“Wait.”
“Is there something else?” she asks.
“Where am I?”
Zaria’s eyes widen in alarm. “You don’t know where you are?”
“Well no . . . I don’t know how I got here, and I’m sure my friends are worried. You see, I was hiking with them and then I met this fairy. And she was supposed to be helping me, but she disappeared, and then I was hunted and chased through the forest by–”
Zaria steps toward me, raising her hand to stop my rambling.
“You’re from the human realm?” she inquires, confusion creasing her features.
I nod and squint my eyes when I notice her hair moving. Shaking my head, I refocus. I must be losing my mind. “Do you know how I can get back?”
Zaria chews her bottom lip. “The gates have been closed. You shouldn’t have been able to come through.”
My spirits drop, and my heart falls to my stomach. “What? What do you mean?”
“Look, I will let the prince explain everything to you in more detail. Just, for now, get cleaned up and rested. I’m sure you’re tired.”
Prince?
“Wait. One more question. Why are your eyes different from the men?”
Zaria’s eyebrow arches, and I hear the sound of my knuckles cracking as I twist my fingers together in unease.
“You mean the fae men you’ve met?”
“I don’t know, but the ones in the woods and Maxon all had different shades of purple eyes.”
“High fae possess purple eyes. The depth of color reflects their power. The darker the purple, the more power.”
“What about Maxon? He has a silver ring around his?”
Zaria’s eyes flare wide in surprise. “The silver ring means royalty.”
My heart skips a beat and I jerk forward a step. “Royalty?”
“Yes, and you should not call him Maxon,” she replies sternly.
I’m getting on her nerves, I can tell, but I have to ask. “And you?”
She lets out a deep sigh and slowly raises her shoulders in a shrug. “My eyes are brown because I am a shifter.”
“A what?” My mind goes to all the romance books Scarlett had me read, and I can’t imagine that any of them are real. “A shifter?”
“Yes, now, was that all? You should really get some rest.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask what type of shifter, but I bite down on my lip. My shoulders slump in defeat, and I slowly nod in resignation. I watch as she quickly and quietly slips from the room. I grab the pile of clothes from the bed and sigh in relief at the brown pants and white shirt.
I shimmy out of my dirty clothing, leaving only my bra and panties on. The pants are way too big, so I cinch them with the drawstring at my waist and roll up the hems. The shirt is an old fashioned tunic with long sleeves, the fabric soft and comforting against my skin. It falls to my mid-thigh, so I twist it in a knot, tying it at the front.
Slowly, I walk back to the couch, feeling the warmth of the cushions beneath me as I snuggle in and close my eyes. With a full stomach and the comforting pleasure of clean clothes, my mood is significantly improved. As I begin to slip into slumber, a tranquil sensation washes over me, causing my body to unwind and a gentle heat to flow through my limbs. I utter a soft, satisfied hum. Despite finding myself in an unfamiliar realm, devoid of any familiar faces, there is an inexplicable sense of recognition. As ifthe very atmosphere embraces me, enfolding me in the delicate fragrance of nature.
Chapter seven
Everly
