Page 65 of Fae Unleashed
If I’d done anything differently, we wouldn’t be here. Beryl wouldn’t have been able to break into my domain.
I couldn’t let myself pass out. I shoved the darkness back at the last second and sat upright. Rhoan watched me with narrow-eyed suspicion like I might collapse again—truth be told, I very much felt like I should.
Instead, I got to my wobbling feet and pushed forward. I had to find the person responsible. Because I knew if I found them, then I would find Beryl, too.
When Rhoan moved to follow me, I told him to stay. The army needed him at the head. The man would carry them to victory, and he would make sure most if not all of them came back alive. He was the only one I trusted to ensure that.
The look he gave me was heart-wrenching. He didn’t like the idea of letting me do anything alone, but we had no other choice. No matter how drained I was, we needed to keep pressure on two fronts, or this fight would be lost.
To my surprise, Del put her shoulder under my arm and gave Rhoan a nod before helping me back into the castle. Rhoan called out for me to be careful, but there was a note in his voice that gave me shivers.
I knew what he was trying to say. We didn’t have to speak to read each other anymore.
Inside, I said, “Thank you for the support. I don’t think any of this would be possible without you.”
She gave a nervous laugh that fell to the floor inside the silent halls. Though I really did need the support, I pulled myself out of Del’s grasp and threw myself against the wall. Back to the stone, I stared her down.
“Where’s Beryl?” I asked.
Del straightened. Her expression turned cold, but not indifferent. The way she couldn’t look me in the eye told me everything. It was nice to know that she felt regret for what she’d done.
Shivers raced up my spine as I recalled all the times I’d barely escaped Del’s attack. Now, I was in a worse position. My energy was drained. I wanted to fall to the floor and cry, but there was no time for that now.
“Just tell me where to find Beryl, and I’ll walk away. My business is with my aunt, not you.” I stared Del down.
I really hoped that offering Del a way out would spare me from a fight I couldn’t win. If Beryl really wanted me dead, then Del could have done it already. It made me wonder why she hadn’t just done that. Del could have killed me and caused my allies to scatter to the wind.
“You didn’t sell me out to Beryl,” I said, breath rushing out of me as the realization hit.
Though Del lifted her chin, I saw the watery sheen reaching her eyes. “I had no choice. You weren’t going to save him.”
I shoved off the wall and rammed my forearm into Del’s chest. She wasn’t prepared for a physical assault. I caught her off guard and shoved her into the wall so I could put my face in hers when I growled:
“You have no idea what I’m capable of or what I was doing. Do you think that putting Rhoan in Faust’s hands will really save him? Do you really think that Faust was ever going to spare Rhoan?”
I braced for Del to shove back, but she didn’t. She went limp under my forearm. She rolled her gaze towards the ceiling as if in prayer. I tensed, waiting for Faust to descend upon my head.
This was all a ruse. Del had let Faust into the domain, and he let Beryl in so that she could cause as much chaos as possible while he took what he wanted. Was it me that he wanted?
I pulled away and looked up and down the hall in search of Faust. The man had it out for me since he knew hurting me was an easy way to hurt Rhoan. Faust wasn’t coming for me this time, though.
Just as Rhoan’s guttural cry pierced the air, Del shoved off the wall. She spun me around and jerked my arms behind me so that she could force me to my knees. Anger turned the pit of my stomach red-hot. I gritted my teeth and tried to yank my way out of Del’s grasp. She held me tight, her hands almost bruising.
Almost.
She didn’t want to do this. Everything in Del’s being recoiled against what she’d done. I could feel it in her hesitant grip, in her weak stance. She didn’t want to be here doing this. However, I wasn’t sure that I could convince her otherwise.
I remembered the way she’d looked at Faust. He terrified her. What reason could she have to fear him?
“You lost someone to Faust. Didn’t you?” I asked, staring at the floor.
I wished I could have turned to see her face when I asked this question, but she held me in place. I had to listen carefully to the hitch of her breath and pay attention to the strength of her grasp on my arms to see if my question had any impact. The longer we lingered here, the longer it would take me to get to Rhoan. He was battling outside and needed me.
“You know what Faust can do to people. You thought that if you gave Faust entrance to my domain, that he would be so grateful that you helped spare him of Beryl’s rage that he would, in turn, spare Rhoan.”
Damned fool. I couldn’t say I blamed her. She’d made an effort, but it’d gone against absolutely everything Rhoan would have wanted.
“Do you love him?”
