56. Summer
Chapter Fifty-Six
Summer
M y phone pings again as I enter the house. I yank it free from my pocket, ready to rip Max a new one when I see Unknown flash on the screen. I sigh and open the message.
Unknown
How was the gym, princess?
Summer
Go away.
He immediately starts typing again.
Unknown
We need to train.
Summer
I know. I will see you this evening.
The bubbles bob furiously, and then they stop, and then they start again before his message finally arrives.
Unknown
Something has happened. I need to speak with you.
I bristle.
Summer
Lucky for you, you are seeing me. This evening.
Unknown
Little fae.
He starts typing again, but I quickly cut him off with my own message.
Summer
This evening.
Unknown
Fine.
Anger ripples through the message, but I don’t care. In fact, I am happy about it. Let him stew. Dick.
“You’re back!” Alice says from the kitchen, smiling at me as she flips an egg in the pan.
I nod. “I couldn’t get back to sleep, so I went to the gym.”
Alice smirks, giving me a knowing smile.
“We worked out. That’s it.”
Alice sniffs, and when she can’t smell sex on me, she clicks her tongue.
“Boring,” she says, putting the egg on a muffin and placing it on a plate before handing it to me.
“Want to go out tonight?” she asks. I can hear the hopefulness in her voice, but I think about Rafe.
We’ve not left him alone since he fell, and I’m not sure I’m comfortable with it now.
Maybe we could get a sitter? Though I’m not sure who I’d trust enough to ask.
Also, Rafe would hate it if we asked someone to babysit him.
“Let me think about it,” I say, picking up the sandwich and walking out of the kitchen.
“Okay, but you know you want to!” Alice calls after me as I head toward the stairs.
I spend most of the day in my room studying and catching up on my schoolwork, but I catch myself watching the clock.
The time seems to drag, and my mind keeps drifting to my training with the stranger.
After last night, it would be foolish to expect him to behave, and thinking about it has my stomach fluttering.
I am not sure how I’ll get through it or keep anything?. .?. inappropriate from happening.
As I get ready, the fluttering in my stomach turns to knots, intensifying with every step I take through the forest. By the time I can see his outline in the clearing, anticipation and the desperate need to be anywhere but here have me a confused, jumbled mess of conflicting emotions.
He turns to face me when I step into the clearing. “The King of the Fae has demanded that the Grand Arcane surrender you and withdraw the protection of Avalon. Your headmaster will need to make a choice.”
I stumble to a stop, my mouth opening and closing as I try to process his words.
“Why?” I finally blurt out, shaking my head even as the word leaves my lips.
It’s a futile question. I know why. I’m not yet at my full potential, and I know they want to handle me.
It is easier to kill me now, before I become the monster they clearly fear.
An enemy that has not yet flourished is easily pruned.
“He knows what you are,” the stranger says, his gaze locked on mine.
That takes me off guard. “What I am?”
He moves in slowly, his long strides swallowing the distance between us. “He called you Seelie .”
I look away, fear curdling within me. It is silly of me not to have expected it. If Aqua knew, there is no way the Unseelie court didn’t. Perhaps he has known since I entered this realm. Had coming to Avalon painted an even bigger target on my back?
The stranger pinches my chin, turning my head and forcing me to meet his eyes. “No more pretending.” He studies my face, my skin tingling beneath his gaze. “You have always been different. But that does not mean you bow to them. You bow to no one.”
I stare up at him, swallowing down my panic. Something within his words emboldens me, and I am grateful to him for the first time in a while.
“Does that scare you?” he asks, his hand still on my chin.
“They want me dead,” I say. It is true, but the words still taste sour. “Perhaps they’ll succeed.” I shrug and look away. “Perhaps they should.”
I am already living with so much pain. Can I handle an eternity of this? I still cling to the Almighty’s words, but they seem so unattainable now. “ You will find more than peace, my child. You will find happiness. Joy. Belonging. ” A tear escapes at the hollow echo of her words.
He tightens his fingers on my chin, forcing my gaze back to his. “So those ancestors who beg and scream for vengeance will go unanswered? You will allow your line to die?”
Why should I care about my line?
“It was never mine,” I say.
“It was always yours.”
