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“Break the rules, suffer the consequences.”

Surviving the Unseelie Lands

N ia groans from the sofa, her head thrown back on the cushion and hands folded over her stomach. “Do you want to go to town?”

I glance up from the book I’m pretending to read. No matter how long I stare at the words, none of them register. I might as well be staring at an ancient text written in a foreign language. “Town is closed on Wednesdays.”

It’s funny that she would forget a rule only a few weeks ago she’d been so adamant to keep.

She pushes herself upright, dropping her feet from where they were propped on the coffee table next to a tray of uneaten biscuits. Normally, I love shortbread, but ever since Everett told me the awful news, food doesn’t taste the same. Which is a travesty considering how much I used to enjoy sweets.

“You know what I mean.” She shoots a glance over her shoulder toward the empty hallway before scooting so close, our knees knock together. “The guards don’t patrol the streets during the day, so I thought perhaps we could go to the well.”

Why would she suggest such a thing when she knows I’m barely holding myself together as it is? “I don’t want to go to the well.”

It’s a damn lie and we both know it. I want to see Everett so badly my soul aches, but there is no point torturing myself.

“Come on, Kerris. No one has to know.”

I’ll know .

Besides, I made a promise that my dealings with the Unseelie were through. If I go back on my word, they’ll ship me right back to Gravale as husbandless as I arrived. When I leave, I want it to be my decision, not because I was kicked out by my own family.

“I don’t want to go to town,” I insist, flipping to the next page and staring down at the text.

I expect a lecture or some sort of bargain. Instead, Nia nods and rolls off the couch, leaving me alone with a book I have no desire to read and memories of a man I’ll never see again.

* * *

Thursday arrives on a breeze and leaves on a gale.

Friday is still as death, as if someone has put an invisible lid on the world.

This morning, a letter from my brother arrived, saying that he would love a visit from his favorite sister. As I trace his handwriting scrawled across the parchment, my chest pinches at the thought of seeing him again.

I’ll stay with Theo for a month, maybe two, and try my hand at finding a husband there. Perhaps he has a friend who might consider a match with me.

Now to find a way to tell Nia.

Speaking of Nia… Where is she? I haven’t seen her since breakfast. Probably because I came back to my room to wallow.

As if I called her name, Nia bursts through my door, her cheeks flushed and curly hair wild. “Do you still want to find a husband?” she blurts.

The longer I put this off, the harder it’s going to be. I need to tell her the truth, to give her time to adjust before I leave. “Yes, but not in Rosehill.”

“What do you mean, ‘not in Rosehill?’”

From beneath my leg, I withdraw my brother’s letter. “I’ve decided to move to Applewood.”

She opens the missive with trembling fingers, her lips moving as she silently scans my brother’s letter. When she looks back at me, her expression is as dark and threatening as a thunderstorm. “So that’s it? You’re giving up.”

Rosehill gave up on me first. “No one has called to our door all week.” Not even Nolan has come by to visit her. When I asked about his absence, she blew me off with a wave of her hand, saying that he was busy hunting for the wolf.

A wolf they still haven’t caught.

“Because you haven’t left the house!” Nia tosses the letter onto the bottom of the bed. “Ivee is telling everyone that she plans on proposing to Ronan at the end of the month, and as soon as the prince accepts, the rest of the men will come out in droves. You’ll be beating them off with sticks. Just be patient.”

If only this were a matter of being “patient.” “Don’t you see? I have no desire to tie myself to someone who won’t stand up for me. Someone too scared of the prince’s wrath to go against his wishes. The men of Rosehill aren’t worth my time.”

A knock reverberates from downstairs. Nia and I trade looks before we both hurry into the hallway to watch my aunt saunter out of the kitchen, her serviette still clutched in her hand as she fixes her hair. When she sees us at the top of the stairs, she asks if we’re expecting any callers.

I shake my head.

Nia smirks. “Perhaps not all the men of Rosehill are cowards after all.”

Please. Whoever is at the door isn’t there for me. It’s probably Nolan coming to apologize for neglecting her.

At least I hope it is. If she loses him because of me, I will never forgive myself.

Aunt Cordelia pins on a pretty smile and swings the door aside. At her loud gasp, Nia and I both stumble down the stairs to where my aunt sways like a tree in a gale, her face as pale as porcelain. Nia tries to get to her, but it’s too late. Aunt Cordelia faints in the foyer.

The man at the door lunges, catching her right before she hits the ground.

When I notice the green-gray tint to his skin, for a second, I think it’s Everett, but then I see his longer hair and realize Maddox is here.

In my aunt’s house.

In Rosehill.

In the middle of a bloomin’ Friday.

“ Shit .” Maddox’s arms strain as he awkwardly eases Aunt Cordelia onto the floor. “I think I killed your mother.”

