Page 50 of Stolen Threadwitch Bride
“Exactly. And that someone, he…” Ly huffed and shook his head. “That’s why I brought you here. I wasn’t going to tell you—I thought the less you knew, the better. And before, I didn’t trust you to keep it to yourself—you could’ve told him what I was planning and have him kill me so you’d be free.”
I winced, but I couldn’t blame him for thinking that of me. Hadn’t I started a pair of poisoned gloves to hurt him and force a bargain? But why didIneed to know about this thief? Was it Boyd? Those sneers, were they because he knew I was helping Ly get the seed back?
“But I realised that was selfish of me and you need to be forewarned about him.” His eyes locked with mine, a flicker of something in their depths, something I hadn’t seen in the weeks I’d known him.
Fear.
The back of my neck prickled. What the hells could frighten a fae lord who’d faced and destroyed five sluagh without breaking a sweat?
He licked his lips. “Especially when you’re about to face him.”
I flinched and searched over my shoulder. “What?”
“Not right now. At the celebrations tomorrow.” He tugged on my hand. “He’s our neighbour, someone who’s been a friend for years, centuries—he knew my parents long before I was born.” A bitter laugh edged his outward breath. “Wethoughthe was a friend, anyway. But he wants these lands for himself or our power or…” He shrugged. “Something. Enough that he’d do this. He doesn’t know I’ve discovered his treachery, so I must wear the mask of the smiling friend.”
That cold sorrow burrowed deeper, reaching my belly. Someone had deliberately done this, risking the land and all the life on it, and had played at friendship all this time. All for personal gain. I gritted my teeth. “Hence the Calan Mai invitation.”
“He will be here that night and I… I fear he’ll be much too keen to meet you.”
I swayed backwards. “Me? How does he even—?”
“News travels quickly in a land where little changes one decade to the next. And Her Majesty ordering me to take the Tithe was big news.”
A touch of his usual smirk edged his lips and I couldn’t help but return it.
“So everyone wants to see your pet human?”
His face screwed up in a grimace. “No, not… You’re not my pet, Ari—”
“Iknow that.” And it was only when I said it that I realised Ibelievedhim. A trickle of warmth pressed at the cold inside me. “But do your neighbours?”
“Knowing Goren, possibly. But whether or not he views you as apet, he’s dangerous. I need you to understand that.”
Lords and Ladies, if Ly considered Goren dangerous… I shivered at the prospect. “If you’re worried for my safety, I’ll just keep out of sight.”
“That won’t work.” One side of his mouth twitched, a shadow of his usual dimple making an appearance. “I’m afraid you’ll have to show that pretty face of yours. If you don’t appear or you leave too early, it will only rouse suspicion. He’ll wonder what I’m hiding.” His hands squeezed around mine, solid and warm. “And with his gifts… as soon as he sees me, he’ll know how I feel.”
Ba-DUM. My heart leapt to my throat. How he feltabout me?
He half-closed his eyes, giving me a heavy look. “He’ll know,” he murmured, voice deepening, “youare the route to hurt me. I couldn’t save my parents from him—I didn’t evenknowhe was my enemy, and our power was already dwindling…” He shook his head, swallowing.
Hedidblame himself, and gods did I know how that felt. A weight I could never shake. An empty pocket at the centre of my heart. A tinge of guilt that tainted every memory, just as this dying tree tainted the magic here. “Oh, Ly.” My eyes stung for him and for me, for his parents and for mine.
Eyes bright he gave such a slight nod, I wasn’t sure he knew he’d done it. But it said he understood and he knew I did, too.
“Ari.” His voice rasped on my name. He paused, nostrils flaring, jaw tightening. “Please, keep close to me or Sylvie that night. Be careful of anything he says or asks you. Offer him every politeness, but nothing more. If he asks you to dance, make an excuse—use your exquisite lies on him, he won’t expect it. Do anything you can to avoid being alone with him.” He leant closer and cupped my cheek. “I’m begging you.”
A fae lord, begging me for something. I might’ve laughed but for the intensity of him, the vulnerability, the woody notes of his cologne. It was a wonder he hadn’t commented on the pounding of my pulse as it throbbed through me. He had to be able to hear it.
“Ly”—I pressed my cheek against his hand, not shying away as I had that first night we’d met—“I’ll be safe. I trust you to—”
A streak of white barrelled into us, and it was only Ly’s reflexes bringing his arms around my waist that stopped me hitting the floor.
“Fluffy!” He huffed, the breath fanning my face. “Damn dog.” His scowl turned from the panting, prancing dog to me and softened.
I was pressed against his chest, hands at his shoulders, not an inch between us. My feet weren’t on the floor and from this height, I only needed to angle my head a fraction and our lips would be touching.
He must’ve realised the same thing, because his gaze flicked down to my mouth. And maybe the Lady of the Lake was right, because his arm tightened around my waist as though he wanted, somehow, to bring me even closer.
