Page 21 of Endless Terrors
Daydreams about hot cups of coffee started to go through my mind. As I crossed the lot, I finally checked the time. It would be another day of driving, and today we’d go even farther. I had no idea if distance would improve my chances of evading Collith and Laurie, but it certainly couldn’t hurt.
Just as I reached the car, I pressed my hand against the door and closed my eyes. More running. Would it ever end, or was this my life now? Even my time as the Unseelie Queen had been better.
I took a breath, let it out, and straightened.
“Where are you off to this time?”
I jumped and spun, my spine hitting the car. Laurie stood a short distance away, wearing that courtly, polite expression I was starting to hate. Damn faeries and their silent feet. “I’m going to punch you in the throat,” I breathed, relaxing.
“Hard?” He sounded hopeful. I shook my head at him, but the corners of my mouth deepened. Laurie watched me with a faint, crooked smile. His voice softened as he said, “Admit it. You’ve missed me.”
In an instant, it felt like the temperature changed or the air had shifted. I shoved my hands in my coat pockets and forced myself to meet Laurie’s gaze. In the harsh lighting, with bits of snow drifting across his face, he looked like one of those pretty princes in a fairy tale. “I do,” I admitted.
His full lips turned downward. It wasn’t quite a frown. Hurt, I thought. But his voice was detached as he asked, “Then why leave without a single word? Do we truly mean so little to you?”
“Of course not.” I started to move toward him, then thought better of it. My hands were fists in my pockets. I longed to confess everything. Confide anything. I lowered my eyes, thinking of the last time I’d been vulnerable around Laurie. The conversation that had haunted me for months. “Do you remember what you said to me on that hilltop? The day you took me to see the horses?”
Please. Don’t do this.
Do what?
Make me fall in love with you.
“I haven’t forgotten a thing,” Laurie answered. The way he said it made my core tighten. I knew if I looked at him, I would be a fucking goner. But I’d already done this math, and we were an equation that didn’t work. Laurie had also done it—it was why he’d left. He had made a choice, too.
Suddenly a spark of anger brightened inside me. Laurie wasn’t the only one with questions. I felt my brows lower and I met his gaze again. There was a challenge in my voice as I said, “Then why come back? Why not just leave this to Collith? Like he said, you made your choice. Seeing you now, it’s …”
Laurie’s gaze was intent. I could feel him observing every movement, every thought that raced through my head. “It’s what?” he said when I didn’t continue.
I considered turning back to the car, but there was a hardness in Laurie’s eyes that told me he wouldn’t let this rest. “Confusing,” I sighed. “Seeing you is confusing.”
“There’s nothing confusing about this, Fortuna.”
He was wrong, I thought. Laurie had just made everything worse. I didn’t have time to argue with him, though, so I decided not to even try. My gaze flicked toward the building looming over us. “I have to go. Keep an eye on him, okay? Don’t let him do anything stupid.” I hesitated. “And … tell him goodbye for me.”
“Tell him yourself.” Laurie’s focus shifted, and I heard footsteps a second later. Collith’s scent teased my senses.
“How do you two always find me?” I asked, looking between them. Suddenly I remembered that night outside Viessa’s club. We’d been in fucking Ibiza and Collith had just appeared. He’d never revealed how he’d known where I was, and I’d gotten distracted after that.
I fixed my attention on Collith now, my eyes narrowed with resolve. He saw it, and I swore he almost smiled.
There she is, he thought. I heard the words in my own head, clear as a bell. But how?
When I discovered the truth, my heart softened.
Collith was terrified.
Ever since he’d found me at Sugarland, this faerie king of mine had been worried that something had finally succeeded in breaking me. Learning about Lucifer had only worsened it. He watched my face and listened to the words coming out of my mouth, secretly reliving his own time in Hell. That fear was what allowed me to slip past his defenses now, just for a moment.
“You think of us sometimes,” Collith answered finally, his voice soft. He seemed unaware that I’d slipped into his head. “If you feel something strong enough, it can be just as effective as saying a name. It doesn’t always work, though.”
My eyebrows rose. “Uh, that would’ve been useful information to know before now.”
“We thought you did.” Laurie sounded amused. “Our young learn such things in the nursery.”
I glared at him. “Well, I—”
Collith made a strange sound, cutting me off, and I frowned. Laurie and I both turned in his direction. Collith stood slightly hunched over, his expression twisted in pain and concentration. I started to say his name, but a guttural cry burst out of him, and he fell to his knees. Or he would’ve, if Laurie hadn’t moved in a blur and put his arm around Collith’s waist. He lowered him the rest of the way to the pavement, propping Collith up against my car.