Nia rushes to Maddox’s side, waving him off. “I’m sure she’s fine.” She kneels, looking more annoyed than concerned. “Mother? Mother!” She presses her hands to her mother’s gaunt cheeks. “Can you take her to the sofa?”

Maddox slips his hands beneath my aunt, lifting her as if she weighs no more than a child.

“The living room is this way.” Nia leads Maddox from the foyer and into the living area, catching the cushions and placing them so that her mother can lie flat on the sofa.

Maddox has to duck so he doesn’t hit his head on the door frame. I can only imagine how large Everett would look in this room. I miss him so much .

It’s mad how someone you’ve known for only a short amount of time can have such an irrevocable impact on your life.

When Maddox stands, his face crushes in concern. “Should she be waking up?”

Nia shakes her head. “Not as long as you’re here. Perhaps it’s best if we have this conversation elsewhere.”

Maddox throws one final concerned glance at my aunt before ducking beneath the doorway and following my cousin through the kitchen and out the back door.

He’s so like Everett in his coloring and movements but so different. Not as severe. Not as achingly beautiful .

Stuffing my own feelings deep down, I steel my shoulders and follow them into the garden where Nia and Maddox whisper to one another, which is odd.

“Care to tell me what’s going on here?” I gesture between the two of them. As far as I know, the only time they met was at the Beltane festival. Now it looks as if they’re…friends?

Nia glances between Maddox and me, her lips pressed into a slight grimace. “Don’t get mad.”

Irritation stirs in my chest. Something tells me I’m better off not making that promise.

She steps toward me, leaving Maddox to frown at her back. “It’s just that…you haven’t been the same since…well, you know.”

I do know, but that doesn’t explain why there is an Unseelie standing in her back garden.

Her curls shudder when she blows out a breath. “I went to the well on Wednesday, but Everett wasn’t there, so I spoke with Maddox instead.”

Maddox lifts his eyes toward the cloudless sky, a smirk playing on his lips. “Nice to know I was not your first choice.”

She pinches his arm. Actually pinches him.

“Ouch, dammit .” Maddox rubs his arm. “Careful, Seelie.”

Nia rolls her eyes. “He was supposed to meet me at The Divide, not come to my home and try to murder my mother.”

“I meant your mother no harm,” he says with so much sincerity that my heart aches. The Unseelie I’ve met have been such genuinely good people; it really is such a shame that the Seelie are so determined to hate them on principle alone.

Nia’s lips tilt into a smirk. “Just tell her what you told me, all right?”

Maddox braces his hands at the cut of his hips, and I catch Nia stealing a glance at his bare chest. Interesting.

“Ever has been exiled from camp for calling off his engagement with the chieftain’s daughter,” Maddox announces. “We tried to warn him, but he has not been in his right mind since the two of you parted ways.”

Hold on. Did he say Ever has been exiled for breaking off his bloody engagement?

“As I am sure he told you, our lands are dangerous. Because of his decision, he is no longer welcome in our camp and has been cut off from our resources.”

No longer welcome in camp…

Cut off from resources…

“This is my fault.”

When Maddox nods, Nia pinches him again.

He bares his sharp teeth in a snarl. “That fucking hurt.”

“Good. Next time, don’t blame my cousin for your friend’s mistakes.”

They can squabble later. Right now, there are more pressing matters at hand. “How do we help him?”

Maddox’s face falls into a frown. “Once you are exiled, there is no coming back.”

What about forgiveness? What about mercy? Ever makes one mistake and is expected to pay for it with his life? “So he’s supposed to live on his own for the rest of eternity?”

Maddox’s shoulders sink even lower as his hand falls to the bone-handled dagger on his belt. “Ever is more than capable of surviving, but it will not be for eternity.”

But we’re all immortal as long as we drink from a well.

Cut off from our resources.

“The treaty with the Seelie only applies to those within the community,” he says, confirming my worst fears.

“What contract?” Nia asks.

“The one that lets them access the well on Wednesdays,” I whisper.

Maddox nods.

And now, because of me, Ever is going to die. He may be young and healthy for the moment, but his youth will fade and that’s the best-case scenario. For all I know, he could have already fallen prey to a bloody wolf.

There must be some way to undo this. Some way to save him from himself. Maybe if I speak to him—hell, even speak to his chieftain, he will change his mind.

One thing is for certain, I cannot sit around and do nothing .

“I need to see him.”

Maddox nods. “I can bring you.”

Nia’s hand grazes mine. “If you cross now, everyone will see you.”

She’s not telling me not to go, simply alluding to the consequences. If anyone sees me crossing The Divide alongside Maddox, no man in the city will come near me. I won’t be welcome in my aunt’s home.

“Let them see.” I refuse to hide my feelings any longer.

I’m in love with an Unseelie fae and I don’t care who knows it.