What did you do? (Infatuated fae #2)

30. Present Day

30

PRESENT DAY

Mendax

S orrow filled the air as we stepped into the forest, leaving the Seelie castle in our wake. Every grasshopper and sparrow bowed their heads as we passed, and I couldn’t help wondering how many of them were shifters like Walter. Did they ever get to know him like I had?

His body hung heavily over my shoulder, jostling stiffly with each pained step I took.

I had come back to find Caly as soon as I could walk. My body still hadn’t had a chance to heal. I scoffed. I would never heal from this .

My hands shifted over the heavy, horrible, itchy fabric of his tunic. The tunic I harassed him about but he continued to wear, saying it reminded him of fur upon his skin. He felt so cold, so empty inside the shirt.

Kaohs, please let him into Tartarus and give him plenty of women and trouble, I thought with a smile.

With as much care as a man like me could manage, I set his body down next to an old ash tree, taking care to prop him up against the tree until he looked almost peaceful.

“You’ll arrive in Eromreven a warrior.” I brushed the bloodied brown hair from his face. “Eletha won’t know what to do with herself when she sees you.”

I moved my hand over his empty eyes, feeling the tickle of his lashes against my palm when I closed them. Then, the last journey I would have with my brother commenced.

A lump as hard as a rock formed in my throat when I tried to wipe the blood off his face.

“I’ll see you in Tartarus, brother,” I whispered before kissing his bloodied forehead.

I firmed my expression, wiping most of the emotion away, and walked to where Aurelius stood with Calypso.

“Light it,” I ordered the Seelie.

I hated the thought of a SunTamers flames touching Walter’s skin, but I had no choice. He deserved a proper resting place.

Aurelius left his post next to Caly and moved in front of the ash tree. After saying a few quiet words to Walter’s body, he stepped back and held his hands up. Bright sun poured from his palms to latch on to the tree’s bark. It only took a moment before Walter and the tree were nothing but bright flame.

I watched the golden boy as he returned to Caly’s side, glaring at her when she wasn’t looking. The fae’s chin stiffened before he reached out to rub her back lightly.

The tension between all of us was explosive.

Aurelius had just watched the love of his life snap his mother’s neck while he restrained her. I had just watched his mother kill Walter. It was the same as him doing it as far as I was concerned.

My patience was running thin. I didn’t like the way he looked at her. But even worse, I didn’t like the way my pet looked at him.

Especially now.

I thought the goddess was devious and enrapturing before, but now? Now I was infatuated beyond anything the realms have ever seen. How was it possible to be so completely bewitched by a human? I called her pet , but it was I who followed behind at her heels. I was the one with the leash tied to her short, immortal life.

I couldn’t stand the thought of her dying as fast as humans did.

I would find a way to sever the tie to Aurelius before he got them both killed. I despised the idea of guarding the Seelie, but as long as he and Caly were tied, I wouldn’t let harm come to either of them.