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“It isn’t. I swear.”

“Just the part about you being a fae.” I snort. “What kind of fae are you?”

“It doesn’t matter right now. It’s not safe. We need to get moving. We’ll talk later…I swear.”

Curse the gods, he’s right. As much as I want to argue, I can’t. Those guards will be back soon enough.

“Where do we go?”

“We stick to the original plan,” he says.

I choke out a laugh. “You want to travel to the human realm…to the Regana Mountains? Because that’s where I come from.”

“Yes, that’s what we will do.” We start walking. “I said I would take you back to your coven, and I meant it. I will keep my word. To the Regana Mountains…more precisely, to Witch Mountain.”

It’s how the fae and the humans alike refer to my home. It’s in the Regana Mountain range. Our mountain is known as Witch Mountain. It’s not very inventive.

I doubt he is as noble as he makes out. There must be an ulterior motive I’m not seeing.

“I’m perfectly fine on my own, Alaric…or whatever your name is. I don’t need you, and you don’t need me. We’re free. The best thing would be to split up. I’ll head back home, and you can go…wherever you want, as long as it’s not with me.”Home.Why does the thought suddenly leave me cold? This is what I’ve always wanted. To show my mother, my peers that I am worth something. That I could be someone of importance. I could make a difference for my people. To help keep them safe from the fae by being able to use the magic inside me. I clear my throat, pulling myself from my thoughts.

“I’ll head home,” I repeat. “And you can go back to your own realm, wherever that may be. This is where our paths split.”

He starts to talk, but I put up my hand. “I don’t want to hear it. There is nothing you can say that would change my mind. You are a fae. Your kind hunt my kind. You use us in the worst of ways. Use us until we are shells, then you send us into hard laboruntil we die soon after. So many of my kind have been taken, broken, and killed. Many more are being held against their will. Many are yet to be hunted to be used in much the same way.”

“I’m sorry that—”

“Sorry? You? Don’t! Spare me.” I shake my head. “We’re enemies. If you follow me, I will have no choice but to smite you down.”

We arrive at the barrier. I hold up my hands and use a spell that will make the magic wall think I am a fae.

My magic isn’t quite as strong as before, but it still flows from me easily enough. I pass through without a problem. I have to bite back a smile. How? I push out a breath. These things work in mysterious ways.

Alaric passes through easily since he is a fae.

“I can’t use my power, McColl. They will know and will come for me. That leaves me vulnerable. I need your help to—”

“Why are you running from your own kind? Actually, I don’t want to know. I don’t care. My answer is no,” I tell him. For a moment, I feel terrible. My instinct is to help him. I remind myself that I don’t know him. I never did. I don’t owe him a single thing.

He is a fae.

Then again, he broke the spell by breaking the chain securing the amulet to my neck. He also brought me back from the brink of death.

He’s one of them, though.

He lied.

He isn’t to be trusted.

He is my mortal enemy. I have to remember that. He wants to use me some more. It has to be that.

“We made it out of the Emptyfae Court,” I tell him. “You are on your own now. You can’t come with me. Good luck.” Then I turn and walk away, sloshing through a puddle of mud as I do.

I feel him watching me as I leave. I refuse to feel guilty. I won’t!

8

Kian