“If you start walking now, you’ll be inside their walls within the hour. Tell them you escaped from me.”
I stare at him.
“You’re letting mego?”
“Yes.” One word, nothing more.
I’ve wanted this since he grabbed me in that clearing. I’ve dreamed of rescue, of escape, and leaving this nightmare behind. So why aren’t my feet moving?
“Why?”
“You’ve served your purpose. Go home. Forget this ever happened. Go back to your palace and your daydreams.”
You’ve served your purpose.The words should be a relief. He’s not going to kill me. He’s letting me go. I’m free.
“Whatpurpose?”
“Does it matter?”
“You kept me alive. You healed me. You could have dumped my body in the forest and no one would have found me. Why are you letting me go?”
“Would you rather I kill you and send your body to the Dellinstead?” The sarcasm in his tone is biting and dark.
“Of course not, but?—”
“I needed your blood to break the collar and the wards. You were useful.”
“Useful?” Why is my voice rising? “And now I’m not?”
“What were you expecting?” His head tilts, and amusement gleams in his eyes. “Gratitude? A heartfelt goodbye? Perhaps you wanted me to tell you that you’re different. That somewhere between you pointing an arrow at me and ogling me at the stream, I started to see you as more than a human female who came to kill me for sport.”
“I never said?—”
“You didn’t have to. I know that look.” His voice turns soft. “I’ve seen it a thousand times before. Human females who want to fuck the dangerous fae. Who want to believe they’re special. That they’ve tamed something wild and vicious.”
“That’s not what I?—”
“Go home,Moirthalen, before I change my mind.”
I open my mouth to … To do what? Argue about being free?
What is wrong with me?
The sound of hoofbeats reaches us, coming toward us at a rapid pace. His head snaps toward it.
“Go.” His voice is sharp. “Now.”
“Cairn—”
“Go.” Then he’s not there anymore.
I spin, searching the trees along the road, the ditch that runs on the opposite side, the shadows pooling behind the wall.Nothing. He’s gone between one breath and the next.
He didn’t say goodbye.
The thought is absurd. Hekidnappedme.Hurtme.Usedme. Why would he say goodbye … and why do I care that he didn’t?
I never got to say?—
