Page 22 of Fae Unleashed
Del moved to speak first. She crossed the space between us and pointed her finger in my face.
Immediately, I reacted. I brought vines out of the earth and turned them thick so I could shove them at her and push her away. She side-stepped the vines, but I twisted them in her direction to form a wall between us.
My jaw tightened. I didn’t expect this to come to a fight—especially one over Rhoan.
Well…I couldn’t bring myself to give him up, so it made sense even if I didn’t want to admit it.
“You’re going to be the death of him,” she hissed. Her nose wrinkled. Her lip curled in a sneer. “Faust is doing everything in his power to turn Rhoan into a beast for the Sluagh.”
I threw my hands in the air. “What does that have to do with me? I’m a bystander in this. Faust is the one who thinks he can use me as bait. That wasn’t my decision.”
Del stomped her foot. “That’s not my point! Stop trying to make Rhoan fall in love with you. I saw you in the grass earlier. You were squirming like a bitch in heat in an effort to get him to come to you.”
My face turned red-hot almost immediately. Anything I might have said turned into a knot on the top of my tongue. I didn’t dare open my mouth for fear of making a fool of myself.
Del had seen that? She’d been watching the whole time? There was something a little weird about it, but I realized that she was on guard duty. That’s why she’d been so close when Faust appeared.
That gave me a way to change the subject. “You’re terrified of Faust. Why? What about him has someone like yourself so afraid?”
Del flinched like I’d just slapped her across the face. That was not the reaction I’d been expecting.
“If you don’t understand why he’s a threat, then you’re going to die. That’s not someone you mess with.”
“What does that even mean?” I threw my hands in the air.
The door behind us opened. Rhoan stepped out and took in the vine wall I’d erected between myself and Delphine. A question perked one brow on his pretty face.
Damn fae warrior could have been on the cover of a fashion magazine. Not a men’s magazine—he had that Haute Couture look with his chiseled cheekbones and lavender eyes. My heart stuttered when his long black hair swung over his shoulder.
I looked away quickly to hide the new flush reaching my cheeks.
“If you two need a moment…” Rhoan trailed off.
He lingered in the doorway like he didn’t really want to go anywhere even if that’s what he’d implied. Rhoan wanted to stay close to us. Perhaps he didn’t want to leave Del and me alone because it looked like we were about to kill one another.
Del vaulted over my vines, grabbed Rhoan by his vest, and started to drag him away. I lashed out with a vine and caught her arm.
“Excuse me,” I snapped.
She sneered at me like she couldn’t believe what I’d just done.
Rhoan yanked his vest out of her grasp. To my surprise, he scowled down at Del like he couldn’t believe her behavior. It was clear, at least on my end, that Del and I were both complicit in this fight. Yet, Rhoan sided with me when he sidled around her to stand at my side.
“What has gotten into you?” he asked her.
She gave him a wide-eyed look. There was a question in that expression, one that she expected him to be able to read. I desperately waned to know what was going on between them. If they had something, then I needed them to tell me.
If…if Rhoan wanted Del, then I would walk away.
Of course, this wasn’t taking his knighthood vow into consideration. I would…g-glady absolve him of the vow if need be. Though, I was shocked at how much effort it took just to acknowledge that internally. I was sure I wouldn’t be able to speak it out loud.
I wanted to dig my fingers into Rhoan and pull him closer to me as if he belonged to me and me alone. The man belonged to no one. Not even his vow to my family gave me any power over him—not like that, at least.
“She’s going to be the death of you,” Del pleaded.
I stepped back and wrapped my arms around myself, because Del wasn’t wrong. This fight could kill any of us, especially Rhoan.
“That’s a risk I’m willing to take for the sake of my princess and my court,” he said.
