Page 10 of Fae's Mate
“You think they might not send us home?” Amber asks, voice wavering, like she might burst into tears again.
“The High Lord said it took a huge amount of magic to bring us here in the first place, and that it would take time to gather that much again. What if they can’t?” I say, as kindly as I can.
Amber’s lip wobbles, and a tear rolls down her cheek. Riley grips her knee. “They have to send us back. We have lives, they can’tkeepus here.” Riley seethes.
“I know,” I agree, “But we don’t even know why we were brought here.”
I decide there and then that it is down to me to get the truth from the High Lord.
Chapter 8
High Lord
My morning drags as I speak to the remaining humans. None of them tell me anything useful and I wonder if I am asking the wrong questions, but it is more likely that I am simply distracted, unable to remove Seki from my thoughts.
The last of the humans leaves my study, the one who is always weeping, Amber, and I release a sigh. None of them seem to know why they were pulled through the portal, and when I spoke to my brother yesterday, he had only just regained consciousness and could only nod, agreeing he’d had something to do with it. I have no other option but to speak with him again, despite how furious I am.
The corridor that leads down to the dungeon is cold and damp. The metallic taste of iron stings the inside of my mouth as I approach. My footsteps echo as I descend the steps into the darkness. Only small pools of light flicker, gifted by the occasional candle.
When I round the corner, my brother is already standing, as close to the iron grill as he dares. He looks like shit, not surprisingly, considering how much magic he channelled yesterday.
“I don’t understand… when I woke yesterday, I was in my chambers… now I am here…” He manages breathlessly.
I sigh, full of exasperation. “You admitted to cleaving a portal.”
His auburn brows furrow. “Thatdoesn’texplain why I am in an iron cell.”
“You tore a rift in the veil, one that could have remained open for all you knew. Youriskedthe Summer Lord’s life. Both of you channelled more magic than either of you could handle. You could have killed yourselves! I can’t, for my magic, fathom why.” I recompose myself, anger running rampant at his carelessness.
My brother takes a staggered breath, running a hand through his long auburn hair. I know that look on his face; he is considering lying to me. I wait to rip into him, but he whispers,
“For her.”
I frown, tilting my head in a silent question.
“My mate… I have been having visions of her forweeksnow… I knew she wasn’t fae, and the only way to meet her was to bring her through a portal. So… I waited for Samhain, when the veil is thinnest, and cleaved the portal… for her.”
I did not know he was having visions still. I thought they had faded.
I pace back and forth before his cell. “That doesn’t justify what you did. Tell me which one you believe to be your mate.” I demand.
He balks. “Which one?”
I stop pacing and nod, bristling at his question; has the iron weakened him so much already?
“You pulled eleven humans through the veil, one male and ten female, you saidher, so I assume your mate is female. I wish to know which one you believe is yours.”
“I… I only meant to pullherthrough…”
“Well, you pulled through nearly a dozen that I must now feed and clothe and protect! Tell me which one you risked war, and yourlifefor.”
He looks down at the straw scattered floor, unable to meet my fury, and shakes his head. “If I tell you, you will keep her from me.”
That surprises me. Will I? I only want to know so I may speak with her again, see if she had any sort of inkling that she was mated to a fae, or if any of the humans even know what that means.
“Please brother, you cannot keep me from my mate,” he pleads desperately.
“Oh, Ican!” I seethe, I will not reward his behaviour by allowing him to meet her.
