Page 56 of Hunted

“You are a rebel in your heart. You do not wish to be told what to do, or where to go, or who to be with. But perhaps now you are starting to understand, there is a greater power at work that binds us all. A power that we cannot rebel against, or manipulate, or change.”

I felt a knot tie itself in my stomach and pull again, only this one did not feel good. This one felt big, and dangerous, and dreadful. Moreso now than it had ever been before. I still hadn’t told him about the power that had brought us here, about the deal I had made, about the way that I had changed my fate and his with my selfish recklessness.

I was still holding onto this secret, this awful secret; a secret that threatened to split us apart and set us aflame like a bolt of lightning striking a tree. I could see goodness in him. Kindness, patience in those eyes. Patience like I didn’t know. But the longer I carried this secret with me, the more that patience and kindness would be tested when I told him.

I had to tell him.

I had to do it.

But how could I do it when he was looking at me like this? How could I tell him when his hand was on my cheek, and his blue eyes burned with a kind of warmth like I had never seen in a man’s eyes before. Warmth that seemed to burn for me, and only me.

He was right. All this time I had rebelled against my parents, against my duties, against the Royal Selection. I didn’t want to marry one of those pampered Fae Lords. I told myself it was because I wasn’t ready for love, but love had nothing to do with the Royal Selection. It was all Fate, duty, and obligation. Love was a concept that was almost alien to the Winter Fae.

So alien, in fact, that it was my mother’s love for my father that broke apart the most powerful, and dangerous magic maelstrom the entire Winter Kingdom had ever seen; the Veridian.

But I wasn’t fully Fae.

I could feel things other Fae couldn’t, and I was starting to realize, I didn’t want to accept the Royal Selection—not because I wasn’t ready for love, but because if I was going to marry anyone, Ineededlove… and I didn’t think I would find it in Arcadia.

I still didn’t think I was going to find it there.

But maybe here…

“Are you alright?” Valerian asked.

I blinked away the thoughts, the trance I had fallen into. “I’m sorry…”

Valerian seemed confused. “What are you sorry about?”

I smiled at him, leaned toward him, and gently kissed the side of his face. “It’s nothing,” I said. “How about we make some breakfast?”

Valerian’s eyebrow raised. “By we… do you meanme?”

“I can watch? I can cheer you on! My encouragement will be my contribution.”

“Or… I can teach you a thing or two. Maybe you can learn to cook for yourself.”

“I don’t care who cooks,” Tallin said from the door to the cottage. “But I’m absolutely famished.” The little Winter Sprite’s eyes were barely open, and he was pawing at his small, black nose.

“Come on,” Valerian said, “Let’s see what they’ve got in that kitchen for us.”

Hand in hand we entered the cottage, with Tallin falling in behind us. I was well aware I had left my secret out in the snow, but this just… wasn’t the right time to bring it up. It simply wasn’t.

At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.

What I was going to keep telling myself.

CHAPTERNINETEEN

The new moon waxed, giving a bare sliver of light to what would become the crescent tomorrow. Already I could see it, up in the night sky, the slightest outline of silvery light. I found it strange that I was looking up at a moon that was both entirely alien, and familiar at the same time.

Humans have been there,I found myself thinking.

That was fascinating to me. I had never heard of the Fae reaching into the heavens and touching Arcadian moons. No one had ever referred to Arcadia as a planet before. It was just… Arcadia. And there were no pictures of it, but there were of Earth. The Fae probably didn’t care enough. Humans did, though. They had such curiosity, and wonder, and passion.

I got those same traits from my mother.

“Taking a break?” I heard Valerian ask.