same thing happened with Ash. Because of the shadow travel, he was too weak to wake up as soon as Callie did. It’s still light out. The clock reads that it’s after six o’clock. Thanks to daylight saving time, I’ve got a couple of more hours before the sun goes down and, hopefully, the moonlight revives him.

Luckily, I don’t have to wait that long.

A few minutes past seven, Nine’s otherworldly silve

r eyes spring open. Like with Ash, he goes from entirely out of commission to running on all cylinders in seconds. It must be a fae thing. He’ll never show any weakness so, even though he probably has no idea where he is or what’s going on, he immediately adopts an expression of disdain mixed with utter lack of interest.

And then his gaze lands on me and everything changes.

He goes from lying on his back to crouching on his knees in front of me in a heartbeat. His actions are so fast, so fluid, that I totally wasn't expecting it. I shriek, suddenly falling, only to be saved by his hand

Nine lets go of me the instant that I’m steady again.

Resting on his heels, an unnamed emotion tugging at his lips, my Shadow Man only has eyes for me as he stares. His pointed ears twitch, his slender fingers digging into the hardwood floor as if he’s itching to reach for me again, but won’t let himself give in to the impulse.

“Riley…” His voice is just the same as I remember. Lyrical. Beautiful. But there’s also that harsh edge that’s undeniably Nine, and the barely constrained disappointment that I did something wrong. “What did you do to me?”

Not the greeting I expected. “What do you mean, what did I do? I saved you.”

“I’m in the Iron.” It’s not a question. Throwing a searching look at me, Nine straightens, his signature duster barely wafting behind him as he rips his gaze away from my annoyed scowl before heading straight for the window at the other end of the living room.

The blinds are drawn. He jerks them open, cracking the two slats he yanked, letting the last of the daylight stream in.

He’s not a vampire, but I’ve seen him get caught in a stray sunbeam before. It’s like when he grabbed me without my permission. It burns him. Sure, he heals almost immediately, but as he shoves his pale hand in the sunlight, nothing seems to happen.

I gulp, my scowl fading into an openly worried expression.

Uh-oh.

Nine steps back. He marvels at his hand, twisting it back and forth, showing off his skin. There’s a mild streak of red, almost like sunburn, but it’s nothing compared to the fire that used to scorch his flesh.

“How long has it been?”

I… I don’t know.

“Tell me.”

“A while,” I confess. “I lost track. But it’s been a while.”

“It’s been too long. I have to go back. As soon as night falls, I have to take a portal back to Faerie. It’s the only thing I can do.”

From off to my left, I hear a click as a door closes. I search the room.

Ash and Callie are gone.

She probably dragged him out of the room so that I could have some privacy with Nine. I appreciate it at the same time as I wish they would’ve stayed behind me to offer me moral support.

Spinning back, I cringe when I see the dark look in Nine’s normally silver eyes. His black eyebrows are a pair of slashes in his astonishingly beautiful face, a terrible expression that only highlights how incredible he is.

This is not what I was expecting out of our reunion. To Nine, he’s only been gone for seconds. But to me? I’ve spent weeks worried about him, pushing myself farther than I ever had because I had one goal: to bring Nine back.

I spent days in a glorified closet. I remember every fucking second of what it was like to be trapped in that room, forced to talk to Gillespie, terrified that I’d never see Nine or my parents again.

I touched that creepy bastard.

And Nine has the balls to look at me like I’ve done something wrong.