Page 5 of Fae Unleashed
Rhoan’s gasp of relief caught my attention. I reached for him and found his hand. He appeared in my vision. His eyes were pinched with concern. Though he still had that same set to his jaw, I could tell that he had no idea what to do right now.
“Did anyone see what happened?” I asked, my voice surprisingly raspy.
Vi’s laughter made the leaves hanging above us rustle. “No, I managed to clear everyone out when you dropped. I do feel a little bad letting you hit the ground like that, but I kind of had to make sure no one was inside to see this. It’s honestly impressive. I got a front row seat to this…garden bomb. Audra isn’t going to be happy about this, though.”
I groaned. Our boss cared about us, but her café meant more to her. Any damages to the café came out of our pocket. We did our damnedest to keep our problems far away from the café for the sake of our paychecks.
“This doesn’t look like your usual arcana,” Vi noted.
I bit my lip and debated how much I would tell my friend. She appeared on the other side of the counter, at the edge of my vision, as she leaned on it and folded her arms beneath her. The way Vi lifted a dark brow and looked down at me, I could already tell she knew more than she let on. She glanced at Rhoan, as if to ask how much she should say in front of him.
Groaning, I ran a hand over my face. The floor was cold and sticky underneath me. I needed to get up and start working on tearing the foliage down before Audra found out.
“Help me up and get me something else to wear, and I’ll tell you everything.”
Vi smirked. “I can do you one better, buttercup.”
She lifted one hand and snapped her fingers. Heat washed through the café. The burst incinerated the flowers and dried the puddle beneath me. Vi’s control had become precise. All that was left when she was done was a faint heat lingering on my skin.
Even my clothes were dry and surprisingly clean, like she’d burned away the sugar and coffee that’d soaked into the fabric. Magic was an amazing thing.
I stood and explained everything that’d happened. All the while, Rhoan watched me like I might fall again. I didn’t know how to tell him I’d lost control of my arcana. It wasn’t something that I’d ever experienced before, but Vi could already tell. I didn’t even have to tell her what’d happened.
She knew what it looked like to have arcana slip out of one’s grasp. I mean, I’d seen the holes in her living room floor from similar meltdowns. At least mine ended in a pretty garden and not the destruction of a home.
Vi didn’t deserve such judgmental words. If I wanted to avoid becoming like Beryl, I needed to be kinder. The world had been rough to me. My defensive barriers were thicker than castle walls at this point. I didn’t want to keep everyone out with them, though.
My friend vaulted herself over the counter and started making a drink while Rhoan helped me up off the floor. Vi pushed the drink into my hands and told me to take a break. Well, more accurately, she told Rhoan to take me out for my fifteen-minute break. She clocked in early and cleaned up.
Outside, under the bright sun, I sipped my drink and felt it settle my nerves. Surprised, I leaned back and blinked at the drink. Vi had slipped my own potions into it while I’d had my back turned. While it tasted of her viciously acidic energy drinks, there was an herbal flavor on the back end that pushed the tension from my muscles.
I had to admit, I kind of liked it.
“If we don’t start pushing back against Beryl soon, we’re going to lose all the ground we’ve gained,” Rhoan said, interrupting my quiet moment.
I swallowed my sigh and washed it down with more of the calming energy drink—that seemed like an oxymoron, but I wasn’t about to argue. When I had my thoughts organized and my emotions in a box, I was able to respond clearly.
“What are we going to lose?”
I knew that he meant my Seelie nature since this blight was still spreading, but he surprised me when he spoke.
Rhoan locked eyes with me. “Everything.”
“This curse is going to kill you from a distance,” Rhoan said, touching my arm.
I savored his touch and didn’t tell him that this blight wasn’t deadly. I mean, it was insideme. Not him. I knew how this was affecting me, changing me. While I wouldn’t be Seelie once this blight took over, it wasn’t going to be the end of me. I would simply be something other than what I started out as.
“Maybe I should reword what I’m trying to say,” Rhoan said without quite meeting my gaze. His attention turned distant, like he was seeing into the future. When he finally looked me in the eye, an electric jolt rocked through me as he spoke. “This curse will kill the version of you that the fae will follow. If you become Unseelie, then your court will abandon you.”
And Rhoan didn’t like what the blight was doing to me, apparently. I wished he would. I’d seen the beast inside him. That creature didn’t look Seelie to me, but I didn’t hate it for that. I didn’t hate his beast at all. The creature was beautiful with its crow-like wings and twisting horns. I wanted to bury my hands in the beast’s midnight black fur again, but he acted like he needed to keep the creature hidden from view at all times.
I wasn’t going to be ashamed of the changes inside me. If Vi didn’t balk at her own lineage, I wouldn’t bat an eyelash at this transformation from Seelie to Unseelie.
“That isn’t fair of them.” Somehow, I kept from stomping my foot like a brat.
This push and pull infuriated me, though. I had to toe the line of what was expected of me when they’d all already abandoned me. It wasn’t like fae were flocking to me in droves. I was putting together a piecemeal court with the few remaining fae I could find.
Nothing about this was by the book. Now he wanted to tell me that it would all fall apart if I was a little different from what I’d been? The blight over my arcana didn’t react. I’d expected it to laugh at my naivety, but it remained indifferent.
