A Thief of Nightshade(60)

She looked at Aislinn then like she had in the cell that night. “He won’t hurt me, Ian. Not once he figures out why we lied to the Goblin King and why I sent Aubrey on ahead of us.”

She turned away from him and spoke softly

with

Ian,

who

had

finally

dismounted, perhaps assuring him that she would be fine. Aislinn wasn’t certain what was said because he was too busy arguing with himself. He frankly didn’t care where they were going or why. He didn’t trust any Fae and now he was beginning to develop serious issues with Shades. The fa?ade of assistance was just that, a fa?ade. Agincourt had no reason to fight the Winter Court, not when its King’s mortality was at stake.

Ian glared at Aislinn as he rose to his feet. “Touch one hair on her head, just one, and you’ll spend the rest of your days longing for when you were merely Ellohim.”

“Ian,” Given warned.

“Out of curiosity, why are you willing him silent?”

Aislinn

had

assumed

that

his

muteness was part of the spell, but as Given answered, he realized he’d been wrong.

“He has reason to hate our kind. His life as a human and his brother have both been taken from him by my mother and he heard me claim that fetid waste of Lyr as more than merely my own flesh and blood, but as my Queen. I doubt he has anything pleasant to say to me.”

Ian smiled, seeming pleased with her response. Before he mounted his horse, he gave Aislinn one more testing glance and then rode off, leaving them alone in the sanctuary of the woods.



Given turned to Aislinn, a curious look on her face. “What would you say to me if you could speak, I wonder? Would you even bother asking why I care about the Winter Court’s dealings? Or would you assume my actions malevolent no matter what my answer?” She paused.

“Doesn’t matter. You may think whatever you like. I’m not risking my life to save you. I’m risking it to save Avalar.”

Aubrey hurt with more than just fleeting pain; it was as if her soul had been sheared

away

and

only

negligible

remnants of what had once been a person remained. Bone. Muscle. Blood. Little else.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten anything. Harry offered her a place to stay but she decided ultimately the only place she wanted to be if she couldn’t be with Jullian was home. So wearing an old sweatshirt of Jullian’s and a ragged pair of yoga pants, she sat on the couch staring into the fireplace. No fire burned there, though it was plenty cold.

She just couldn’t muster the will to light it.

Aubrey felt Jullian’s absence with every breath she took. Worse than even the first few days of his disappearance, now she’d been taunted with hope and it had made living that much harder. Her mother had admitted to giving her something to calm her nerves at the graveside service and Aubrey had assumed it was the reason for her hallucinations. Knowing this gave her absolutely no comfort, nor did it remove the image of Avalar now permanently engraved in her mind.

How much time had passed since the funeral? It felt like days, weeks even.

Time had no meaning to her anymore because she slept all day and then when darkness fell she sat alone on the back deck gazing into shadows.

“Here, drink this.” Samantha walked out of the kitchen with a mug of tea in her hands and flipped on the television on her way to Aubrey.

Aubrey forced herself to sit upright and took the tea, sipping it and wondering over its lack of flavor. Nothing had any taste anymore. “Thanks,” she murmured.

“Aubs, I’m worried about you. You never go anywhere or see anyone. Harry called me again this morning.” Sam smiled sadly as she tossed the remote onto the couch beside Aubrey. “Here, it’s too quiet in this house.”

“Go where? Do what?” she asked half-heartedly because she didn’t expect an answer. How could she possibly tell Samantha what was really on her heart?

“Anywhere. You need to get out of this house, get away from everything that reminds you of him. This isn’t healthy.”

The thought of leaving the house paralyzed her with fear, though she couldn’t say why. She needed to be near him, near things Jullian had touched, places he’d gone. It felt like more than just grief. She touched her chest, thinking that she should feel something beneath her hand besides the soft cotton sweatshirt, but she didn’t know what.

“Come over to my place tonight. I’m having some people over. It’ll be good for you. You need human interaction.” Sam touched Aubrey gently on the shoulder.

“See you at seven?”

Aubrey shrugged. “Seven.”

A few minutes later, Aubrey heard the front door close and the sound of Sam’s truck as she pulled out of the driveway. Then nothing, as it had been since she could remember leaving the lake cabin.

Yet,

there

should

have

been

something, she felt sure of it. Aubrey stood up, set the mug on the end table and listened. Deafening silence greeted her.

She tried to remember, but came up blank, and was about to go upstairs to shower and change clothes when she glanced indifferently at Jullian’s grandfather clock that stood sentinel in the foyer. The pendulum still swung and the hands moved, keeping accurate time, but there was