Page 22 of A Song of Air (Fae Elementals #4)

B ryson felt an ache build in her chest as she heard Malika and Iona whisper to one another.

Sisters. Long lost, now found.

She’d known. Of course, she’d known that Malika had a story to tell and that it wasn’t a happy one. She hadn’t known the extent of it. For a second, she felt a bitterness creep through her. Not because Malika had found her sister; Bryson was happy that they’d found one another again.

She was bitter for several reasons. Because Malika had never confided in her. Because now Malika’s attention would be drawn elsewhere. But most of all, because Malika had received a gift from Mana, one that would never be granted to Bryson.

Because her family really was dead.

She’d tasted their blood and smelt their burnt flesh, had felt the weight of their bodies pressing hers down against the charred earth, and there was no power in the world that could ever bring them back.

It made her angry and restless. She didn’t want to listen to them anymore, so she turned and started away, separating herself from the group, ready to flee to the one place that would quiet her racing thoughts.

Before she could, Arlo stopped her with a hand to her shoulder. “Bryson,” he whispered like a quiet command.

She took a breath, knowing that there would be no rest for her mind right then. She allowed him to pull her away from the fray. He took her towards his tent and pushed the flap open for her to go in.

They were alone with the silence and the heated press of his glare.

She sighed. “Arlo...”

“Don’t,” he snapped. She clamped her lips tightly closed. “I can’t possibly think there’s an excuse good enough for you to have allowed them into our fold.”

“Clay saved my life.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“It’s true.”

“How?”

She sucked in a breath. “There were several Kurreen—”

“We both know you could destroy the Kurreen in your sleep.”

The praise shouldn’t have warmed her, that he thought her so capable. But it did. It felt fatherly, proud. Exactly what she needed to hear. But it didn’t take away from the fact that he was here to reprimand her, and it caused anxiety in her chest to spread slowly.

“There were too many,” she lied.

“Oh? Then I’ll send the scouts out to count the bodies...”

“Arlo...”

“You undermined my authority to sate your own curiosity, Bryson.”

“I didn’t!”

“Stop lying. You think me foolish? You think I don’t know that you hold hopes for the Resistance and whatever it is they stand for? You are your parents’ daughter after all.”

Betrayal slammed into her at the words. She was trying. She was trying so hard to become a part of their community. And she was. She deserved to be there as much as anyone else did. She killed the humans, saved those who needed saving. She contributed by letting herself be ridiculed for her scars. The one time her ideals didn’t completely align with Arlo’s and he was questioning her loyalty?

He didn’t need to say those words for them to be true. She could hear them in the tone of his voice.

“You’re questioning my loyalty.”

“I am.” There was no hesitation in his voice, and it hit her like a fucking blow.

“I have been loyal to this group for years, Arlo.” She tried to keep the hurt from her voice, but it bled through regardless.

“Are you sure? When we spoke of the Resistance before, I noticed you hesitated...”

Just because she wasn’t sure what she believed in anymore. Because things were changing in the world. Maybe there was a time when she’d needed to hide out with Arlo and the camp, but the Resistance taking over Dana, being here, wanting her to help save the Fae? It was different.

He had to know that.

But she knew he wouldn’t concede. She knew him well enough by now to know that he followed no laws but his own. He looked out for no one except his own.

And if she told him any of that, she would be deemed a traitor.

“I did hesitate,” she confessed. Because he already knew the truth, there was no reason to lie.

“You did. Remember what the Seelie did to your parents. Their war killed them.”

Anger surged through her body. He wasn’t wrong. The war had killed her parents, and yet she wasn’t sure if she could entirely blame the Seelie or the humans or circumstances. She wanted to. Mana, she wanted someone to pay, and so she made them with arrows and violence until her thoughts warred and she couldn’t quiet them.

She tilted her chin up. “I remember,” she said through gritted teeth. “More than most, I remember.”

“Good. Then remember whose side you’re really on.” He moved around his tent, straightening his belongings in a slow, calculated manner while she stood there. “Get out.”

She did as he bade, moving slowly. Her mind swirled, those terrible thoughts that tended to invade becoming almost overwhelming. Her magic inside stirred, demanding she release her frustrations in any way she could.

