Road To Winter (Fae's Captive #2)(6)

“A boon!” She claps her hands and the wooden spoon continues stirring even though she’s let it go. “I am to give you a boon, and then I can return to my bones.”

“A boon means something good, right?”

“Good. Yes.” She sits next to me on the log, her joints crackling. “What would you like?”

I open my mouth to respond.

She presses her finger to her lips. “Shh. You don’t get to pick.”

Utterly confused, I cock my head at her.

“Selene gets to pick. Those were the terms. I promised a boon, but didn’t say you could pick. I know what you want. Or at least it’s what you think you want.”

“To go home.”

“Yep, that’s the one.”

I grow breathless at the thought of returning to the human world. Home! Back to my books and my dorm and my exams. Sadness trickles through the thought as I realize it means leaving Leander behind. Maybe I don’t feel a bond, but I have warmed to him in the past few days. There’s something about him that draws me close. And the kiss we shared—I grip my fingers tighter—was the most exhilarating moment of my life. The way his lips moved over mine, the possession in his grip. I’ve never felt so desired, so needed.

“Mmhmm.” Selene clasps her hands around one knee.

I try to keep my tone light, despite the distinct lack of air in this part of the woods. “What?”

“I know the thoughts in your pretty head. The bond. That’s what it is. You just don’t realize it yet.”

I stand and cross my arms over my stomach. “Okay, so about going home. That’s the boon I want.”

“No.” She rises and waves a hand at me. “That would be a terrible boon indeed. Not worth the trouble. Besides, do you believe your mate wouldn’t come for you?” She laughs, a bit more agreeable than her usual cackle. “He would come on the winter wind and whisk you away in a storm of snow and ice the likes of which the human world has never seen. You’d wind up right back in Arin, probably in his bed, screaming his name.”

“So that’s a ‘no’ then?” I sigh.

“I choose the boon.”

“If it’s all the same to you, why not just give me what I want and send me home?” I puff my breath out, sending a lock of my hair floating up.

“Because …”

I sink back down beside her. “Because what?”

“You apologized.” She looks directly at me, and I swear I could sense something underneath the black skin and sharp teeth. Or maybe it’s someone, someone who isn’t quite as evil as billed. “And no one has ever done that to Selene. Not since I became…” She glances down at her black body and the shredded gray dress that barely covers her.

“What happened to you?” I can’t stop the pity that blooms in my breast.

“That’s an old story. One that I will tell you one day.” She presses her palm to her forehead. “Yes, I have seen it. Only forgotten. I go to my cave to forget, to silence the voices. To make it all stop.” She snaps her teeth. “Out here it all comes alive again—the knowledge, the T-M-I you spoke of.”

I snort at her TMI reference.

She stands and peers into her cauldron again. “And now I remember your boon. What is promised, what I must give.”

“So, not a way home?”

“A way to live.”

“I don’t understand.” I rub my face and realize how tired I am. This ordeal doesn’t seem to end, not since I first woke up in that cell, and it’s taking a toll on me.

“I followed you through these trees as if you were a dark orb, flickering purple and emerald. A shiny sparkle that drew me ever closer.” She blinks slowly. “That aura is part of what you are.”

“And what’s that?”

“TMI.” She waggles her finger at me. “You are a beacon to any creature from the Spires. Spirits from dark lands will come for you. Maybe out of curiosity. Maybe for a taste of whatever shines so beautifully in midnight tones.”

I chew my lip. “I don’t like being seen. This place is scary enough without this glow that you’re talking about, making me a magnet for bad things.”

“Not bad. Evil.”

Exasperation doesn’t begin to cover what I’m feeling. If she knows so much, why won’t she just tell me instead of talking in riddles? But I can already tell that any direct questions will get me nowhere. Doesn’t stop me from trying. “Why do I glow for evil?”

“Didn’t say for evil. Just said you glow, and it’s a lure to dark ones like me.” She grabs the spoon again and reaches deep into the swirling, smoking cauldron. “There it is.” Straightening, she pulls a pea from the end of the spoon.

“What is it?”

“Eat it.” She hands it to me.

“What is it?” I take it from her and inspect it. It looks just like a pea. Green, round, and my least favorite vegetable.

“It’s like a—” She pulls a tattered hood over her hair. “Cloak. Hides your glow. Hides you until you are ready to no longer be hidden.”

“When’s that?” I hold up a hand. “TMI, I know.”

“T-M-I.” She nods. “Eat it.”