His gaze flew from our hands to my eyes.
Yanking my hand back, I hid it under the table.
He drew back slower. “That’s... an intriguing way to seal a deal.” He flexed his hand slightly. “Well, then.” Clearing his throat, he sounded almost flustered. “That’s all well and good, but the fae use contracts.”
“Contra—” I cut off when he used the sharp end of his pen to make a small cut on his arm. “What’re you doing?”
“Fae magic is in our blood,” he replied, as if that explained everything. He tilted the pen so that the blood flowed into it and to the other end, the side with the writing nib. Picking up the sheet of paper with the terms he’d written down earlier, he signed his name in delicate red lines and curls. After blowing on it gently, he slid the page toward me. “Careful not to smudge it.”
Against my better judgment, I accepted the page.
Taking my time, I mentally checked each item I’d asked for to make sure he hadn’t left anything out.
He didn’t rush me.
Not that I’d have let him.
When I finally nodded and looked up, he held out the pen with the ink made of blood. “Prick your finger. It will pull a bit of your blood inside. Then sign your name beside mine to seal the deal.”
My eyes widened.
It suddenly made sense why the pen that Dad, Rissa, and Olive had used kept cutting them. Those fae had snuck their blood into the signatures without their permission.
I took the tool cautiously.
His fingers brushed mine, making me shiver. It was because he was fae, not because he was attractive. I refused to admire anything about the fae when his kind were the ones heartlessly keeping my family from me.
Twisting the pen, I hissed when it pricked my finger, like he’d said it would.
My hand hovered over the paper.
This could be my ruin.
Or it could be the way I saved my family.
I had no way to know for sure until the decision was already made.
Resting my hand carefully on the dry parts of the paper, I signed my full name beneath his.
Brynn Donovan.
When Soren shifted to take the pen, I flinched, expecting some kind of fae magic to sweep over me—or, at the very least, a tingling or similar sensation to signal a magical exchange. When nothing did, I flushed and let him take it and the paper as well.
I thought of Dad and the way he’d acted out until they’d touched the contract. Maybe the magic didn’t take effect unless provoked.
“What would happen if someone ripped the paper?” I asked, unable to help my curiosity.
“Nothing,” Soren replied, setting it inside the cabinet to finish drying. “It takes quite a bit more than that to end a contract.”
Vague. I thought of my family and tried again. “What would happen if you burned it?”
“Nothing,” he repeated, shutting the cabinet door with a click.
I snapped my mouth shut, stopping myself before asking what happened if the blood smeared or a dozen other questions that came to mind. He didn’t seem to be in a secret-telling mood.
“We made a deal.” I kept the scowl on my face to hide my fears. “Tell me now. Everything.”
He nodded. “Come, let’s sit where it’s more comfortable.”
