Page 65 of Demure
“You’re cute when you’re trying to be serious.” He reached up and flicked her nose gently.
Sierra held up her finger. “I am serious. Now, tell me how we got here.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Aodhan stepped off the bed to pull on his pants before slipping beneath the covers and motioning for Sierra to sit with him. Sierra slid under the covers, leaning her head back on his shoulder.
“So, on Friday, we were supposed to have our date. I spent a little extra time getting ready, because I wanted to take you to this really fancy restaurant Braan had told me about. He knew about our date because I had asked him to arrange some things while we were out so I could take you back to my place after.” He took a deep breath.
“Everything was going well until I got to the library just before closing, and you weren’t there. I asked Mona, and she said you had been there, but maybe you had left a few minutes early because it was slow. But when I went into the break room and saw your messenger bag, I knew something was wrong right away.” It was Sierra’s turn to take a deep breath as the events of that night flickered behind her eyes, but she kept quiet; her time to talk would come later.
“Before panicking completely, I checked the bathrooms and the microfilm room, just in case you had ventured away from your usual duties. But by the time Mona was ready to lock up, I knewsomething had happened during your shift. I took your messenger bag with me and went to your place to see if you had gone home sick enough to forget your bag or something.
“But then you weren’t there either, and I really started to panic. You are a creature of habit, and I couldn’t think of anywhere else you could possibly be other than the places I had already checked, especially because you always stuck to the plans we made previously, even when I was late. So, then I went to Braan.
“Braan helped me call the Dublin police, just in case it was someone human who had taken you, so they would be looking for you there. But deep down, I already knew. My father had gotten tired of waiting and must’ve sent someone to collect you.”
“Did he know what I looked like?” Sierra asked.
Aodhan nodded. “Before I left for Dublin, I had made a sketch. You hadn’t meant anything to me then, and I didn’t realize then how dangerous that could be.
“I asked Braan and Kaye to stay there in case you came back and that I would ‘call’ them using the waters as soon as I reached my father's place in Sidhe.”
“But you never made it,” Sierra surmised.
“No, my father had anticipated my every move. They were waiting for me when I crossed the border into Sidhe.”
“Who was?”
“Guards fromCuileann. My father had labeled me as a dangerous criminal and said to detain me by force until further notice.”
Sierra’s eyes widened. “How did you get free then?”
“Well, that’s the thing: while my father had labeled me as a criminal and asked theCuileannadvisor, Fearghal, to hold me until further notice,Cuileannis its own province, and they have their own laws. They believe in a fair trial system, similar to the ones in the human world, and when requests for elaboration on my crime went unanswered, they eventually let me go. I didn’tknow how many days had passed, but I assumed I was there for four or five days.
“At first, I went back to my father’s place inFuinseog,but I knew that if he saw me, I would be in trouble, so I used a servant’s entrance to see Slaine, who I knew could help me figure out where you had gone, and she told me that she had been in contact with Aislan. She wasn’t sure where he was planning to take you, and she isn’t one of the few people who knows about this place. So the next part was just by chance, but I decided to come here to hide out, get some sleep, and plan my next move. Then I saw the rope was up, and I thought maybe I had guessed right and Aislan had brought you here.
“And here we are.” He smiled, gripping me a bit tighter. “Now it’s your turn.”
“Before I begin, let me just specify that next time we are separated and I’m not expecting you, please don’t just get into bed with me, that was terrifying.”
“Noted,” Aodhan replied. “But know that I don’t intend to be separated from you ever again.”
“As much as I wish that were true, you know as well as I do that it’s bound to happen at some point.”
“Fine,” groaned Aodhan, clearly not liking the idea of being separated. “Now continue with your story.”
“Well, some of it is…muddled, because I was drugged or knocked out.” Sierra felt Aodhan stiffen below her as a low snarl emerged from his lips, displaying his displeasure at the thought of Sierra being hurt. “But best as I can tell, I was taken from work Friday night, a little before closing, but whoever took me drugged me almost immediately, so I was out until Saturday morning…I think.”
“When I awoke again, I was in the trunk of a car, and then I slept more until I was taken out sometime during the day, likely at the entrance to Sidhe. I was blindfolded and bound, so the man who took me practically had to drag me across the border.
“Once we crossed into Sidhe, he put me into a cart, and I wastaken to your father’s home, or at least I assume it was your father’s home.”
“If it is where you saw Slaine, then yes, it is.”
“I was prepped for some ritual that Conlan was convinced would break the Fae curse, but either it didn’t work, or Conlan saw my skin and thought that my condition was the reason it wouldn’t work.”
At the mention of her skin, Aodhan reached down, running his hand over her arm. “Your skin, it’s clear.” His eyes were wide.
