Chapter 19 #2
He bends his right leg, resting his ankle on his left knee. “Perhaps you could fuck me for information. Not sure that would get me to talk, but if you can get me begging for your cock in my mouth, maybe I would.”
My brain freezes.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?!”
“Careful. Do you really wanna wake your father and explain why I’m tied up in your bed?”
“He’s not my father,” I mutter as I rub at my brow. “And he won’t wake up—he sleeps like he’s dead.”
Emmrich just chuckles. I should punch him in the face. But it’s a nice face. At any other time, I could see myself doing a lot of things to that face. The thought sends heat burning up my collar into my cheeks, and I pray they haven’t turned red.
His smile tells me they did.
I groan, burying my face in my hands. He’s in control, and he knows it. There has to be a way to turn this around, but I’m running out of time. In my desperation, only one idea comes to mind.
“Please.”
“Hmm?” Emmrich’s brow arches up.
“Please,” I repeat, slumping away from the wall. “None of this makes any sense to me, but my gut tells me my friends are gone, and you know why.”
“What doesn’t make sense?”
“You wouldn’t believe me.”
He just eyes me, waiting, so I briefly explain Caeo and Ellie’s memory problems.
“Sounds like a fae curse,” he says.
… What?
I must have blacked out for a second because the world flipped right-side-up and I have no idea how I’m still standing.
“A fae curse?”
“Yep. Not even a terribly creative one, for that matter.”
Oh, fuck.
“I’m so stupid.” Top of my class, and I couldn’t see a fae curse right in front of me. Shit.
“You’re not. Caeo wears a necklace that prevents mortals from thinking of anything fae related to him. Though it seems to crack if someone pokes at it enough.”
My thoughts stutter to a halt.
What did he just say?
“How in the name of Arandur’s wrinkly sack would you know that?”
Emmrich cocks his head to the side and raises his eyebrows.
“Because I’m fae.”
…
WHAT?
I don’t even know what obscenities tumble out of my mouth. Pain sears my foot as I kick the bed. A ball of ice shatters against the wall that I must have thrown.
I almost fucked a fae. The enemy. Who have been warring with us for thousands of years.
FUCK.
And he has the nerve to watch my outburst like he’s evaluating one of Ellie’s drawings. I hate this man—this fae. I hate this fae!
After releasing a final stream of curses that make little sense, even to me, I collapse on the thin mattress next to him, cradling my throbbing foot. Then I slam my fist against the wall because I don’t learn from my mistakes.
Fuck. That hurt.
“He really does sleep like the dead,” Emmrich notes.
Deep breaths.
Turning to him, I scour the details of his face as I try to calm down, searching for any signs I could’ve missed, like glowing eyes. They seem normal, other than the color.
“Your ear…” I reach out, brushing the tip of the one closest to me. Despite looking like it rounds at the top, a pointy tip slides beneath my fingers. My eyes widen.
“A glamour,” Emmrich says.
“A what?” I bend his ear back and forth to see if anything changes in my vision. Nothing.
“A glamour. We can use our gifts to change our appearance.”
What the fuck…
I release his ear like it’s a hot pan and scoot away. “Fae can look human?”
“Don’t stop. I was enjoying that.”
I glare at him. “Answer the question.”
He sighs. “Yes, we can, but don’t get all paranoid about it. Most of us have no desire to come here.”
My eyes narrow. He’s being awfully forthcoming.
“And you’re just spilling your people’s biggest secrets? Why?”
He tilts his head, his eyes darting across my face. After a second, he speaks. “From what I’ve come to know about you, that seems to be my best option right now.”
Is that some roundabout way of saying he trusts me? My stomach flutters, but I squash the feeling down.
“If you really are fae, how did I catch you so easily?”
“Our gifts fade the longer we’re in your realm, and I’ve been here a long time.
I let my guard down—I hadn’t expected to fight you, and got stuck relying solely on my physical prowess against your foul incantations.
Of course you win.” He tenses against his constraints, and there’s a clear venom behind his words as he eyes the vines.
As much as my brain warns me not to trust a word he says, the rest of me wants to believe he’s telling the truth. It’s probably a terrible idea, but I loosen his restraints. They wilt, crumbling into dust within seconds.
Surprise flashes in Emmrich’s eyes, then he rolls his shoulders, savoring the freedom of his arms.
“Don’t make me regret that,” I grumble. “I can tie you back up faster than you can blink.”
He presses his shoulder into mine and locks eyes with me, the gold within them sparkling.
“I know.”
That was definitely a bad idea. But I can’t back down. I’ve made progress, and Arandur help me, I am not losing control now.
“If you can’t do magic, how are you glamouring your ears?” I flick one of them to make my point.
“I drink a small amount of water from home every day—just enough to maintain it.”
Alright. Now for the big one.
“And your friend? Did he take Ellie?”
Emmrich’s eyes narrow, but he doesn’t say anything.
“If you’re really fae, you can’t lie,” I press. “You said you didn’t know where she was.”
“No, I asked you how I should know where she was.”
“So you do know.”
Our stare-down continues for another moment. A not-insignificant, traitorous part of me hopes he’ll break it by kissing me again.
But he doesn’t.
Instead, he pushes to his feet. “I know where I’m supposed to meet him. If you’d like, you can come, too. It’d be nice to have someone to keep me warm at night.”