"He's not our lord," he hissed.
Evidently, I’d hit a sore point. Good to know.
Callie and Don shared a glance.
Travis took a deep breath, his anger draining away as he brushed his hair back. "Your father is a coward who fled his responsibilities."
This time when he smiled at me, he reminded me of a shark. "But that's alright. He finally did something right. He gave us you."
My eyes narrowed. And now we were getting to the important part of the matter.
Travis stopped in front of me. "You're going to find that crown for us."
"No."
He had another thing coming if he thought I was going to do anything after all this. He and the rest of them could rot.
"You don't believe us," Astrid said, a mystified look on her face.
It didn't matter if I believed them or not. I didn't trust any of them. Call me crazy, but I had a policy of not bowing to the demands of people who kidnapped me.
"There's a chance she's not who we think she is.” Owen scratched his chin. "We've made that mistake with other magic breakers. None of them survived."
Astrid looked up at him. "We could always shove her through the veil to see. Whether she survives or doesn't, we'll learn something either way."
"We're not doing that," Callie argued.
Astrid frowned at her. "I think it's a fine plan."
"Aileen," Travis started, with barely concealed impatience.
"I trusted you," I burst out, the feelings I'd stamped down suddenly unable to be denied. "You were my colleague, my friend. I respected you. Now you think I'm going to do anything for you? I wouldn't even push you out of the way of a bus."
I had a scorched earth policy for something like this.
Any friendship we once had was dead. I didn't even think he cared one way or another. All he cared about was how he could use me then discard me.
That thread of deceit I kept sensing? I was pretty sure it came from him.
I doubted even his fellow Scattered realized how far he was willing to go to get that crown.
That told me one thing; he wanted it for himself. I was willing to bet he planned to kill to ensure it.
I'd listened to him once. Never again.
When he'd told me to stay away from vampires, I'd done it. I'd risked my life, lived with hardship. Nearly died more than once. That was to say nothing about the loneliness that stalked my nights and days. The times when I thought I would have been better off if I'd died in that dumpster.
He could pack sand. I wasn't doing anything for him.
"That was your first mistake," Owen said. "Never trust a Fae."
I didn't hide my scorn when I focused on him. "How fucking sad is that?"
There wasn't anything worse than facing this world alone, unable to trust those you considered friend. I'd done that. I never wanted to go back to those days.
If that's what they all wanted, I pitied them. I truly did.
Owen started to argue, then hesitated. A thoughtful look crossed his face. He shut his mouth and nodded as if agreeing with whatever thought he'd had.
