Page 63 of Magic Cursed
Elsie smooths her dress. “This isn’t some procuring job. It’s clear that you’re in over your head. We’re going to stay just long enough to be sure you don’t get yourself killed.”
I roll my eyes. “Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence.” But I can’t force them to go back. “I really hope you don’t regret your decision.”
“I regret not having my wings and fangs,” Elsie says, curling her upper lip and running her tongue across her flat canines. “Helping one of our own, I won’t regret that.”
Tuuk looks at me thoughtfully and nods once, sharing Elsie’s sentiment.
Despite the dangerous circumstances, I smile, my heart filling with warmth. When did they start thinking of me as one of their own? Have I really been so blind with my distrust to see that I’ve had friends all along? I thought they merely tolerated me because they needed me. But if that were true they wouldn’t be here now. And with that knowledge, more than ever, I need to stop the Regent and keep them all safe.
Elsie and Tuuk leave shortly, and I settle into bed. I lay on my cot waiting for sleep to take me when a familiar invisible pull tugs at me. I sit upright. It’s the same feeling that I’d felt that night in the castle when I found Daimis having a clandestine meeting in the greenhouse. I wait for a moment, eyes open in the dark, to see if maybe it was a fluke. It tugs at me again and I curse. Looks like I’m not getting any sleep tonight.
I slide on my boots and cloak before leaving my tent for the cold night air. The wind pulls at my unbound hair. I move it out of my face and scan my surroundings. Scattered clouds blot out the stars in sections, but the moon allows for plenty of visibility. I spot two Steel Guards slowly circling the Regent’s tent. They’re smart to think he needs protecting. And interesting that none are stationed at Daimis’s tent. It’s almost too obvious where the guards’ loyalties lie.Traitors.
The tugging urges me to move away from the river, into the tree line. I make sure my footfalls are silent as I make my way in the direction the feeling is urging me toward. With the wind and the river drowning out any small noises, I slip past the guards with ease.
I weave through the trees until they open up to a small lake. Daimis is leaning over the water’s edge where a dim blue light illuminates from just under the surface. He’s talking to the glowing spot in the lake in a low murmur.Magic is definitely at play here.
I slowly creep closer until I see a beautiful woman’s lit-up face on the surface of the water. Magic is somehow projecting her image. A form of communication through long distances? I didn’t even know that was possible.
Irrational anger burns in me at seeing Daimis secretly meeting with a beautiful woman.Jealousy? Why would I be jealous? Daimis and I are just friends. And yet, there it is, painful and bitter. Daimis isn’t mine, I remind myself. But that’s not entirely true. He is my friend, he is my confidant, my partner in creating a better Thaaryn. But that gives me no right to be jealous of who he spends his time with.
When I dare a bit closer, to try and hear what they’re saying, I spot the woman’s very apparent pointed ears peeking out of her long dark hair.She’s fae.I gasp.
Chapter18
Fae
Daimis whips his head around to me and the image disappears with a burst of wind that whips my hair back and sways the nearest trees.
Daimis looks from me to the now normal lake, then back to me again. At first, his eyes are wide, like he’s been caught stealing. After a moment, his face grows hard. Good, whether or not I have any right to be jealous, the bitter feeling has me primed for a fight. Besides, he shouldn’t be hiding things from me when we’re supposed to be partners. He closes the distance. “What are you doing here, Demon-slayer?” he asks in a hushed voice.
“Me? What areyoudoing?”
“And here I thought we had moved past the point where you spied on me.”
I roll my eyes. “I wasn’t spying on you. . .Well, not intentionally. But maybe I should be, since you’re still keeping secrets from me.”
“Right, because you’re not hiding any secrets of your own?”
I put my hands on my hips and take a step forward. “If you have something you want to ask me, Princess, just ask it.”
He steps closer. “How do I know I’ll get an honest answer?”
I huff a laugh. “You don’t.”
“That’s honest, at least. Why are you following me?”
“I told you; I wasn’t.”
He raises his brows. “Another late-night walk in your nightgown then?”
“In the name of transparency, I felt a…pull.” I shake my head looking for the right way to describe what it was. “Like an invisible tugging that urged me to come to this exact place. I don’t know what it is, but I felt it the night I found you in the greenhouse too.”
He studies me closely. A gust of wind blows my hair in my face. He reaches out and moves the lock from my eyes. His fingers brush the skin on my cheek, and I freeze. Goosebumps rise on my skin, but I feel anything but cold.
“Okay,” I manage, my voice airy. “I answered you honestly. Your turn. Were you just talking to a fae?”
“I was,” he says simply.