She kept them in check.

The uncertainty of everything was making her head spin.

The fact of the matter was, she didn’t know what she wanted. Or maybe she did, and she was cowardly for not taking it or voicing it. If she did so, it was out of respect for Arlo. Because she owed him, and he knew it. He held her in a chokehold and kept her there for years until she felt like she couldn’t leave or breathe without his permission. The worst part of it all was that she knew exactly what kind of manipulations he used to keep her shackled to him, and still she allowed it to happen.

She released a frustrated sigh and a second later, stopped in her tracks. There’d been no noise to indicate anyone had come close to her, but the scent hit her like an arrow through the flesh. It was sudden and commanding, and it made her skid to a halt right in front of the Fae man who smelled like spice and sweetness. He’d suddenly appeared before her, dropping from the top of a tree like a cat.

He was only a beat away, quietly observing her. It should have unnerved her, but all it did was piss her off. She tilted her head up and glared in his general direction.

“What do you want?”

He smirked in response, and for a second, a flashing image tore through her mind. Of his form splayed on the ground, her own body atop his as they writhed together in a ruthless, sensual joining. The vision was so staggering, she almost tripped backwards.

He stood before her, tall and lithe, covered head to toe in black. The only adornment on him to be seen were golden rings he hid beneath his crossed arms. The long braid was arranged purposefully over his shoulder, and his lips were twisted into a smile.

It was merely a flash. A mere few seconds of his own desires that lasted what felt like an eternity within her own head.

He took a silent step forward, and his presence suffocated her. It clouded her senses, made her mind dizzy. Her hand rose to her throat, as if that could block her body from taking in his scent. His proximity alone made something crawl beneath her skin. Little bursts of shock that demanded touch to be eased.

And she knew he knew it when he replied with a sensual, “You.”

He pressed closer and she forced herself to step away to avoid being clogged by his scent.

“You shouldn’t say things like that,” she growled. She was met with silence. That infuriated her and caused a gust of wind to pulse between them. It pushed him back, but his steps didn’t stumble. She braved a few feet closer towards him, tilting her chin up in a brave movement she felt down to her bones. “I don’t know what it is you want from me,” she hissed, “but I am in a relationship.”

“For now ,” he purred. The words felt like a taunt.

She tried not to rock back on her heels. “For always .”

He chuckled and the sound pierced past her barriers and curled around her like smoke. “How long does the human have to live?”

Her magic lashed out, the air whipping around the both of them. “That sounds like a threat.”

He remained silent for so long that her anger started to abate. She finally gave a resigned sigh, shaking her head back and forth.

“Look,” she whispered, cooling her magic. “Just... don’t expect anything from me, okay? We don’t even know each other.”

“We will,” he whispered the words like a promise. “That I can assure you.”

“Hey, Bryce!” The scent of daffodils and earth enveloped her like a comforting drizzle of rain. It by no means pushed past the more cloying scent of the Fae man before her. If anything, his own smell got stronger. It heated her nerves and made a flush crawl up her face.

Ev didn’t seem to notice though, or if he did, she couldn’t tell as he threw an arm around her shoulder.

There was a tense moment of silence in which she knew the two were staring at one another. It made her uncomfortable and she wanted to leave as quickly as she possibly could. She started to pull away, but Ev held firm, keeping her in place.

“Hey,” he said. “There a problem here?” He directed the question at the Fae man.

He didn’t reply, only smirked. And it angered Ev so much that his hand tightened painfully against the ball of her shoulder.

“Well, we got shit to do.”

The Fae still didn’t reply.

She knew Ev wanted to mark some fictional territory, to let this man know that even if he and Bryson were mates, Bryson belonged to Ev. But this wasn’t going according to his plan, as the Fae didn’t even reply. He was eerily silent, but Bryson could still feel him around her, inside her.

Wanting. Waiting.

Remembering the sinister tone of his voice and the threat he’d not-so-vaguely gave, she finally yanked at Everett, pulling him away and walking in the opposite direction. But even as she walked away from him, her body screamed at her. A physical reaction to the bond that lay invisible in between them...

...begging for her to go back.