Page 53 of Royal Hunt
Defiantly, I ripped away and turned my back to him. He was one to talk about secrets. Ellis practically growled at me, arms coming around to pull me back toward him. I grunted in annoyance.
“Let go of me. We need to rest, and I can’t do that with you grabbing at me,” I quietly grumbled back, nervous that someone would hear our quarreling.
“Remember that first night we met on the balcony?” he asked instead. “I didn’t remember it at first, but when I woke up in the pen my memories came back. I’d dreamed it and remembered…It had been so real. You’d wanted me and you had no idea who I was. It’s one of my best memories. I wish …” He glanced away nervously.
I wondered if he had slipped the bottle of drink from me while I’d been sleeping. A quick pat of my pocket told me that wasn’t the case.
“You wish what?” I asked carefully, unsure where this was going.
Ellis sighed. “I wished you’d let me be your best memory.”
Before I could respond, he continued. “The fae have legends about mates. Destined partners who would bring each other longevity and vitality: wisdom and magick.”
There was that word again. Mates.
“Tell me what you’re worried about. You don’t look well,” Ellis insisted.
The statement was ridiculous. None of us looked well. None of uswerewell.
Frustrated, I sat up. At least this way I could loom down over him. I batted his hands away. “I’ve been worried about you,” I offered. My stomach growled with hunger, and my body ached from the fighting and the nights on the ground. Headaches were a new constant companion of mine, and crippling anxiety had made a permanent home in my veins. I knew logically that I wasn’t responsible for anyone but myself, but it didn’t feel that way. The other human women were sick and scared, the tips of their fingers and toes going black with frostbite. If they continued to huddle in terror during every challenge, they’d be slaughtered like pigs primed for the butcher.
And I couldn’t think of anything else to do to help them. I couldn’t guard everyone. I couldn’t fight off everything.
Ellis blanched, carefully sitting up himself. He grimaced as if his muscles protested every movement. I reached down into the pocket of my dress, holding up the little glass bottle.
“Do you . . . need any of this?” I asked, shaking it slightly at him.
He froze. “How do you know about that?” Ellis tried to keep his voice casual, but it was laced with an edge of anger and panic.
“Viana gave it to me. She said—Well, it doesn’t matter. Do you need it?”
Ellis ran a hand through his hair, frowning, He tested his arms, swinging them around a bit, and clenched and unclenched his fingers.
“Surprisingly, no. I think I’m . . . good.”
I glanced away, wondering if I should let Viana know. She was just as worried and would appreciate an update.
“You said Viana is out there with Pari?” Ellis stood, his movements strong and graceful, when moments before they’d been stiff. What was going on with him?
“Uh . . . yeah. What are you doing?”
Ellis took a shaky step forward, then the next one was smoother. “Viana only does one thing: plot. If she’s with Pari, then that’s what they’re doing.”
I frowned. It wasn’t an unreasonable assumption, but it was the middle of the night. Shouldn’t we be trying to sleep, so that we wouldn’t die at the game tomorrow?
He disappeared into the darkness. Huffing, I laid back down and closed my eyes. Then turned over. Then wiggled a bit to get off a rock that was under my back.
My eyes snapped open. I groaned and took off after Ellis.
It wasn’t too hard to find him. Pari and Viana were sitting around a small fire of their own. Ellis was speaking, a stern expression on his face. All three of them looked so … right together. For a split second, I felt a pang of longing. I wasn’t fae. I’d never be fae.
My fists clenched, and I sucked up my self-pity and walked toward them.
“So what’s the plan?” I asked with far more confidence than I felt.
Pari shot me an irritated glance. “I want to tell the other fae about Ellis’s magick. They were willing to let off on tonight slaughter, but only because it burns up the only favor they owe me. Now they kill me without any qualms. Viana disagrees with telling them. Vehemently.”
Viana rolled her eyes and glared. I glanced at Ellis, raising my eyebrow in question.
