Page 7 of Fae Unleashed
Shaking my head, I asked, “Do you have any other options? I’m not ready to trust your ex-boyfriend after what he did to you.”
Tal gave me a curious look, like he hadn’t expected me to show empathy for his situation. Of course, I distrusted the fae nobility and their capricious contempt, but Tal had paid for his loyalty to us in blood. I had a small amount of respect for the man.
“We could always call upon Lady Ostara,” Tall suggested.
I perked up. It’d been nearly two decades since I’d heard that name. “She didn’t die in the attack?”
“Lady Ostara had a task that placed her outside of the Seelie castle the day that Beryl staged her coup.” Tal’s attention flickered to Cerri.
The princess’s brow furrowed. With one cheek stuffed with sandwich like a blonde chipmunk, she asked, “Why is everyone looking at me?”
Tal smiled and laughed. “Youwere Ostara’s task. The fae lady was your mother’s best friend, and so your mother trusted Lady Ostara to place you with a shifter family as a changeling child.”
Cerri’s gaze dropped to the table. A faraway look took up place in her eyes. I would have thought the news would excite her. We had a connection to her parents that we’d thought long gone. However, the news meant something different to Cerri, and I couldn’t quite decipher what.
After we ate and Tal took his leave for the day, Cerri and I wandered deeper into the city. Her feet took us back to the small garden sandwiched between two brick buildings. In the corner, a Leshy sat watch over his trees while pixies played in the leaves of his hair.
Cerri watched the fae in the park. A faraway expression tainted her gaze with a haunted look. The shadows in her eyes betrayed her hesitation. When her gaze dropped to her palms, I wondered if she was seeing something different from me. Could she see the taint of the curse Beryl had put on her?
It kept her feet rooted to the spot. I realized my words might have stricken a kind of fear in her that would separate her from those she swore to protect. If we could get to the bottom of this curse, then we would be able to break it, and then Cerri could go back to her old self. She would be able to greet the pixies with confidence.
“If you’re scared of what will come next, I promise I will be there to protect you,” I told Cerri.
I wanted to hold her; it was all my beast could think about. I knew that I’d never be able to let her go again if I touched her right now. My heart would swell, and I would have to face the truth—a truth that would tear me away from Cerri right when she needed me the most.
So, I kept my hands to myself and let the low growl in my voice convey everything that I wanted to say with my body.
“They’re not my parents,” was all Cerri said.
For a moment, I stared down at her in confusion. Of course, we already knew that the shifter family wasn’t her flesh and blood…
The meaning of her statement hit me like a truck. “You’re denying your fae parentage?”
Cerri refused to look at me. “I need…a moment alone.”
She stepped between the gates of the small park and vanished from sight. My heart lurched. Instantly, I regretted teaching her to step in-between. The woman went wherever her broken heart pleased, leaving me unable to protect her.
My beast slammed into my ribs and rattled my skull. I fumbled forward with a snarl on my lips and annoyance curdling the pit of my stomach.
A foul scent on the air hit me right before a warning shivered up my spine. I jumped out of the way and twisted, finding myself face to face with Faust.
4
CERRI
Ilet out a small howl of frustration as I spun and collapsed into a chair at Bad Moon Café. Vi leaned back against the front counter and waited for me to explain. Since we only had a limited amount of time before Rhoan hunted me down, I launched right into it.
“They keep acting like I should respect my biological parents! How can I when they didn’t even do a background check on the Pack before dropping me there? Molly and Jasper did everything they could to keep me safe. I don’t blame them. I blame the fae for being lazy.”
Vi’s lips twisted to the side. She ran a hand through her hair, ruffling it on one side so that it stood on end. She always looked a little unkempt, and it oddly worked in her favor.
“It sounds like they didn’t have a whole lot of time to prepare.”
I scowled—well, it was more of a pout because Vi was right, and I didn’t want her to be.
Vi had family issues of her own. Her father’s domain was full of demons that wanted to use her, and her grandfather’s domain was full of asshole angels that wanted to end all of humanity. So, like, she was usually stuck between a rock and a hard place.
In comparison, my problem didn’t seem so bad. I’d needed a reality check, but I hated it at the same time. I wanted to be mad. I wanted toseethe. My body ached from constantly being on guard. It was like Alvin had returned all over again.