I shake my head. “It’s not mine. Nothing has ever been mine .” The horrific truth of those words sends a fresh wave of pain radiating through me.
“I am,” he says, his voice soft but filled with firm conviction. “I always have been.”
A warm emotion I refuse to define unfurls within my chest, and I swallow the lump in my throat. “And so has your throne. Whether you want it or not. It is yours.”
I watch him for a moment, and then I pull away. “I will train with you because my family needs me.”
His jaw tightens. “But?”
I lift my chin, watching him. “But there will be conditions.”
“Conditions?” he asks, crossing his arms over his chest.
I nod.
“What conditions?” His voice is tight.
“No more invading my dreams.”
“Get strong enough to keep me out,” he throws back.
I don’t think so. This is a boundary I need to enforce. “No. You need to stop.”
“Then how will I know you’re strengthening your walls?”
“I’ll show you here. When we train,” I snap back.
He hisses out a breath and starts to pace. “You’re upset about last night.”
I quirk a brow. “What? Why would I possibly be upset? You just invaded my dreams, my room, my private fantasies.”
He has the nerve to smirk. “Your fantasies?”
My hands fist at my slip. “I didn’t mean?.?.?.” I curse under my breath. “You know what I meant.”
“What did you mean?” he asks with a low chuckle, obviously enjoying how flustered I am .
“You?.?.?. you put those thoughts in my head.”
He steps in close, but I refuse to move back. “No I didn’t,” he says, his breath warm against my cheek, and then he tugs my earlobe between his teeth.
A shiver goes through me, but I push him back. “Yes you did.”
“Liar,” he scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest again.
I snarl, my irritation growing with every throb of my core. “It doesn’t happen again. No more watching me in my house or my bedroom.” I clench my fists. “In fact, you will not enter the house or touch me without my permission.”
“Because you feel things when I touch you?” he asks, and I can feel his eyes narrow on me.
“No.” The lie is so deep and potent that it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
I glare at him, having to press my thighs together to try to alleviate the ache between them.
Smug amusement rolls from him, and I know he has noticed.
Deciding to ignore it, I tip my chin up and ask, “Do you accept my terms?”
He tips his head and stares at me for a long moment. “For now,” he -finally says, his tone ominous.
“For now? What the fuck does that mean?” I growl.
“Shall we?” he says, ignoring my question.
“No. Not until you agree to my terms. Not until you make an oath.”
“You want an oath?” His jaw twitches in irritation, and I knew I was right. He had no intention of staying true to his word.
“Yes, I’m not stupid.” I smile. “And I don’t trust you in the slightest.”
He narrows his eyes and gives me an annoyed huff but lowers the glamour around his hand.
Blood pools in his palm as he slices through his skin, and using my rune dagger, I cut into my own hand.
This is the most effective way to create a strong oath.
It is nearly unbreakable. There are ways, but if you do break it, the consequences are grave.
The stranger holds his hand out, and I take it, my palm humming as my blood mixes with his.
“I take it you’ve done this before,” he says, wrapping his large, strong hand around mine.
“The illegal practice of making a blood oath? Strangely enough, no.”
Blood oaths are illegal in every realm, but are still widely used, especially when it comes to realm leaders and royalty. It is the most effective way to ensure a treaty will be upheld, but the wording is essential.
He smirks. “So long as you train with me on your mental walls, I will abide by your wishes.” Our hands start to glow where our blood meets, the light escaping from between our fingers.
“Say them,” I demand, my eyes narrowed.
He lifts his chin. “I won’t enter your dreams. I won’t watch you in your house. I won’t enter your house or touch you without your permission.”
The glow between our hands intensifies, pulses once, and then suddenly extinguishes.
I tug at my hand, trying to get him to let go.
Very slowly, he releases me, sliding his fingers along my palm.
A shiver goes through me, and I look down, watching him trace the circle pierced by a jagged line.
It is the mark of the oath that we will both carry.
The stranger finally pulls back, but I see him flex his hand. He clears his throat, but his voice is still rough when he asks, “Shall we?”
“Fine,” I say, finally looking away from the small mark.
The stranger takes a couple of steps away from me before turning to face me.
