Page 16 of The Unseelie Wish

The worst thing was the simple fact that it didn’t matter what she wanted. Not only was it impossible to change how she was going to feel about him, it was a moot point in all this nonsense. How she felt would have no effect on what was going to happen.

Either the treaty would be broken, or not.

Either the wars would start, or not.

Either Valroy used her like a machine gun, or not.

So, there was no point in answering the question of whether or not she loved Izael. It was just more angst, more pain, more suffering.

Rolling onto her other side, she hugged the pillow and bit back the tears that wanted to spill. Talk about pointless—crying was the epitome of useless, especially right now.

Letting out a sigh, she tried to force herself to sleep.

I have to win this game. I have to keep my soul.

No matter what.

CHAPTER FIVE

“I’m going for a walk.” Alex grabbed the keys to the house as she headed for the door the next morning. She had slept like a brick all afternoon and through the night. “Try not to ruin the place while I’m g?—”

Bayodan stopped her by grasping her elbow. Man, for a big dude, he could move quick. “I will accompany you.”

“I’d rather just go by myself.” She pulled her arm out of his hand. It hadn’t been aggressive on his part, and she didn’t feel threatened—the fae were just touchy. She had to remember that. “That’s the whole point of me going for a walk. Some distance. Some time to think.”

“Unfortunately that is at odds with our instructions to protect you from…interference.” He smiled thinly. “I will keep my distance. Cruinn will remain here to safeguard your home.”

With a sigh, she shut her eyes. There was nothing she could do to argue with them, short of turning them into spooky house plants. “Fine. Glamor up, buddy.”

If she expected the human-looking glamor of a thing that resembled Baphomet’s manbaby with Dracula to look any more normal than his hooved version, she was a moron. Because a shimmer later, and she was faced with a guy who would have taken over any goth club he walked into, or looked like he was straight out of a stage production of some 1940s era drama, complete with vest and pocket watch.

“Yeah, you’re gonna blend right in.” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t eat the cat, Cruinn!”

“I would never!” the strange, broken glass shapeshifter called back. “We are the best of friends.”

Alex doubted that, seeing as Pumpkin was doing his level best to ignore the two Unseelie interlopers. Whatever. She opened the door and walked out, trusting Bayodan to shut the door behind him. She headed down the stairs, hands shoved in her pockets. She didn’t know where she was going, and she honestly didn’t know why she wanted to stretch her legs. But she had six days before she was thrust back with Izael and she needed to clear her head enough to think.

And it was really hard to focus with some one-armed goth monolith walking next to her. He even had little circular glasses that reminded her of somebody from an old World War II documentary. He obediently waited outside the bagel and coffee shop she visited. She did get him tea and a scone, however. Just because she didn’t want him following her didn’t mean that she had to be rude about it.

They sat on a bench in the public gardens. Just as she had with Izael after their shopping trip. She frowned down into her coffee. I’m not supposed to miss him.

“You are a fascinating lot,” Bayodan observed as he watched the groups of people crossing through the park. “You are all so very loud.” The sounds of traffic, shouting, hollering, the electronic rush of the electric MBTA buses—it all kind of just became background noise to anybody used to living in the city. But once she really thought about it? Yeah, they were.

Alex shrugged. “People gonna people.”

“It has been a very long time since I was given the opportunity to simply observe humans going about their days.” He tilted his head thoughtfully. His hair was still long, tied back in a simple black ribbon. “I have missed this. Though I do not wish to partake in it.”

She didn’t miss the stares they were getting from people walking by.

“Not a city guy?” She sipped her coffee. “Can’t say I blame you. Noisy, stinky, crowded, expensive. It’s a bit of an acquired taste.”

“Do you enjoy it?”

That took her a second to consider. “Yeah. I guess. I didn’t at first. But I think moving away to somewhere quieter would…I don’t know, make me nervous.”

“The lack of noise would increase your anxiety?” He arched a dark eyebrow at her.

“Yeah. The noise is people. For better or for worse. We’re pack animals, one way or another. We like to congregate. Most of us, anyway.” Shoving a piece of her everything-bagel-light-on-the-veggie-cream-cheese in her mouth, chewing and swallowing before speaking again. “It’s not for everybody, like I said.”