Touch (Touched by the Fae 3)

I started to move, too, because I figured clear the room was as good a sign as any that it was time to get the hell out. Another squeeze from Nine has me pausing.

Glancing up at him, he murmurs, “Wait.”

Ugh. I was hoping he wouldn’t say that.

“I’m sorry you had to witness that, Riley,” Oberon says, purposely using my name instead of my… I guess, title now that we’re on our own. “Melisandre might’ve taken it too far during her Reign of the Damned, but a little cruelty is expected among the fae. A weak king doesn’t keep his crown. I lost it once.” His voice lowers, a promise in each word as he adds, “I won’t make that mistake again.”

“Um. Okay.” What else am I supposed to say? I go with the truth. “I’m glad, but now that you’ve proven that you’re still a badass, can we go?”

I glance over at Nine, realizing that I just made a pretty big assumption there. We’re mates, fully bonded ffrindau, but I never had a plan for after defeating Melisandre since, honestly, I never thought I could. So talks of the future? Those had all been put on hold until I was sure I’d have one.

With a shrug, trying to conceal how fast my heart is racing at the fear that our plans for what comes next won’t match, I say, “I mean, if that’s what you want to do. Either way, I’ve got to go back.”

Nine slowly untangles his hand from mine, reaching into the depths of his pants. He pulls out the pebble that he’s been carrying my entire life. “So long as you trust me with this, I’ll go wherever you go, my Shadow.”

So long as I trust him with me…

I lay my hand on his elbow, forming an unbreakable tether with my Dark Fae. It’s so easy, so natural, and I know that if anyone else even comes close, the panic will come back with a vengeance, but not Nine.

Fate put us together. Not even a nasty, vicious Fae Queen could tear us apart.

Oberon doesn’t even try.

A hint of amusement crosses his face. “Leaving so soon?”

Crap. I didn’t offend him, did I?

“When the soldiers found us in my parents’ apartment, I got the leader… that Helix guy… to agree to leave them alone. Melisandre isn’t a threat anymore. I want to go back and tell Callie and Ash that we did it.”

“And you can. But, first, I’d like to reward you.”

“That’s not necessary,” cuts in Nine.

Oberon’s eyes turn dark, a quick flash before they’re back to their glassy green color. “I’ve eliminated one Unseelie this eve, Ninetroir. It would be no trouble to dispatch another.”

Translation: Don’t try me, or you’re next.

Nine bristles, his shoulders tensing under his shadowy duster, but he smartly keeps quiet.

I know what this is about. Despite everything we’ve been through—despite his promise that we’d be partners instead of him acting as my protector—Nine is still trying to guard me against the rest of Faerie. I appreciate it, but it’s a little late for that now. Ever since he broke me out of Black Pine last summer, I’ve had to be a quick study when it came to surviving the fae.

One thing I learned?

“A Light Fae told me once that it’s considered a slight to refuse a generous gift,” I say. “Whatever the reward is, if I take it, then can we go?”

“What can I offer you that’s fair enough?” muses Oberon. “If it weren’t for you performing your role as the Shadow as only you could, I’d still be trapped in the Iron, living on spite and the promise of revenge on my former consort. Ask for anything. It’s yours.”

“Well,” I begin, because, hey, if he’s offering... “a little money wouldn’t hurt.”

Nine angles his head toward me. He keeps his voice low, though we both know that Oberon is listening to every word when he begins by saying, “No offense meant, but you don’t need to ask for that. I have more than enough to spoil you for the rest of your life.”

“Yeah, in Faerie,” I remind him. In the human world, he has the clothes on his back and that’s about it—which is precisely why I brought it up. “And we can come back if you want to, but right now I’m just looking forward to a normal, no-prophecy, no-asylum life where I don’t have to look over my shoulder every two seconds. Honestly, that’s all I want.”

Money would go a long way in helping with that. I’ll have to get a job eventually, maybe something under the table since I don’t know how a background check will work in my favor considering my history, but I have my parents to help out and my Shadow Man who deserves the best that I can give him in return.

He looks down at me, his gorgeous expression made all the more irresistible in the way he smolders. “I understand. It’s a good thing that gems hold value in your world, too.” His eyes gleam. “In our world.”

There goes my heart thumping away like crazy again. To hear Nine correct himself and refer to the human world as our world? I want to throw myself into his arms and show him just how much that means to me.