Page 53 of A Fate of Ice and Lies (Fated #1)

Chapter

Twenty-Two

TEDDY

There was too much fear, too many unknowns. So much hate and lies that spread and spread, making our world, forever frozen in winter, seem colder.

It’d gotten so bad, I no longer enjoyed working at the food bank. No longer wanted to talk to customers, knowing all they’d do was disturb any semblance of peace I had. Everyone wanted to know why Elias was rarely around, all while not wanting to see him.

They refused to see how George shadowed Donnie to learn how the fae could start their own police force so they could enforce the laws we abided by.

Didn’t see the way Brenton played with the children or joked with the adults.

Ignored how Everly continued to work at the food bank to help those who hated her.

She’d betrayed us, though, and the people seemed to hold it against her the same way I still did.

Except maybe I didn’t. Not really. We’d formed a curious type of truce, where I wasn’t sure if she’d ever wanted my friendship but also remembered how she’d once said she’d never had female friends .

I took out my frustrations when I trained each morning with Everly and Brenton, although our training didn’t get very far on the days Ryenne joined us since she tended to gripe more than train.

While the breathing exercises Everly walked me through helped, I didn’t know how to master it when a customer yelled in my face.

Today’s customer was originally from three towns over.

Like many others, he’d had to move to Colina Verde to be closer to our resources.

He was one of the outsiders who had been forced to live in our schools, gyms, or any other open space George and Donnie had found for them.

I understood the situation wasn’t ideal. I even understood his frustration when I told him he couldn’t have an extra potato. He hadn’t been the first I’d had to remind of the smaller rations Elias had ordered six days ago.

This man, whose ration card said his name was Austin, growled at me like he was trying to intimidate me the way Elias did. The difference was Austin looked and sounded stupid, while Elias was downright sexy when he growled. Or smiled. Or stood so perfectly still he looked like a statue.

“Sir.” I sighed for the hundredth time, trying and failing to be patient. But I had already repeated this same scenario with countless other people who wanted more eggs, more cheese, more whatever. One woman had even screamed about the pantry not carrying tortillas.

“You know what?” Again, with that forced growl. “You can keep the fucking potatoes. Keep everything!”

With that, he threw his basket of food across the counter, and the edge hit my nose. Something cracked, and I wasn’t sure if it was the basket or my nose. Blinding white lights flashed behind my eyes, and when I grabbed my nose, I winced at the contact and the blood that now covered my hand .

“Dammit,” I hissed out.

I scrambled behind the counter for some napkins.

I barely had time to register how much blood soaked through the napkin when something crashed from across the store.

I rushed through the people who’d stopped their shopping to watch Austin make a spectacle of himself.

By the time I reached him, he’d knocked over all our vegetable displays and was working his way through the fruits, butter, and cheese.

Margie, the same woman who got all pissy every time she heard the word region, grabbed a handful of tomatoes and threw them at him.

One of her tomatoes hit me on the side of my face, causing the juice to mix in with the blood that dripped down my nose.

I used the dirty napkin to clean my nose again but didn’t bother with the tomato pieces.

Of all days, today was the day Everly hadn’t been able to come in.

I grabbed Austin’s arm and pulled him back before he reached the meat department.

The bastard replied with a chaotic right swing that landed on my chin.

Stunned, I floundered backward, though I managed to keep myself upright through the ringing of my ears and spotty vision.

I blinked a few times, working my jaw back and forth.

My eyes blurred with tears, but I could see the way Austin continued to wreck the food displays, throwing things at customers who got too close.

More than fear or pain, adrenaline coursed through me, centering me so that when I got Austin’s attention with an apple to the back of his head, I was prepared to kick him right between his legs. Around me, people gasped as he grabbed his groin and fell to his knees.

The tiniest hint of pride swelled inside me as the moron groaned in pain .

It was then that George rushed into the store with Everly and Ryenne behind him. I hurried to Ryenne, fussing over the welt beneath her left eye, the ice pack she held to the side of her head, and the tear across her lips.

“Ry,” I gasped.

She snorted but winced. “You look worse than I do.” Her smile was wobbly, and when I went to hug her, she shook her head. “Pretty sure I dislocated my shoulder.”

“What the hell?” It came out loud and squeaky.

“Riot at the coffee shop,” Ryenne replied with a dramatic roll of her eyes. “What happened here?”

