Heart of the Fae (The Otherworld #1)(112)

Silence rang louder than screams. Sorcha held her breath and counted the seconds that passed by until she heard the click of a lock.

Rosaleen opened the door and peeked through the crack. “It’s not pretty in here.”

“I know.”

“We’re not pretty anymore.”

“You will always be beautiful. Even when you are old and grey and wrinkled.”

The door opened completely. Open sores spread across Rosaleen’s body where they had tried to extract the beetles. Burn marks scarred her cheeks and circular brands traveled her arms like chains.

Sorcha ghosted her fingers over one. “What are these?”

“The healers said they knew how to stop the beetles for good. It didn’t work.”

Resolve straightened Sorcha’s spine. A beetle moved underneath her sister’s skin, traveling across the high plane of her clavicle. She could stop this. She could help, and Bran was right.

She had found her purpose, and she refused to give up.

Sorcha pulled her sister into her arms, hugging her tight. “I’m here, little sister. I’m going to keep you alive.”

“Where were you?”

“The Otherworld.”

“With the faeries?”

“Yes.”

“We always thought you were a changeling.”

Sorcha smiled. “I’m not. I’m a druid.”

“Are you going back?”

Sorcha stared into the darkness of the brothel. Shadows moved, clung to bodies, and her sisters entered the room. Her father shuffled from his bedroom and leaned against the door frame.

Their clothing hung on their skeletal frames. Hollow cheeks and haunted gazes stared at her as if she were their salvation. Sorcha knew that she was. She would expend every bit of her energy healing them.

She kissed the top of Rosaleen’s head.

“Yes. Yes, I am going back.”





Afterword


And thus ends the first part of Heart of the Fae.

I hope you enjoyed reading this just as much as I enjoyed writing it. This story was an adventure in every page, and the characters more beloved than any I have written before.

Part 2 is titled Veins of Magic : Find it here!

Well met, and blessed be.