Touch (Touched by the Fae 3)

Get out of here? Already on it.

I immediately start to gather shadows, drawing them toward me. It’s daylight. Barely afternoon. The fae surrounding the building would have to be Light Fae. If I shade-walk out of here, if I bring my family with me, we can escape Melisandre’s soldiers before they can find us.

I’m not ready. I don’t know if I ever will be, but I sure as hell know I’m not ready yet.

Callie turns away from Ash, her big blue eyes widening when she sees what I’m doing.

“No shadow travel. We can’t. Ash… he’s still a Light Fae. He’s still Seelie.”

Shit.

I let the shadows scatter. How could I have forgotten?

Callie could go. Nine, despite losing some of his luster while living in the human world, is a Dark Fae. The shadows are like a second skin for him. But Ash… the trip from Faerie over nearly killed an immortal fae. There’s no way I can whisk him away with the rest of us.

“Okay. No shadow travel. But what can we do?”

Releasing Callie from his hold, he points toward the front door. “Go out in the hall,” Ash says. “Get in the elevator. It’s your only choice.”

The elevator? That kind of makes sense. Callie told me how it was purposely reinforced with iron on all four sides, including the opening. It wasn’t possible to line the entire building, but Ash is right. The elevator is our only hope if we want to get out of here without a confrontation.

Hey. It worked before, right?

Taking the elevator… that was the exact same escape plan my mother had when the Fae Queen’s soldiers tracked down my parents more than twenty years ago. While Ash stayed back to confront the soldiers, he sent Callie—and baby Riley—into the elevator. None of the fae invaders would have dared to take the mechanical contraption. Not only would the iron drain them, but a fae fresh out of Faerie would be full of far too much magic. Even if they tried to weather the iron, their power would short the electricity and trap them in the metal box.

They would take the stairs. Ash seems sure of it, and I’m betting he’s right.

Our apartment is so close to the top. They would have a long-ass climb ahead of them—but we still don’t have much time to get out of here before the soldiers find us.

I’ve been in the elevator before. A bunch of times already, actually. It’ll be a squeeze, but the four of us could fit.

“Okay. Come on. Let’s go.”

Ash looks over my head now, purposefully meeting Nine’s gaze. “Who has the pebble? You or my daughter?”

Nine slips his hands into his pocket, pulling a fist out. Unfolding his fingers, he reveals the pebble nestled in his palm.

Relief passes over Ash’s sculpted features.

“Protect her, Ninetroir.”

“Melisandre will have to do more than turn me to stone to get her hands on my Shadow,” vows Nine.

“What about you?” I ask Ash.

He sets his jaw. “They came after me before. I survived them once. I can do it again.”

Callie turns in his arms, gripping him by the upper bicep. “And, this time, you’ll have me.”

“Callie—”

“Ash.” She squeezes him, shaking her head frantically, the white-blonde mane swishing back and forth. “She has her mate. Don’t send me away from mine.”

Oh, she’s good. Even before Ash nods, I know that my mom is going to get her way. Besides, there’s no time left to argue. We have to go.

Now.

I’m not thinking clearly. My fight or flight reflex is already kicking in at just the thought that the Fae Queen’s soldiers are somewhere nearby. They can’t pop into our apartment, thanks to the wards and the crapton of iron built into this place, but Ash is right. They’ll take the stairs if they have to, and they’ll be fucking quick about it.