Chapter 54 – 7 Days Earlier
Chapter Fifty-Four
AODHAN
With every step that Aodhan took away from the house, he felt like the whispers in the trees grew louder. While he couldn’t exactly make out what they were saying, it sounded like a combination of the words ‘danger’ and ‘turn-back’ in his language.
Aodhan had heard rumors over the years that the trees in this forest were enchanted, and the forest itself was named after that fact, but if that truly were the case, he wondered why they had just now decided to start whispering to him.
Concluding that the whispers he was hearing were simply his own subconscious wishing for him to turn back, he blocked them out and continued on his way.
Aodhan kept the whispers out by thinking of Sierra.
He meant what he had said to her back in Teach Crann; she was unlike any woman he had ever met.
Sure, his father had tried to introduce him to various Fae females over the years, but none had ever caught his fancy like Sierra.
Mostly, they just threw themselves at his feet, as if they had no self-respect and were just waiting for a male to walk all over them in exchange for a stable future.
For a while, Aodhan had thought this was just what females, Fae or human, were like, especially when he had first journeyed to the human world at the beginning of the year.
He had liked Kaye from the moment he met her, and for a second he had thought that maybe Fae women had been his problem, but after spending some time on campus, he had quickly learned that many human women were just like the Fae ones, willing to do anything to get a man to date them— even sacrificing their own values.
Kaye had been a diamond in the rough that Braan had been lucky to find.
It was these experiences that had led him to treat Sierra so terribly the first few times he had met her. He had assumed she was just another dumb woman that he would easily be able to coax into coming back to Sidhe with him, and he hadn’t thought he would need to put in too much effort.
The reality, of course, had been so far from what he had imagined.
Not only had Sierra stood up for herself, and the value she saw in her time, she had even gone on a rampage to try and knock him down a peg.
While her attempt was admirable, it had just made her all the more attractive to him, and he had found himself falling fast.
So fast, in fact, that at some point, even before she had met Braan and Kaye, Aodhan knew he would never be bringing her back to Sidhe, to be subjected to his father’s strange ideals and beliefs that women, especially human women, were meant to be used as the Fae saw fit.
Now that Aodhan thought about it, it was his father's ideals, which Conlan shared with most of Sidhe, that had gotten them into this situation in the first place. As far as Aodhan could see, it was time for some changes around here, and he was ready to do what had to be done to make them.
With a new breath of determination, Aodhan picked up his pace on the route toward Fuinseog.
He wasn’t exactly sure where Aislan, Braan, and Kaye would be, but he assumed if he made covert contact with Slaine, she would be able to guide him in the right direction.
Hopefully, the trio was laying low and not getting into any trouble.
Aodhan was so distracted by his thoughts and trying to ignore the sounds of the forest whispering in earnest that he didn’t realize that he was surrounded until the scent of the first unfamiliar Fae reached his nose, causing him to stop in his tracks.
Standing in place, Aodhan turned in each direction, his nose lifted slightly in the air, only to realize he scented not just one, but five unfamiliar scents.
“Who’s there?” he asked, knowing he was far too outnumbered to try and fight his way out of this. He was going to have to try the diplomatic approach.
“I’m sad to hear you don’t remember me, Aodhan.” A man slipped out from behind a nearby tree; the way he moved immediately caused the wheels to turn within Aodhan’s brain. “After all, I thought we were future colleagues.”
“Typhon,” Aodhan whispered, sensing someone behind him, before everything went black.
To Be Continued…