I shrugged and pointed at Austin, who still grumbled on the floor. George loomed over him, menace written all over his face. When he pulled Austin up by the collar of his shirt, he lifted him high enough so that his feet no longer reached the floor.

“He wanted more potatoes than his rations allowed, and like the genius he is”—I glared at the man—“he threw a tantrum and ruined good food.”

“No one gets to dictate how much food I can have,” Austin said, his tiptoes barely brushing the floor.

“No?” The single word sent a shiver down my spine.

Elias prowled toward Austin, an apex predator stalking its prey. With his feet back on the floor, Austin had the good sense to try to shrink away, his pallor turning white. George’s grasp on him was firm and unmoving.

With his fangs out, Elias circled Austin and George. Slowly. Menacingly. He pulled a dagger from around his waist and traced it over Austin’s cheek.

“Shall I make you bleed too?” he asked, his voice smooth like a lover’s caress .

It felt as though everyone in the store was holding their breath, waiting to see what Elias did next.

Although Ryenne held her injured arm with her other hand, she nudged me and then mouthed, “That’s hot .”

Which, okay, yeah, it was kind of hot. Or a lot hot. Especially when I imagined that silken voice saying all sorts of dirty things as he brushed his lips over my heated skin.

Everly came beside me with gauze for my nose and an ice pack for my jaw. I flinched in pain but held the ice pack in place while I ignored the dried blood beneath my nose.

Elias drew the dagger down to cut through the front of Austin’s shirt. Austin’s whole body shook, and a small, petty part of me delighted at the sight. Not that I wanted Elias to hurt him. But this, making him suffer and humiliating him after how he’d destroyed so much food? I could live with that.

Elias looked up at me, his gaze expectant.

“How much do you want this male to bleed?” Nalari asked me.

On a swallow, I held Elias’s eyes, which flashed between a dark violet and deep black.

“He destroyed so much food,” I said in answer.

“He also made you bleed,” Nalari snarled.

Her fury raged through our connection, and I wondered if what I felt was her anger or Elias’s.

“I trust Elias,” I said honestly. Because I did trust him despite his manipulations and lies. Trusted him to be in my corner and want what was best for me. “Whatever he thinks is fair so others at least think twice before they try something like this again.”

His eyes softened, flashing to their vibrant color as he dipped his head in acknowledgment. Then he drew the dagger lower, using it to press threateningly against Austin’s groin.

“Teddy did a good job making sure you won’t be able to walk for a few days.” Elias’s voice was nothing more than a taunt.

I bit my lower lip before I said, “Everly and Brenton have been teaching me how to disembowel a man, but I figured I’d go easy on him.”

Not a complete lie but not the truth either. We mainly focused on core work so my fighting stance was strong. Usually, they ended our session with ways to bring down a fae to give me a chance to either run or go in for debilitating blows.

Everly clasped my arm and squeezed before letting me go.

“Shall I let her finish you off?” Elias smiled, making his fangs look longer, sharper. “Or see what I can do with a dagger?”

“I. . .” Austin started, but to my horror, the front of his pants became wet as he pissed himself.

Elias drew back his dagger, and George let him go, so that Austin fell to the floor and knelt on his own urine.

“That’s . . .” Ryenne stifled a laugh.

I bit back my own laughter, only feeling slightly guilty at finding humor in all this.

“Anticlimactic,” Everly finished for Ryenne.

I immediately regretted my snort when pain shot through my nose. “What more do you want?”

She ran her fingers through the long lengths of her silver hair. “A little blood would be nice.”

I touched my tender jaw. “I guess a little blood wouldn’t hurt.”

I answered Everly’s grin with one of my own. It was the first genuine interaction we’d had since I told her she and George weren’t welcome at my house. I longed to take back those words, but she’d lied to me. We’d spent hours together forging a friendship founded on a lie.

Still, she trained me, helped me at the store, and treated me with kindness I wasn’t all that sure I deserved.

Elias slammed the back of his dagger against Austin’s temple. Hard enough to not only draw blood but also knock him out. A little blood, just as I’d told Everly.

Warmth spread through my chest. Not only had he come for me but he’d also waited to see how I wanted him to handle Austin.

“Can you do that?” I asked Everly, motioning to where Austin lay unconscious.

Her eyes wary, she nodded.