“Are they home?” I asked Mara. She’d taken Indra and the Winter Fae to Earth or whatever earlier.
Mara nodded. “I just dropped them off. Open that door and you will be in their study. But I must warn you—”
I held up my hand. “Don’t.” Standing, I looked back at Liam and Elle. “Come on.”
Liam looked back at Mara, who shook her head, no, and he frowned.
With a sigh, I opened the door wide and peered inside the office. “Elders!” I glanced around.
The sound of flapping wings, and then a blur of orange, flashed before me as Indra came into view. She was smiling, but the second she looked behind me, she growled. Reaching into her waist belt, she pulled her sword, which glowed with fire
Whoa.
“Step no further!” she roared and the books on the library shelves rattled.
I steeled myself, putting my hands out. “Wait. He saved my life. You can trust him.”
Indra held her sword high, orange flames licking along the side of it.
“Trust?” She glared at me as the other elders shuffled into the room with alarm on their faces.
I stepped out into the office, holding my injured arm, suddenly very angry. “Yes! Trust.” I held up my bloody arm. “He just saved my life and now we both need healers. He is a welcome guest of mine in Faerie!”
Indra stepped closer to me, bringing the heat of her sword with her. “Never. Ever. Speak such words again. He’s magicked you. Tricked you to get into our inner circle. How stupid can you be?”
For the slightest second, I had a fear that she could be right. Just beyond her was the Tree of Life and seven healthy crystals sat at its base. But then I remembered one very important thing.
“No.” As if my mere thoughts had brought it up, the blue light began to pulse from my chest and all four elders stepped back, mouths agape. I peered over my shoulder to see that Liam’s chest was emitting the same blue light.
“We’re soulmates,” I said boldly, and then quickly turned around so I wouldn’t see Liam’s reaction. I didn’t want to know if the news devastated him.
Indra laughed. “Soulmates? With a halfling? Don’t be stupid, Lily. Your mother raised you better than this. He’s a master of illusion. A demon. Dark magic flows through his veins. This…” She gestured to my chest. “Is illusion.”
Her mention of my mother made me snap. I burst forward and kicked the sword from her grip. It clattered to the library floor, snuffing the flame out as she looked at me in shock. “Don’t ever mention my mother again! You didn’t deserve her, and you don’t deserve me!”
I don’t know what had come over me, but I think I’d reached the anger stage of grief.
“My mother gave her whole life to you and Faerie. And Iwilldo the same. All I ask is for a fucking healer and some kindness to someone who saved my life.”
My chest heaved as tears lined my eyes. Whatever grand illusion I’d had about the elders being bubbly and kindhearted was fucking shattered. They just wanted their crystals … but was that fair? I didn’t know anymore.
Indra sighed, eyeing Liam warily and then my bleeding arm. “I’ll approve a healer, but he must return to Earth at once. You may wait inside Mara’s and I’ll send for Kira.”
Approve? So now I had to ask permission?
“Fine,” I said through gritted teeth and spun on my heel. When I looked up at Liam and the pure shock on his face, I knew the soulmate comment had completely thrown him.
Oops.
As I stepped inside and closed the door behind me, his gaze shifted to the Tree of Life and the crystals at its base. Pure desire flashed there, and I wondered if Indra were right. Had he tricked me to get inside Faerie?No. I couldn’t believe that. My mind was screaming one thing and my heart another.
We waited in an awkward silence in Mara’s office. I’d sent Elle to check on her mother and rest up at home while I thought of the next plan for us. Mara flipped through an outdated magazine while casting glances between Liam and I. We were both dripping blood onto the carpet, and worse for wear.
“I can just go to a hospital you know,” Liam groaned.
I scoffed. “And take weeks to heal? No way. The king will find you and kill you while you’re down.”
He shrugged. “Probably right.”
