In the dark of the oubliette, I twist my promise ring and wonder if I’m making a mistake. All I wanted was protection, even if I had to sell my pride to get it. If Rys touched me, I was hoping no one else would try to.
But now that he has? I want him to do it again and again and, oh boy, I’m in fucking trouble.
So when it comes to Jim? I can’t tell him. I can’t.
How do I explain it to Rys when I can’t even explain it to myself?
That’s one good thing about spending so much time around the faerie folk. I’ve picked up a few tricks. Because it doesn’t seem right to lie to him when he’s being vulnerable around me, I don’t. But it’s easy to twist my words and tell him about my life in the human world without mentioning Jim even once.
To my surprise, he doesn’t like hearing about my life back at home. He mentions that he’s been to the Iron before and he’s not impressed, and now that I’m talking, he’s more interested in what’s happened to me during my time in Faerie. So I tell him all about it, up to and including being purchased by a Seelie noble.
Which, of course, leads me to confess what happened directly before I burned Dusk with the faerie fire. With everything that happened, I almost forgot about how I was dragged from my cell to face my old captor.
He… doesn’t like to hear about Veron.
That’s okay, Rys. Me, neither.
He goes quiet again after that, but it’s a thoughtful quiet that has me relaxing into him. Some time after my last nap, I insisted that he take his shirt back, but he only would put it on if I stayed huddled up next to him so I can continue to share his warmth. Which I do because, well, there’s something about the way his touch affects me.
Damn if it isn’t addictive.
But, of course, it has to end eventually...
It
seems like forever, but then it seems like no time at all before the light appears again. When something drops down into the hole, I’m expecting some more food, maybe another faerie vial of water. Nope. The long, thick tail of a length of rope slaps into the ground next to Rys.
He looks like he’s been expecting it.
With a gentle hand, he helps me to my feet. “Up you get, Leannán. They think you’ve suffered down here with me long enough.” Once I’m standing, Rys grabs the edge of the rope, fitting it into my hand. “Can you climb?”
“Are you kidding?”
He laughs. Have I ever heard him laugh before? I… I’m not sure—but I like the sound of it.
“Allow me.” Rys slips the rope out of my grasp before bending low. He loops it around my waist, his slender fingers working near my hip. He ties the end in a secure knot, yanking on it twice to make sure it’ll hold. He backs up. “There you go. You’re all set.”
“What about you?”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be right behind you.”
He reaches over my head, tugging on the rope. It must be a signal because, with a rough jerk that nearly leaves my stomach behind me, the rope lifts me off my feet as it starts to move. Within seconds, I’m being pulled upward and out of the oubliette.
Finally.
Rys lets me use the shower box first.
Since it’s the first time he acknowledges me since he climbed out of the oubliette on his own, I guess I should be grateful he hasn’t forgotten I existed.
Then again, I wonder if I should be insulted. He all but opens the door to the facilities and shoves me in himself. I get the hint. After all that time in the dark pit, I can only imagine what I look like.
It makes it worse that he looks as perfect as he did before they took him away. There’s not a speck of dirt on him, his white prison uniform still pristine. His hair looks like he’s fresh from the salon. I know for sure that he sat in the dirt and even wiped some on his pants, but you’d never be able to tell.
I kind of want to hate him. But I also want to invite him to take a shower with me.
I don’t, though. Mainly because I’m not sure what his reaction would be. Once the guards take us from the oubliette, Rys goes cold and distant again. I’m not so surprised, but I am a little bit hurt. After he told me about the bargain he made to keep my safe, I decided that my instincts were right. If there’s one person in Faerie that I want to hitch my wagon to, it’s my cellmate.
I thought he might’ve felt the same way. Then again, he did also admit that watching out for me has everything to do with that poor girl he killed…