Audrey’s brows pinched in confusion briefly before her lips pulled back in the corners, smiling at me, “This isn’t my bed.”
“You sure about that?” a familiar male voice asked.
No.
I widened my eyes and sat up in a panic, utterly disappointed to see a man standing at the foot of my bed.
His curly blond hair was draped over his shoulders. Oddly enough, he also had stupid pointy ears poking out of his curls. He was wearing linen pants with a…tunic? Is that what those were called? It looked like a pirate shirt, with billowy long sleeves and a deep V that had loose laces around the cut, showing off male cleavage.
His large arms were crossed over his chest, and while I caught him smirking at Audrey, he gave me a shyer smile when I sat up.
“Who areyou?” I practically growled at him before throwing a confused look at Audrey.
“Van,” Audrey lifted her palms as she addressed me. “This is Liam.”
I was already pulling my covers back before she finished speaking his name. I barely acknowledged that I was not, in fact, in Audrey’s room.
Liam’s eyes widened when I swung my legs over the end of the bed and stood, my hands in fists as I marched toward him.He threw a concerned look toward Audrey before looking down at me and my sudden approach.
“Wait—” but Liam was cut off as soon as my fist collided with his throat. Shock colored his expression as he choked, stumbling away from me. Before I could lay into him again, Audrey was there, wrapping her arms around me and holding me back.
“Oh my god! Why did you do that?” Audrey asked as she threw me back on the bed. The move startled me. I’d never been so thoroughly handled by her. She was always so gentle. So soft. And yet, her strength was undeniable. I landed on my butt on the edge of the mattress with a confusedoomph.
But she asked me a question, and it deserved an answer.
“He took you from me.” I pointed an accusing finger at Liam, and surprisingly, he looked guilty at my claim. Which probably meant that I was right.
“No, no.” Audrey shook her head and stood in my line of sight, blocking Liam with her body. “Liam hasn’t done anything wrong, Van.”
“Really?” I challenged. “Because as soon ashecame into your life, things haven’t been the same for us.”
Audrey flinched from my words and argued, “You’re right, but that’s not his fault.”
“Itclearlyis, everything was fine until you started running off with—” I cut myself off with a dramatic wave of my hand toward Liam, too upset to address him by name. I glared at his pointy ears, so annoyed that the man who encouraged Audrey to lead a male-centered life also seemed to wear fake elf ears unironically.
Staring at his ears suddenly triggered the memories of my dream.
The two men who also had pointy ears who tried to kidnap me.
The sound my ankle made when the blond man stepped on it.
“Van?” Audrey asked as she sat down beside me. The channel changed on the TV, and when I glanced up at it, it looked like a news station. A blonde woman with a microphone was talking into the camera while standing on a busy street filled with pedestrians.
Drapes and signage in a language that reminded me a lot of ancient Nordic runes were scattered on various buildings around her. People walked in the background of the shot, shopping, going about their day.
I stood from my seat on the bed, walking toward the flatscreen playing the news station. Because, as the woman was speaking, she tucked a blonde strand behind her pointed ear. I stepped closer to the TV, noticing how the pedestrians walking behind her also had pointy ears. Every single one of them. Even the kids.
At the bottom of the screen were English subtitles.
“…sources say that two unidentified sirens found their way through the Mellhawn Gates and into the human realm, before the fae prince and Hyvenmere’s favorite halfling were able to…”
I ignored the subtitles because none of that meant anything to me.
“Aud?” I asked without looking at her. The soft sound of fabric moving was the only indication I had that she stood from the bed.
“Yeah?”
“Where are we?” I asked as I walked toward the floor-to-ceiling window of the room. I studied the delicate and intricate details of the drapes that framed the window before looking outside.
