Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
When Abel pulled up his carpet beside mine, I pressed my lips into a tight line.
His carpet hovered only inches away since we flew at the same altitude.
And of course, he flew so closely that we nearly brushed into each other.
The only option I had to ditch him was to dive into the slower-moving traffic below and hope he wouldn’t follow. Not ideal.
Dammit. I’d been too caught up in chatting with Ree that I’d been oblivious as Abel snuck up on me.
Obviously, my plan to outrun him in the capital wasn’t happening.
To make matters worse, once we got to the Wood, it would be even harder to lose him.
Since fae weren’t allowed to fly above the trees, I had to travel on the Wood’s road.
I sighed. All in all, I didn’t have many options to avoid him unless I wanted to choose a slower path, and that was still no guarantee he would leave me alone. He might just follow me there too.
“Didn’t you hear me calling you earlier? You didn’t reply.” Abel inclined his head toward me, and his amber eyes flashed. “Prim? Hello?”
I kept my attention straight ahead. “No, I didn’t hear you, but I can tell you if I had, I still would have ignored you. What can I do for you, Abel?” Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a sly grin spreading across his lips.
“So formal. Really, Prim, why the sour mood? As I mentioned earlier, I thought two heads together were better than one.”
I snorted. “Using that logic, the more that accompany us, the better. In that case, why not ask Lexer to join us too?” I was pretty sure I’d heard a rumor that another neighbor of ours was planning to hunt the Stone.
Abel’s brows snapped together. “Lexer? You want Lexer with you?” Jealousy clouded his aura, thick and menacing.
His aura brushed against my Shield—the magical barrier fae could erect to protect themselves against others’ magic—and the feel of him made me want to recoil. But I forced myself not to show any outward reaction.
“No, Abe, I don’t want you or Lexer to travel with me. I thought I’d made that abundantly clear.” I eyed the meager supplies on Abel’s carpet. He would be lucky if he packed enough food to last him a few days, and he didn’t seem to have any bedding. Perhaps he planned to stay at inns each night.
Or . . .
I narrowed my eyes. “Were you hoping to mooch off my supplies? Is that why you raced to catch up with me?”
His expression flattened, and his tone turned growly. “Of course not. You know how I feel about you. I don’t know why you keep fighting it. Besides, we’ll work better together as a team, even if you packed more than me.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Work better together for whom? You? Or me?”
“Both of us.”
“No thanks.”
“I wasn’t asking.”
Irritation prickled my skin. “That’s the problem, Abel. You never ask. You just force. And no matter how many times I tell you that I’m not interested in you, you refuse to give up.”
“Males like a chase. Don’t you know that? And I know a huge part of your refusals are because you enjoy playing hard to get.”
I gritted my teeth. We’d had this exact conversation so many times over the past two summers. He would never see reason, and I really needed to learn that I was wasting my breath every time I argued with him.
I flew around another street corner and replied icily, “It doesn’t matter if you were asking or not. I’m not interested. Leave me alone, Abe. I mean it.”
A flare of darkness wafted in his aura, roiling around him like a demon and completely overpowering his earlier jealousy. “There’s no reason for you to act like a witch to me.”
“A witch. Did you seriously just call me that?”
He scoffed. “Well, you’re acting like one.”
Magic heated inside me. It was so tempting to put him in his place once and for all.
So tempting. But then my uncle’s teachings from my childhood reared up.
The teachings he and Gwenery had infused into me over and over until it became so automatic that I sometimes forgot I even possessed the extraordinary magic that I’d been born with.
“You must never control another, Prim. Never. Free will is every fairy’s right. You must respect that and subdue your temper. Always.”
I took another deep breath and released my ire, then said in a calm tone, “Go away, Abel. I don’t know how much clearer I can be. Leave me alone.”
I commanded my carpet to veer right. I shot into an alleyway so abruptly that the beverage Verin had packed for me tumbled right off the carpet. Abel’s curse carried through the air, but I didn’t slow to collect the bottle. I needed to lose my neighbor.
But my swift maneuver didn’t deter the soddy bastard. I’d only just reached the next street when his shout came.
“Goddess Above! Stop, Prim!”
I clenched my teeth together and commanded my carpet to go faster.
I shot forward. Wind flew over my cheeks. Yells from fae I passed along the busy streets rang through my ears. I would have called out apologies to them, since I was speeding and going much too fast for city streets, but that would only distract me from getting away.
