Chapter 3 #3
“Can you walk?” Xavier asked, and there was a curious way that he looked at me now.
When I nodded, he distanced himself further from me, but his gaze was wary.
He gestured for me to walk with him. “In this realm, you have Bryce, Brayden, and myself to help you. And, of course, the Proxies. Their role is for more advice and guidance—even training. But we, your first Officers, are for more practical matters.”
I stepped past him, and he fell into motion beside me.
Why didn’t he ask about my freak-out?
“Is that so?” I offered, my voice weaker than expected.
He glanced at me, eyebrow quirking, but didn’t remark. “Outside of us, there are the rulers of the fae—two royal sets for the Unseelie and Seelie courts. They never leave the realm. Plus, unless an outside force kills them, they are immortal.”
Brayden had explained part of that during our classes, but I still wasn’t used to hearing it framed so plainly. Damen also had overseers in hell, right?
He’d said it was similar.
“Why are they—” I began, but Xavier beat me to it.
“You’ve given them their immortality,” Xavier explained, glancing sideways at me. “You’re the only person they answer to and the only one who can stop the Unseelie King from further hurting your people.”
My people…
My heart was racing, a strange sense of possessiveness washing over me.
But still… it wasn’t enough. I was nowhere near ready to confront a king .
“Why can’t you talk to him?” I asked, turning my attention to the tops of my shoes. “You’re one of my Officers. Shouldn’t he listen to you?”
“Technically, yes,” Xavier said. “If we’re working on your behalf, they are supposed to regard us in that way.
And—forgive me—I’ve tried assuming your authority because I’ve wanted to prevent the need for you to go there directly.
But it didn’t work. He isn’t paying attention. He’ll only listen to the Xing.”
“But I can’t come out as the Xing.” I chewed on the inside of my cheek. Going to the Unseelie court and demanding an audience with a king was the opposite of low-key. Besides, there was another problem. Something that I hadn’t had a chance to discuss with Bryce or Brayden yet…
“Even if I went, it might not work anyway,” I cautioned Xavier, who seemed to be hanging on to my every word. “Don’t the fae have issues with women?”
Xavier nodded, his lips turning down as contemplation masked his face. “It’s true. Even the queen is, or was, a figurehead. I’m not sure how the courts will react to any of this, to be honest.”
I paused, looking up at him. I couldn’t believe I was asking this, but… “What do you think about me?”
“I told you already.” Xavier seemed genuinely puzzled at my question. “Although your physical appearance is unexpected, I’m not bothered.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because.” His gaze held mine, steadfast and confident.
“Our people had no hope for so long, and I had no idea you existed. I’m just glad you’re here .
Who cares that you’re a woman? Anything else doesn’t matter.
But regarding your earlier concern, I’m not asking you to announce to the world who you are. ”
Then what did he want? Certainly not that… plan. “What do you expect me to do?”
He glanced around once before responding, his voice lowered.
“I want you to go undercover with me to the Unseelie court. You’ll be safest as one of my associates.
Perhaps that can trigger a response from Mu—he’s extremely manipulative, and I’m sure you can figure out a way to make the king listen to you without exposing your identity. ”
My heartbeat echoed in my ears, and the air grew even colder. The manipulative bit sounded almost like an insult, if not for the note of admiration in his voice.
He seemed confident, but how could he have that much faith in me? I couldn’t pull off something like that.
“I’ve been studying Mu my whole life .” Xavier glanced past me. “I’m certain you can do this.”
“Xavier!” Anthony stepped beside me, not-so-discreetly angling himself between me and my Tongjun. “You were told to wait!”
Xavier straightened, and the calm blanket fell back over his features. “You have no right to stop me. Besides, I’m only here as a messenger. Do Yun asked me to talk to her.” He shot me a pointed look—asking me to play along. “He’s starting to get a complex because Bianca won’t visit him.”
Crap, I’d completely forgotten about Dr. Nam. I’d been doing an excellent job avoiding him, but was he seriously waiting for me to show up?
That was kind of sad.
He’d never been awful to me, and I hated hurting people’s feelings. If only he’d let me drink something other than that foul-tasting tea, I might go.
“Don’t tell her that.” Anthony inched closer to me. “I just came from Do Yun’s office, and he’s sitting around watching Korean dramas. He doesn’t care if she shows up—he’s getting paid either way.”
Excuse me ?
