Chapter 6 #2
Huh. Callie had to wonder: did the overarching permission she gave him that afternoon they slept together still count? Or any of the other times she told him he could touch her anywhere? She didn’t know, and if Ash did, he wasn’t giving anything away.
Even his expression went closed off as he said, “Be careful, Callie. Melisandre has eyes and ears everywhere.”
And, yet, he was the one who thought it was a good idea to drag her out to a public place instead of the safety of her warded apartment.
If he really pushed it, she could’ve relocated her pouches so that he could at least step a few feet inside—but he hadn’t pushed it, and Callie did harbor any illusions that it was because he was actually thinking of her for once.
Was this just another set-up? He couldn’t lie, but she would never forget the cold way he made it clear that he told her whatever she wanted to hear.
Maybe he was doing the same thing now.
She didn’t doubt that he was being honest. He was fae; he had no choice but to be honest. And he wasn’t reverting to that confusing double-speak where he said one thing, meant another, and neither was a bald-faced lie.
Talking in absolutes wasn’t what a fae often did, but he was when he said that Melisandre would rather kill Callie now than risk her giving birth to a halfling child that could possibly kill her, she had no trouble believing that.
But to accept that he might actually feel something for her after how callously he dumped her?
That was a little harder.
“Good night, Ash.”
He blinked. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Home. Which is where you should be going.” She pointed over his shoulder. “Look. It’s gonna be sunset soon.” What did he use to call it? “The time of shadows. You’ve gotta be going. Me, too.”
“Not yet.”
She ignored him.
“Calliope—”
It was the name that did it. If he’d used her nickname, she might have been able to stroll right past him with her head held high. But the second she heard him use her real name, she couldn’t stop herself from whirling on him.
“Don’t call me that.”
He cocked his head enough to be obnoxious. “It’s your name. You gave it to me.”
“I gave it to the man who promised me forever, not the asshole who hit it, then quit it.”
The haughty fae would never admit that he didn’t understand what she meant. And maybe he did since he said, “It’s not what you think. What happened in Faerie… if there was more time, I could explain.”
But there wasn’t time, was there? The sun was setting, and even when he’d managed to convince her that he cared for her, that they were made for each other, Ash refused to stay the night no matter how much she begged him to.
To retain his magic, he had to return to Faerie once the shadows came, and he always did.
Just like she was sure he would now.
There was no time, but that didn’t stop Callie from shooting out one last question: “Why are you here, Ash? Why did you really come?”
“Because you’re my mate. You’re carrying my child. My flesh. My blood. My family.”
She scoffed. “You gave that up when you dumped me in front of half of Faerie.”
“I told you. It’s not what you think.”
“And I told you ‘good night’.”
Giving him as wide a berth as the sidewalk allowed, careful not to accidentally brush up against the Light Fae, she started toward the entrance to her apartment building. Right before she stepped inside, she glanced over her shoulder.
And even though he was already gone, disappearing in the few seconds she’d had her back turned on him, she still let out a ragged whisper.
“Good night, Ash. And goodbye.”
Sleep didn’t come easy for Callie.
She managed to slip back into the apartment without drawing attention to her absence. Mitch’s door was still closed, and she shuffled past it before sneaking inside of her room.
For the rest of the night, she tried to put her talk with Ash out of her head.
Like she guessed, once he was gone, fear set in.
But not for herself. Oh, no. Callie was terrified for her baby’s sake, and she used the last of her supplies to build another four packets of the warding recipe that she then placed in the corner of her bedroom for added protection.
She was too nauseous to eat so she skipped dinner, even though she knew she’d regret it come tomorrow. But that was future Callie’s problem. Present Callie was too busy wishing that Past Callie had never invited Ash to her apartment that fateful day in the park.
When Mitch knocked on her door later that night, checking in on her, she pretended she was asleep.
She even threw in a couple of fake snores for good measure.
There was a good chance he knew she was full of shit, but Mitch knew when to leave her alone.
Her thoughtful roommate simply tiptoed away from her door, giving her her space.
That’s when she decided she might as well just go to sleep. Two hours later, she was still awake.
Maybe that’s what she got for faking. Or maybe it was because she just couldn’t stop replaying every second of their interaction over and over again as if looking for some deeper meaning in Ash’s sudden reappearance—and subsequent disappearance—in her life.
Finally, after she gave up on tossing and turning for the countless time, she threw her covers back and eased her aching back out of bed.
Callie winced when her bare feet hit the chilly floor.
Ever since she left Ash out on the sidewalk, she’d been shivering, almost as if he took every last ounce of heat away from her.
Her stomach was unsettled. Though she knew it had nothing to do with skipping dinner, she had her baby to think about. If she was up, she might as well try to get something down.
As she stepped out of her room, she had every intention to head toward the kitchen. But once she had, it was like deja vu. She had the same urge from earlier, the one that told her to walk toward the front door instead.
Callie was too beat to fight against it, especially when she noticed that she was sloughing off her bone-deep chill with every step down the hallway. Not only that, but the sensation that someone was lurking out in the hall was growing stronger and stronger as got closer to the door.
She didn’t know what to expect when she peered through its peephole. This late, there shouldn’t be anything. Ash was long gone, and it wasn’t like they were expecting any visitors.
Still, she had to peek.
No one was there. That actually surprised Callie since she was so sure she had sensed someone lurking on the other side of the door. Then again, on the plus side, that meant that there wasn’t a fae soldier waiting to attack her in the name of his queen.
Callie pursed her lip. Call her sensitive, but the feeling hadn’t faded. For her own sanity, she reached for the first of the locks. If she didn’t at least get a better look, she’d never get to sleep, and she friggin’ knew it.
One lock. Two locks. Three.
Pulling the door in, she looked out in the hall. Nope. It was empty and—
Hang on… what the— oh.
Lying a few inches past the edge of the threshold, Callie found a single flower.
Its bloom was bright yellow, its stem thick and sturdy. Bracing her back with one hand, she squatted low, reaching for the flower with the other.
She recognized it immediately, and what it meant.
A freesia bloom, Ash’s way of reminding her that his was an unconditional love.
And its stem was still warm from his touch...
Even though she refused to brush up against his skin earlier, Callie could sense his aura lingering on the stem. She couldn’t explain why, only that she was certain of it.
Just like she was certain that he had left it for her.
Only… only it was well past midnight. The sun had set hours ago, shadows filling the empty hall.
None of Ash’s kind would choose to stay in the human world once night fell.
Even when they were still together, no matter how much she begged and how he had seemed like he wanted to linger, Ash always left while there was still some light out.
If he didn’t, he’d trade his fae magic for iron sickness.
He’d grow weak, losing his color first, his tether to Faerie next.
To stay in the Iron as one of the Light Fae was to turn his back on Faerie.
It wasn’t quite a death sentence—not like it was for a Dark Fae caught without any shadows to protect them—but it was close.
Callie twirled the stem between her fingers, her heart racing as her exhausted mind tried to fight past what Ash’s gift could mean.
Unconditional love from a fae
It meant he wanted her back.
She gulped.
He wanted her again. And, remembering how he claimed her baby as his child, she realized that he wanted their child, too.
He wanted his family.
Maybe it wasn’t goodbye after all.