House of Lies and Sorrow (Fae of Rewyth #1)(24)

“Those bastards drew blood,” he announced. “The people in this room are the only people we tell about this. Nobody else finds out until we know who we can trust.”

Serefin nodded.

“If anyone so much as lifts a finger toward Jade, I will kill them. And I’ll have fun ripping their heads from their useless bodies.”





CHAPTER 10





Malachi





“What about your father?” Serefin asked.

“Someone expects Jade to be dead. Get rid of the bodies. Let’s go see who’s surprised when they see her alive and well,” I said.

The next few hours mixed together in a blur of rage and fear.

Serefin took care of the bodies, but Jade didn’t take her eyes off the severed head until the bodies were out of view.

I couldn’t even look at her. She was covered in blood, most of it not hers. Her black hair had matted with it, and the shirt of mine she wore had ripped at the torso during her struggle.

He never should have touched her. I should have stopped it.

But here we were.

Serefin had left a few minutes ago, but Jade still hadn’t moved from the floor.

“You have to eat something,” I said in an attempt to break the silence in the room.

She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

“Jade,” I said again. “You faced an entire pack of wolves over a dead rabbit in the woods. Certainly a couple of rogue men aren’t that bad.”

I tested the waters, trying to get any reaction out of her. Anything to let me know she was actually alive in there.

“What was that?” she asked. “You didn’t even touch them and they…”

“It’s a special gift of mine. I can inflict severe pain on anyone with a single thought. It takes focus, but it comes in handy.”

She nodded.

Her dark eyes snapped to mine. “That can’t happen again,” she said, her voice was barely a whisper and I tried not to react when it cracked.

“No,” I replied quietly. “It can’t, and it won’t.” She wouldn’t even look at me. I wasn’t sure if she had been talking about the attack, or me.

“So what do we do? We don’t know who wants me dead. We don’t even know who those people were who…”

“From now on you’ll either be with me or Serefin at all times. It would take an entire army to kill one of us, princess. You’re safe. It might not feel like it, but you’re safe.”

She pushed herself from the ground and stood up. “I want to see my sister,” she said.

I waited for a second for her to add something to that statement.

But she just stared at me.

“Absolutely not,” I answered.

She scowled and crossed her arms. “She expected me to die last night. I expected to die. I have to tell her I’m okay.”

“You’re covered in blood and you’re cut. You’re not going anywhere, especially when we don’t know who wants you dead. You’re not okay.”

I watched her chest rise and fall. If she wasn’t in shock yet, she would be soon.

But based on the amount of blood she had yet to wash off, she wasn’t handling this well.

“If you take me to see my sister, I’ll help you find out who did this. We both want the same thing. Me alive. Do this one thing for me and I’ll help you.”

Any other day, I would have said no. I would have said Saints no. But even covered in her attackers’ blood, Jade was the most stubborn human I had ever met.

That was going to be dangerous. But it could also be useful in the fae court.

I looked at her from head to toe. Her bare feet looked so small against the stone tile of the floor. Her exposed legs were tan, something I was sure she had earned from hunting outside all the time. She was skinny. Too skinny. I was going to have to strengthen her up if she was going to fight off a fae.

And she still held that knife. Her knuckles were white from her grip.

“Fine,” I said. I didn’t know if it was a lie, or if I was actually giving in. “I’ll take you back to your house. But you do everything I tell you, no arguing anymore. And you have to actually trust me if you want to survive in Rewyth, princess. And I decide when we leave, so don’t go bugging me about it every day. You’re staying here for now.”

Her eyes lit up, but she kept her face still. “Don’t call me princess,” she repeated as she walked past me and into the bathroom. “And quit looking at me like I’m fresh meat. It’s not a good look on you.”

I waited until I heard her step underneath the water again before I let out the breath I was holding.

Her sass would have annoyed me to no end any other day, but today, I found myself smiling.

She had seen me rip a man’s head from his body, and she was still able to crack jokes. That was a good start.

But we had a long way to go if Jade was going to stay alive.





CHAPTER 11





Jade





Malachi had been gone for hours. I spent a majority of the night trying to sleep, but it was impossible.

Everything I thought I knew was wrong, and Malachi had power that I had only heard about in ancient legends.