Page 17 of Fae Unleashed
Rhoan slammed the door shut and disappeared inside once again. My face warmed. I glanced up at the sky and wondered what would happen to Feri. It seemed as though the bird had been Rhoan’s glamour, a fae illusion.
That meant Rhoan had been listening. Swallowing, I stood there, stunned. Beside me, Vi barely stifled her laughter. Through my embarrassment, I realized that Rhoan was keeping a secret from me. Now wasn’t the time to digest it, though.
My chest turned tight from the building pressure of frustration, curiosity, and swelling arcana. I turned to Vi and asked her if she would help me with something. Excitement lit up her eyes.
Just like she’d done in Bad Moon Café, Vi burnt away everything that grew from my arcana. I conjured trees and vines and massive hedges. Vi’s fire consumed them all. With a smirk and a faint memory of my high school chemistry classes, I pulled minerals from the ground that I knew would make the flames blade with neon colors.
As the arcana left my body, I felt the frustration go with it. My life felt like a snowball, rolling and rolling until it was large enough to consume everything. I had no idea how to control anything outside of myself, let alone my own emotions. Letting Vi burn them away eased something tight inside me.
I wouldn’t have to deal with my parentage or Ostara or the blight if I let it all burn away.
Her hellcat pounced on the little sparks and cinders falling from the skies. I watched the creature marvel in the simple pleasures that only a cat could enjoy.
The moment was light and full of joy. I felt weightless, but there was a voice in the back of my mind reminding me that I would have to deal with this eventually. I couldn’t keep running forever.
But I would allow myself this moment.
Vi cackled with the joy of a child set free. I kept giving her things to burn in new and magnificent ways. I wound vines into shapes that left blazing lines in the air when she set them on fire. Together, we put on a strange fae lightshow.
Finally, we both collapsed on the ground in a fit of giggles. Vi’s hellcat came over and flopped on the ground between us. Its tail slapped the ground with the kind of thud that a creature made of fire shouldn’t be able to make. The grass under my skin was as soft as cashmere wool—I’d made sure of it while pulling things to burn from the ground. I stared up into the pale, dusky sky and let out a sigh.
The tension in my chest collapsed and left an empty ache in its place. Of course, that dragged my attention to the man watching me from the porch. Rhoan stood watch with his arms over his chest and a slight smirk on his lips.
I arched my back seductively and dragged my fingers up my stomach. His expression turned slack. Hunger filled his eyes.
So, hedidwant me!
I grinned triumphantly and wiggled in the comfortable grass. Vi reached over and took my hand in hers. She reminded me that I wasn’t alone. We were all in this together. Audra had brought the four of us, Ness, Addie, Vi, and myself, together so that we could face our challenges with our combined power.
“Rough day?” Vi asked. She lowered her voice. “Maybe some rough sex will help.”
Rhoan wanted me, but I could already tell he wasn’t going to touch me like that. I thought about putting him on his knees before me like he was going to vow his knighthood to me. I thought about how I wanted him to run his hands up my thighs while he gazed lovingly up at me. My breath hitched and warmth gathered between my thighs.
Rhoan jumped down from the porch and took two steps towards me before he stopped. His head jerked up. The glamoured bird from earlier burst out of the treetops. A dark shape bolted after it.
“Up!” Rhoan shouted. He rushed to help me off the ground and pushed me back towards the house. “Get inside!”
I hesitated. “What? What is it?”
“Faust,” was all Rhoan said before he jumped into the woods.
This was the city. We weren’t out at Ness’s home outside the city. We weren’t at Addie’s place in the mountains. The trees between the houses couldn’t hide much of anything, yet Rhoan vanished from sight immediately.
Stunned, I couldn’t move for a minute. Morgan dove past me and followed Rhoan into thenothing. I couldn’t feel the magic of a glamour on the air. I was getting better at looking past them and breaking their magic with my disbelief. Nothing happened, though.
Vi grabbed my shoulder and yanked me back towards the house. My stomach lurched, fear for Rhoan turning my gut cold. I tried to dig in my heels and throw myself after Rhoan, but Vi’s grip was iron.
“It’s no use running, little princess,” a familiar voice crooned.
Faust materialized in front of me. Vi lashed out with searing light, but when it cut through him, it revealed that he was nothing more than an illusion. I cursed under my breath and spun in search of the real Faust.
“What do you want?” I asked the empty air.
His laugh danced on the air. Vi and I shared a look. Her upper lip curled. When she spread her hands at her sides, light bloomed around her in preparation.
Faust’s voice boomed from all around when he replied, “You.”
Rhoan