He didn’t care ?
How utterly offensive. Wasn’t I supposed to be his prized patient? Didn’t he relocate his entire practice to be with me?
Who the heck was paying him anyway?
“Lord, you really are sensitive.” Anthony blinked at me. He tilted his head as he continued. “Fine, I lied. Do Yun is crushed.”
I knew it .
Triumph caused my pulse to soar, and my mouth twitched.
“What’s the truth?” Xavier asked, glancing between us.
“All of it,” Anthony responded. “Are you done… whatever it is you’re doing? I’ll walk with her the rest of the way. You’re going to meet Damen, right?”
I nodded.
“I’ll go with you.” Anthony smiled shyly. “I have a class in that building anyway.”
What class? Wasn’t he an intern at the hospital?
“You don’t need to…” My protest faded as shyness crept over me.
Anthony’s grin widened into a full-fledged smile. “It’s not a big deal. Plus, Julian’ll murder me if I don’t protect you from the creeps. And”—He leaned forward conspiringly, cupping his mouth—“I’ll tell you a secret. He’s the only person in the world who scares me.”
“Julian scares you?” I breathed. “But he’s your brother.”
“Yes.” Anthony’s nod was earnest. “With good reason, too. Julian might look all innocent, and he acts lazy. But when he snaps…” His words trailed off as he shivered, shooting Xavier a pointed look. “You better not be up to anything. He really will kill you.”
Xavier’s mouth had thinned, and he shuffled on his feet, throwing his bag over his shoulder again. “Don’t threaten me.”
“I’m not threatening you.” Anthony lightly touched my elbow and put himself further between me and Xavier. “I’m warning you. Unlike Finn, you don’t have anyone to stand up to Julian on your behalf.”
“But I haven’t done anything.” Xavier’s eyes narrowed. “And Finn deserves everything he gets.”
“That’s not how Damen sees it,” Anthony said, shrugging. “He’s been sheltering Finn forever.”
I glanced between them, the tension thick. Again, we were with the ongoing saga between Julian and Finn, but no one was telling me anything new.
I tugged on Anthony’s letterman jacket, drawing his attention from Xavier. “Why does Julian hate Finn?”
“Because he took advantage of you,” was Anthony’s quick response, but the lie was heavy in his brown eyes.
Well… “Besides that.” I frowned.
This issue predated Julian’s finding out about either of these things.
He’d lashed out at Finn from the first moment he’d seen us together.
Although it was understandable that Julian might be mad since Finn had been hurting me, there had been a hatred within him that didn’t exist with the other boys.
“There’s something else.” I pressed my finger into Anthony’s chest, frowning at him. “How is Damen protecting Finn?”
Anthony grimaced, and he wiped his hand down his face. “It’s not my story to tell.”
Well, then, he shouldn’t have started talking about it in front of me.
“Finn beat a man into a coma.” Xavier shrugged. “It was about three years ago. He used his abilities to go after a shifter. His victim became paralyzed. Julian takes Finn’s lack of oversight personally, especially since Anthony didn’t do his job.”
Anthony glared at Xavier. “That’s not why he’s mad.”
“Maybe not the whole reason.” Xavier waved his hand in the air. “Stop glaring at me, I’m leaving.” He bowed slightly in my direction. “Goodbye, mistress. Until next time.”
Xavier strolled away, and my attention returned to Anthony, who continued to scowl after the retreating man.
“Is that why Julian hates Finn?” I dared Anthony not to respond this time.
Anthony sighed, the anger fading from his posture as his hand dropped back to his side. His expression was torn. “Yes. But it’s complicated.”
“What’s so complicated?” I asked. “What happened?”
Three years ago? We were in our sophomore year of high school then.
“Xavier spilled it already,” Anthony replied. “Finn went looking for a fight, found one, and almost killed the dude. Then Damen and Julian got into it because Damen believed that Finn must have a reason, even if he didn’t share it.”
Unease began to stir in me. Finn had been in many fights over the years. But I’d never once known him to start something. In most cases, he acted in my defense and never was the aggressor.
What in the world would possess him to attack someone unprovoked?
There was something wrong about this story, something I couldn’t ignore. Had I been that off in my initial judgment of Finn as a person?
“Don’t worry about Finn.” Anthony’s grin didn’t reach his eyes. “Only two people can stand up to him now, and you’re looking at one of them.”