14
With Helix waiting for us downstairs, there’s no time. I wish I could have a shower, know that I can’t, and quickly trade my nightgown for my trusty tank and jeans as Rys looms in the doorway, watching me change.
I expected him to wait with the captain. Nope. As soon as I broke for the stairs, he followed right behind me. I try to ignore him, even as his golden gaze seems to drink in my every movement.
I have half a mind to kick him out but I don’t bother. Not only because I’m sure he’d take it as a suggestion instead of an order, then completely disregard it, but because he’s already seen everything I have to offer.
Oh, well.
Besides, I’m so stinking pissed. Not only am I being pushed into doing something I don’t want to, but he’s still noticeably angry with me. Which is why my immediate reaction is to be defensive when he tells me, “You shouldn’t have to go before Oberon.”
“Why?” I snap back. “Embarrassed to have a human tagging along on your important mission to talk to the king of Faerie?”
Rys sighs. “Leannán… you know that’s not true.”
Do I? “Why does it matter anyway? You heard the captain. It’s either go see Oberon or end up locked in prison with Dusk again. He’s boxed me in, Rys. I give up. Helix wins this round.”
“Of course he does. He’s fae.”
“Yeah. Thanks for that,” I grumble. “Really makes me feel better about this whole shitshow.”
“It should. This… it’s not your fault. He doesn’t have the time to charm you into doing what he wants, and if there’s one thing that Helix is, it’s efficient.” Rys scoffs. “He can take one look at you and know exactly what he has to do to get the reaction he wants. Make no mistake. He means every word of his threats. If you don’t do as he says, he’ll drag you to Samradh himself. But that’s not what he wants.”
“Okay. I’ll bite. Then what does he want?”
Rys leans up against the doorjamb, arms folded over his chest. Some of his anger finally fades as he looks thoughtful. “I’m not so sure. Bringing us to Oberon’s Court, obviously. If the Summer King wants an audience, he’ll use Helix to get it. Just like Helix will use your fear of Dusk to get you to come along nicely.”
I don’t even bother denying that. We both know that my experience with Dusk left me scarred in ways I don’t like to think about.
“He didn’t even give me a chance to say yes or no before he started with the threats,” I mutter, yanking on my right boot. I quickly tie up the laces. “You told him no for me.”
“I had to. You don’t know what you’re about to walk into.”
“Yeah?” I grab my other boot, letting it hang from my hand as I glance over at Rys. “You’re right. I don’t. But the thing is, you obviously do and you were jumping at the chance to go see the king. You were pretty happy to leave me behind.”
“Happy’s not the word I would use.”
“Then what is?”
“Trapped.”
What? I stare at him.
“Put your boot on,” he says softly. “And don’t forget your jacket. It’s warm in the Court, but you’ll feel better if you have it.”
He’s not wrong. Quickly, I jam my foot in the left boot, tie it, then grab for the jacket I left folded on top of the bed. As I shrug it on, I have to ask, “Trapped? What do you mean, trapped?”
“I told you, Leannán. Us fae will stop at nothing to get what we want. Some like Helix rely on threats, but it’s never as simple as it seems. He knows you don’t want to be imprisoned again. But, more than that, he knows that I will do anything to keep that from happening.”
“But… but I’m not your ffrindau.”
“No. You’re not.” And he actually sounds pained when he admits that. It’s so different than the convincingly determined way he said the same thing to Helix, and it hurts me in a whole other way to hear the ache in his lovely, lilting voice. “And that’s my burden to bear.”
“Rys—”
“Come. Helix is waiting.”
He is. And the last thing I need to do is piss off the captain and have him decide that I still deserve to pay for what happened to Dusk. But, before I follow Rys out of the room, I blurt out, “I just have a question.”