Shoulders hunched forward, I zoomed around corners, soared close to rooftops, and veered down each new lane I encountered. I was determined to lose Abel once and for all, and if speed was needed to do that, then so be it.
Yet, each time I glanced over my shoulder, eyes watering in the fierce wind, it was only to see a distant Abel valiantly trying to catch up.
Muttering beneath my breath, I pulled on a stream of my telekinetic magic. Using one’s magic on others was illegal, but if I didn’t use my magic on him directly and instead used it on objects . . .
Behind me, boxes stacked in the street toppled into Abel’s path, and flags hanging from homes and shops reached out to try and snare him.
“Prim! You . . .” Abel roared.
But I didn’t stop, and I drowned out his reply since he was likely calling me a witch again.
Luckily, my new attempts began to work, and Abel fell farther and farther behind me.
A smile bloomed across my face. “Thank the stars.”
I zoomed around another corner, wanting to put a few more streets between Abel and me before I slowed to a normal pace. Behind me, my supplies heaved, shifting beneath the carpet’s magical bands and groaning when they rubbed into one another. But I didn’t slow.
Keeping up my dangerous pace, I dared a final glance over my shoulder.
Abel was nowhere to be seen.
Grinning, I turned back around and began to whisper a slowing command to my carpet, but my stomach shot into my throat.
A male was standing directly in my path, and I was less than a second away from hitting him.
Even though my carpet would have done something to avoid the collision—since its magic didn’t allow them—the carpet’s magic didn’t fully protect me.
Like Verin’s bottle, I’d made the fatal error of not securing myself to the carpet as diligently as I’d done with my supplies, so when my carpet came to a jolting stop, I didn’t.
I flew through the air, limbs twisting, eyes wide. The wall of a house neared.
Oh shite.
I squeezed my eyes shut and braced myself for a bone-crunching impact.
A whip of air elemental magic abruptly flared.
Before I could hit the wall, the elemental magic wrapped around me. My airborne tumble slowed, my momentum disintegrating.
In my next breath, I plummeted downward, and then two hard arms curled around me.
I blinked.
“What . . . how . . .” My chest heaved. I gulped and tried to process everything. The very male I’d nearly hit held me. We were crouched only an arm’s length from the house I’d almost smashed into, and his air element had miraculously saved my neck from being broken.
A low discontented rumble vibrated the male’s chest, but his words were calm when he said, “Might I suggest securing yourself better next time you decide to fly at an illegal rate through the capital?”
His voice was deep and smooth. A tingle radiated down my spine. “I’m . . . I’m sorry.”
I peered upward and was rewarded with a glimpse of piercing blue eyes.
Dark hair upon his head ruffled in the breeze, and the hilt of a sword stood up from his back.
Rugged features that were smooth and devoid of any real expression snagged my attention.
But unlike his veiled demeanor, my eyes widened in surprise as I took in his features.
Gods . . .
He was likely the most handsome male I’d ever seen.
For a moment, all I could do was stare at him, then I finally found my voice again. “I . . . I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you, or rather, I did, but not until the last moment. I completely apologize, but I was trying to—”
A rush of wind, indicating another carpet had just stopped near us, blew over my face.
“Why are you touching her?” Abel’s terse tone cut off my thoughts. “Let her go. Immediately!”
My entire body tensed, and my spirits plummeted.
Abel hovered above us, standing indignantly on his carpet as hatred flashed in his eyes while he gazed upon the stranger who held me.
I sighed in exasperation. Apparently, I hadn’t lost my neighbor after all.
“Who are you?” the stranger asked calmly, his tone and expression giving away nothing.
Abel sneered. “I’m her betrothed.”
I huffed and glared at Abel. “No, you are most definitely not my betrothed.”
“Well, I will be. It’s just a matter of time.” Abel glared at the stranger again. “Unhand her. Now!”
The stranger’s arms tightened, and his gaze shot upward. The angle gave me a clear view of his square jaw and the strong lines of his throat. “She said you’re not her betrothed.” His tone dipped, a low warning in it.
Something gleamed in Abel’s eyes as he and the stranger stared off. Something I’d never seen before. And my neighbor’s aura felt positively insane.
That was new, and a moment of unease slithered through me, especially since the Stone’s legend said things like this could happen. Fae who were hunting the Stone could change. Become dangerous. Become unhinged.