He nods, and black tendrils of shadow and smoke float toward me.
I flinch as he invades my mind. It doesn’t hurt, but it feels invasive, and the forest blurs as I see the memories he is searching through.
Images flash through my mind, just quick flickers of them.
He isn’t actually looking at them, but he’s showing me he could.
“Don’t force me out immediately,” he says, stopping me from following through on my instinct to push out the invader. “Familiarize yourself with how it feels. It won’t always be this obvious that someone is doing this.”
His tendrils of power delve deeper, and I growl in warning as he approaches the memory of Connor’s marriage proposal to me.
I have not allowed myself to think about it since he died, and I don’t want to do so now, especially with him.
He steps closer and lifts his hand to cup my cheek, but the oath stops him.
“All right,” he says. There is irritation in his voice, but he lowers his hand. “Now imagine that you’re building a moat, putting something between me and the memory,” he says. “You don’t want to build a wall. That draws too much attention. A moat isn’t as noticeable.”
I try to imagine the memory surrounded by a body of water, but nothing happens. He moves in closer, his warmth seeping into me .
“You need to stop focusing on the memory. Focus on me. The memory is the past, and I am the present.”
I tense, and my concentration breaks.
“And I’m your future.”
“Enough,” I say, opening my eyes.
“Enough?” he asks, pulling free of my mind. I have to crane my neck to look up at him, our bodies are so close.
“With the I’m your future shit. Connor was my future,” I say.
“How long are you going to pretend that’s true, princess?”
“It is true.” I bristle.
“It is not.”
“It is. Any romantic future I had died with him.”
He shakes his head, laughing cruelly. “You wouldn’t have felt it was too soon or too fast when he proposed if that were true.”
I flinch and stare at him in complete disbelief.
“You wanted it to be him, with everything you had, but you weren’t fully you yet.”
I shake my head. “I don’t believe you?.?.?.” The hurt is tearing through me, the anger, the truth. “You know what? Go fuck yourself,” I snarl at him and turn to storm away, but I’ve barely made it four steps when the bond tugs at me.
“You will break the oath if you leave now,” the stranger says smugly.
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!
I turn back to face him. “Fine. Let’s just do this.”
He smirks, and the tendrils of power come at me again.
This time, I close my eyes, focusing, wanting to be done with this and with him.
He once again goes for that memory, but this time, he doesn’t need to explore to find it.
He knows exactly where it is, and his power arrows directly at it.
I try the moat, but he keeps advancing strong and true.
So instead, I sort through my own memories, trying to divert him, but he has his eye on the one he wants.
Just as he’s about to touch it, I slam a wall up, blocking him.
He tsks, and I feel his warmth again. He’s moved closer. “If someone is trespassing, send them to a fake memory, or distract them with fake information. The fae king is renowned for this tactic.”
I struggle to conjure a fake memory, but I manage to conjure one of brunch with Alice. Instead of trying to divert his attention, I make this the only accessible memory, but it’s draining my energy hard .
“Good. Keep it as close to reality as possible. If he trespasses, you don’t want him to suspect you’re aware of his presence.”
A separate tendril winds around the memory, trying to go deeper, and I push him back a little.
He tsks again, and my annoyance surges. “Build a new memory around me, something innocuous.”
My irritation spikes, and I want to hurt him, to piss him off. I pull on the memory of our conversation last year.
You can enjoy the boy because I am held in check by circumstance, but in the end, it will be you and me.
Your name will never be Summer Morningstar.
The words echo over and over, and I feel his muscles lock even though we’re not touching.
You will never be Summer Morningstar.
He pulls away from me, the tendrils of his power exiting my mind quickly, leaving me disoriented and dizzy.
“Did you enjoy that?” he growls.
“You said it,” I say, opening my eyes.
“But you twist my meaning on purpose,” he snaps, moving in closer and looming over me.
I tip my chin up, refusing to back down. “That is exactly what you meant.”
“I never wished for his death.” He doesn’t quite shout, but it is enough to spook the birds resting within the trees overhead.
“But you wished for our end, and you got it.”
“We’re done for today,” he hisses, moving away from me.
“Fucking finally,” I say, turning to storm away. His power whips through my hair as his avatar disappears.