Raised voices came from the short hallway behind us.
We spun to find Caius yelling at that cat-eyed fae.
As the drama drew the eyes of nearby fae, Soren artfully guided us through slow steps that made us drift farther away. He pulled me in, pressing his cheek to mine.
I closed my eyes.
He smelled like a blend of warm earth and cedar, reminding me of where he came from, but he led me with a confidence that made me feel safe.
Focus.I knew better than to trust that feeling anymore. Gathering my emotions, I aimed for a mask as unreadable as his and pulled back. “We should keep looking.”
“As soon as they lead him away.” Soren tipped his head in the prince's direction, and I understood. We didn’t need Caius following us.
I sighed. Though I could technically ignore him and begin searching, if I was honest, I didn’t want to look through these rooms full of strange fae alone. I’d already seen at least five or six different tunnels in just this portion of Cosmo’s burrow. I wouldn’t even know where to begin.
I peeked at Caius. He was still arguing with the fae, and others had joined them.
Soren took my hand unexpectedly and spun me out, only to pull me back in.
I landed on his solid chest.
It broke my melancholy with a shock, like falling into cold water on a hot day. It was too intimate. I needed to remind myself of the truth.
“If I’d failed earlier, you wouldn’t have brought me here?” I’d meant it as a statement, but somehow, it’d turned into a question.
Shaking his head, Soren drew his brows together, and his steps slowed. “I would’ve brought you here either way,” he admitted, turning to look at Caius but not seeming to really see him. He sighed. “I only put that in the contract to make sure you did your best lying, for both our sakes.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Brynn...” He said my name quietly, waiting until I met his eyes to continue. “I couldn’t say that if it wasn’t true.”
Shoot.
Points to Soren, I guess. If he really would’ve helped me either way, he wasn’tcompletelyawful. But that didn’t change his despicable plans for those two hundred contracts...
We turned in another circle. I had my gaze trained on his shoulder, attempting to stay aloof, when Soren unexpectedly pulled a hand away from my waist to touch my chin. He tipped it up until I met his eyes. “You seem upset.” His eyes tightened at the corners. “Possibly with me?”
I went for flippant, using his own question technique against him. “Why would you say that?”
“Because you’ve barely spoken to me or looked at me since you lied to the prince.”
I snorted. “You’re one to talk.”
He frowned. “I don’t understand.”
Seriously? He knew I’d overheard his conversation with Caius, that I knew what he wasreallydoing with the humans. Had he really not pieced together why that might make me upset? Maybe it wasn’t the most mature reaction, but I wanted him to figure it out on his own. “Why doyouthink I’m upset?”
His throat bobbed in a swallow. And then his voice turned gritty and he absolutely floored me as he said, “If my staring has overwhelmed you, I apologize. I didn’t mean to give away how I feel... It’s only that you look so beautiful.”
How he feels?
I was stunned speechless. I didn’t know whatthatmeant. I didn’t want to know. Nope. No. It didn’t matter how curious that made me. This was the fae who had fooled me into thinking he was kind and good, but he wasn’t.
“You don’t make any sense,” I muttered. I didn’t know what else to say.
His brow wrinkled. “Why do you say that?”
“You call me”—I blushed and stumbled over the word—“beautiful now, but did you forget you also called me strange?” I sure hadn’t.
