Soren
On Brynn’s first night in the Hollow Court, I couldn’t sleep.
Her face haunted my dreams, demanding I tell her about her family. Her dedication to them shook me. Since the moment we’d met, her intense need to find them hadn’t dimmed.
I couldn’t imagine my own family caring for me even half as much.
Though the daybed she slept in was a fair distance from my room, I’d left the door cracked open between us, and she slept restlessly enough for me to hear the rustle of sheets.
I slipped out of bed. I’d merely ask if she needed anything.
But she was sound asleep.
Standing over her, I marveled at the way her face had softened in sleep.
That wasn’t what drew me to her though. My close friends and I had rescued dozens of humans over our time in the Hollow Court, and while it fulfilled something in me to free someone when I would never be free myself, this stronger pull—an almost urgent need to help—was completely new.
Brynn’s brow creased in her sleep. She moaned softly.
At first, I pulled back, thinking she’d wake and scream if she saw my silhouette looming over her in the dark.
But when she continued to thrash, my hand reached out of its own volition.
I gently smoothed a hand over her hair, trying to soothe her without her waking.
It seemed to help.
Then her eyelids fluttered.
I leapt back.
She pushed up onto one arm and looked around sleepily.
I pressed into the shadows of the bookshelves behind her until she lay back down.
Tiptoeing past, I told myself to leave her alone. This time, when I returned to my room, I shut the door with a solid click.
***
The next morning, Gwen suggested we convince Brynn to lie for us.
“Absolutely not.”
“Soren, be reasonable.” She frowned. “We’ve never had an opportunity like this before. She isn’t under one of those lifetime contracts. She still has her will to survive. It’s quite strong, actually.”
“And she’s desperate to save her family, so she’ll probably agree,” Julian added, though his lips turned down. He didn’t like the idea either.
“We could just tell her the truth.” Lore dropped onto the couch with a huff, reaching out for a cup of tea. “Have you ever considered she might actually want to help us save all those humans?”
“We can’t risk it,” Gwen argued before I could, though I’d have said the same. “If she reveals what we’re doing to anyone else, they’ll go straight to the prince.”
Caius would love that. He’d put us in chains immediately, then bring us to his father for punishment. It’d spiral out of hand, considering my heritage. I might even lose my head.
“I agree with Gwen,” I said finally. “It’s not safe.”
Peregrin didn’t often speak up, but this time, he did. “Not safe to tell her, yes, but . . . Soren, we still need to consider asking her to work with us.”
Everything in me resisted it.
She could get hurt.
The way she wore her feelings on her face would give her away, and Caius would lump her in with the rest of us when he figured it out.
I couldn’t stomach the idea of her getting hurt because of me.
Julian leaned forward, speaking softly as the others chatted. “Soren. At this point, the prince has stolen dozens, if not hundreds, of humans . . . If one of them can help us save so many more, isn’t it worth it?”
My jaw clenched.
Yes.
It was.
I knew he was right, but I couldn’t manage to verbally agree with him.
So I nodded and stood, making the others look up as well. “Put together the contract. But I need to be confident she can handle herself with the prince, or I’ll shred it.”
Though Gwen frowned, and they all looked confused by how deeply bothered the idea made me, Julian nodded and spoke for all of them. “We’ll make sure of it.”
Satisfied that they knew the stakes, I left, needing privacy. I headed for the kitchen, then changed my mind and moved to the staircase that led up to my room. I needed a minute to gather myself. This human threw me off-balance. I would help her leave the second we found her family.
But Julian was right. I’d run the numbers, and the prince had stolen at least a hundred humans, possibly many more. We needed to save as many as possible before the veil closed again.
Entering my room, I shut the main door and sank onto the bed.
The potential of a huge win over the Hollow Court should’ve been exhilarating. Instead, I felt defeated.
Inhaling, I reached beneath the mattress to pull out the enchanted amulet I’d hidden there a month ago, after I’d stolen it directly from the royal treasury.
When Caius had boasted that he could use it to make me forget all kinds of awful demands, I’d been furious, incensed enough to do something stupid.
I should’ve waited to steal it. At least a few days. A month would’ve been safer.
But I’d wanted to wipe that constant smug expression from his face.
So it had disappeared that same night.
Though he couldn’t prove I’d taken it and was barred from searching my burrow unless he wanted political ramifications from my father, he suspected me. I’d hardly hidden it from him.
As fae, we did not discuss these things outright. But I’d as much as admitted to taking it when he’d brought up its disappearance the following day and I’d only smiled.
If he found it on my person, my immunity here would disappear.
So for the most part, I’d left it tucked safely away until now.
Dropping it into my pocket, I swallowed hard at the idea of being caught with it. But if Brynn could be convinced to agree to our bargain, I needed to be able to protect her should anything go wrong.
Sighing, I wished I could be open with her like Lore had suggested.
I turned toward the hidden door to the balcony, planning to fetch her.
It was cracked open.
Two strides down the hall toward her daybed, I paused.
Turning back, I frowned at the door I’d just passed through.
I’d shut that last night.
My heart rate kicked up.
Dropping to yank a knife from my boot, I scanned the balcony for the attacker.
Only a few short weeks ago, I’d fought off an assassin. I suspected the rogue fae had been hired by the prince. But I had no way to know for sure, as he’d disappeared into the night when I’d turned out not to be an easy target.
Ever since, Gwen had insisted I carry a weapon on my person. Right now, I was thankful I’d agreed.
With no sign of the attacker here, I turned back to search my bedroom.
As I reached a hand toward the doorknob, someone flung the door wide. A flurry of brown hair and pale skin ran through it.
Not an attacker, then.
Brynn.
I had just enough time to drop the knife on the rug before she crashed into me.
Reaching out to steady her, I registered her shocked expression as she pulled away and nearly fell backward.
I caught her gently and wrapped my arms around her, though it wasn’t really necessary. “I was coming to check on you,” I murmured in a low voice, unable to pull back, “when I remembered that I always close this door,” I added teasingly, because now it was obvious who’d left it cracked open.
But her face sank like she thought I was a monster who would punish her for trespassing.
When she didn’t speak, I let go, trying to keep my tone neutral. “What were you doing in my room?”
“I was . . . looking for you?”
Ha.
She really was a terrible liar.
But then I frowned.
Her fear was written all over her face.
I hated it.
Hated that she was scared of me.
Turning away, I decided to let her be, not wanting to press the issue anymore.
“This way,” I said over my shoulder when I could be sure my emotions wouldn’t bleed into my voice.
Unless she was the latest assassin Caius had sent—picturing that made me want to laugh outright—I didn’t care what she’d been doing in my room.
I’d left the knife somewhere behind us on the ground of the hallway, but I’d get it later.
Going back for it now would only scare her further.
Thankfully, when we joined the others in the library, they distracted her while I struggled to focus. The sooner I could explain what we wanted her to do, the sooner we could get her out of here, out of danger.
So I dove headfirst into planning, trying not to look at her, frustrated at the way I was drawn to her like a magnet.
When I set our contract down in front of her, my stare bored into her. Don’t sign it. Don’t sign it. Don’t sign it.
If she even hinted at not wanting to, I would shut this plan down in a heartbeat. I didn’t care what Julian or the others said.
But after a few long minutes, she held out her hand for my pen.
Heart sinking, I gave it to her.
In that moment, I knew everything had changed for me.