Through the Fire (Daughter of Fire, #1)(36)

The heat from the dish welcome against my cold fingertips. Warmth radiated back into the depths of my body and revitalized the sunbird. A good meal and some time inside would be enough to satiate her for a while. Placing the bowl on the table, I reached for a spoon and tried some of the soup.

Closing my eyes, I relished the sensation of the warm liquid pouring over my parched throat. Satisfied that I was finally getting some nourishment, Aiden continued with his own meal.

“I have a confession,” he said after a few minutes of eating in silence. “When I said I knew what you are, I was not entirely truthful.”

Swallowing another mouthful of soup, I asked, “What do you mean?”

“I know that you are something other, obviously. It is impossible to ignore that fact. A single glance could confirm it for me because your aura is positively on fire. I am merely left a little uncertain as to exactly what you are.”

“Does it really matter?” I asked. Telling my story didn’t come easily to me. Even though he’d given me no reason to doubt anything he’d said so far, he hadn’t done anything to actually earn my trust either.

His eyes narrowed as he assessed me. “Maybe not, but will you confirm it for me if I do guess your true nature correctly?”

I shrugged, figuring that there was little harm in letting him guess. “Sure, why not?”

“Certainly nothing I have encountered before, so something a little higher on the exotic scale than my usual acquaintances.” He waggled his eyebrows at me as he said the word “exotic” before popping a piece of bread into his mouth.

While he thought, I continued to eat in silence. Grabbing a small plate, I piled up a little of almost everything. Despite my hunger, I ate with care. As good as it was to eat, my empty stomach twisted.

“Banshee?” he asked suddenly before shaking his head. “No, you do not have”—he pointed toward his throat—“the voice.”

Knowing that I’d probably overdone the food a little, considering it was my first meal in a number of days, I leaned back in my seat. “Is that your best guess?”

“Au contraire, I have only just commenced my speculations.” Shaking his head, he grinned widely. “However, if you will not tell me what you are, will you at least concede who you are? I have given you my name; will you not give me yours in return?”

Recognizing that I hadn’t keeled over from the food and that there weren’t any guns being pointed at me, I decided that I could trust him with the basics, like my name. “Evelyn.”

He shook his head. “Nope, definitely not. It is not at all suitable.”

“What’s not suitable? My name?”

Tilting his head to the side, he stared at me. “You do not look like an Evelyn. You look more like a Lynda. Yes, that is far more suited to you.”

“But my name’s Evelyn.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why?”

“Why did you choose that name?” he asked.

“I didn’t choose it, it was given to me.”

“So you have been encumbered with a name in which you did not have a choice? That hardly seems fair. In fact, it is an extraordinarily human concept.” He flashed me another cheeky smile. “So . . . something raised by humans then, but certainly not a changeling. There is nothing remotely fae about you.”

“You’re strange. You know that, right?” I asked.

“We are all of us a little strange if you were to dig deep enough.” He laughed. “If you insist that your name is Evelyn, which I am still not entirely sure you should, can I at least call you Lynnie? It is a fairer sounding name for a fairer looking lady.”

“Most people call me Evie,” I said. My eyes fell to the table as I thought about all the people who had called me that—all the people who were now lost to me forever. Maybe it was time for a change. “But Lynnie’s fine.”

“Well, Lynnie.” He grinned widely at the nickname. “I probably should have mentioned about the food.”

“It is poisoned, isn’t it?” I asked, gulping at the queasy sensation in my stomach. Maybe he was Rain after all, and he just wanted to trick me into admitting I was something other before he killed me. As I glanced around for a quick exit, the world shimmered and my head spun.

“No, it is not tainted by poison, but it is enchanted.”

Colors I hadn’t known the human eye could see appeared around objects in a hazy glow filled my mind. Everything took on a different perspective than ever before.

“I do apologize for the ruse,” he said with a grimace. “However, you need to be a fae or enchanted by one to enter my court. Aside from that, you really did need a good feed.”

Looking around the tiny room, it seemed to shift and change the more I swept over the area: a long brown table filled it one moment, a white-marble table the next. Pressing the heel of my palms into my eyes, I tried to rub away the images. There almost appeared to be two worlds pressing against each other in the tiny space—one small and sparsely decorated, the other massive and ornate in stark white, grays, and gold.

“It is a little disorienting at first, but I guarantee you will soon find it very normal. You have a fire in you that will enable you to handle it well.”

“You see all of this too?” I asked, shaking my head slightly to try to separate the images in my mind.