Page 42 of Given to the Fae (The Dark Realms #3)

‘What’s wrong with you?’ I finally ask, bringing my horse close to his.

‘What do you mean?’

‘You were the first of us to say she was good and kind. Why do you pretend you don’t care what happens to her? Locke is going to leave her here. You understand that, don’t you?’

Morgan doesn’t even look at me. ‘She’ll be fine. She’s lived this long in the Dark Realms.’

I let them go ahead, my mind in a whirl as I watch them. What happened between last night when I heard Morgan leave and this morning?

Fuck me.

My eyes narrow on a certain mage who’s pulling along a very tired human without any care for her at all.

Locke.

We reach a nondescript building and Locke scratches at the door. A hatch opens and I can see a pair of eyes that I recognize. Kings.

‘Password?’

‘Fuck off, Kings!’ Locke snaps. ‘You can see it’s us.’

The door opens and Locke gets off his horse, pulling Bryn inside and causing her to stumble. I follow with a snarled curse and grit my teeth.

The room is dingy and dirty. Bere sits by a hearth with a drinking horn in hand.

‘Ah! You made it on time!’

‘Of course,’ Locke smirks.

He hauls Bryn forward.

‘She looks well. Healthy.’ Bere nods at Locke. ‘Well done and not even a hint of Gate Sickness. Very good.’

Bere stands. ‘The auctions begin later today, but I have a contact who’s telling me where and when the best deals will be coming up. We’ll go together.’

‘What of the other two females? You were able to sell them, I take it?’ Locke asks, sitting down and pouring himself a horn of ale.

‘Aye,’ Bere smiles. ‘The gods were smiling down on us. Both were sold to some wealthy goblin who lived in some grand estate in the Seventh Circle. Our coffers are filled and ready for the auctions despite not getting rid of this one yet.’

He watches Bryn and she keeps her eyes down even when Locke pushes her toward me.

‘Make sure she’s fed and watered,’ he tells me, not even looking in my direction.

‘Aye,’ I say, leading Bryn away by the chain gently.

‘Where’s Warrior?’ I hear Bere ask as I walk into the other room.

I don’t even bother to listen to whatever story Locke spins. I’m too busy making sure we’re alone in the next room. Before I think the better of it, I’m pulling her into my arms. She’s shuddering and I feel the moment she loses her battle with emotions and begins to quietly sob into my chest.

‘I’m sorry,’ I whisper. ‘I didn’t know it would be like this, that he’d be like this.’

I hear her quiet scoff.

‘Neither did I,’ she admits brokenly. ‘Why is Locke being so…? And Morgan. He won’t even look at me.’

‘I’ll make it right,’ I promise.

‘No.’ She steps back and looks up at me. ‘There is no Light Realm, is there? It was a trick.’

‘There is,’ I promise her, but she only shakes her head.

‘Even if that’s true, I won’t be going there...will I, Jak?’

I stay silent, though I vow that, if I can, I will save her from this place, from the pits.

She lets out a shuddering breath. ‘I kept trying to remind myself, but I still think I’d almost forgotten, you know?’

‘Forgotten what?’ I ask, finding that looking into her quickly-dulling eyes is torturous.

‘What you are, what you all are. You dressed me up and let everyone think I wasn’t what I am, and it made me forget as well.’

I don’t say anything. All I can do is hide the devastation I feel when we leave the room and I put her in the small paddock in the outer barn to await her fate.

She steps closer to me as I shut the gate, her lower lip trembling.

‘You three fae have managed to hurt me more than all the masters I’ve ever met,’ she whispers in my ear. ‘Well done.’

And then she goes to the corner and slides down the wall, closing her eyes. I back away, guilt and shame washing over me like a swelling river breaking its banks.

‘I’m sorry,’ I whisper again.

She doesn’t look at me.

When I return to the main house, I find Locke alone. Bere and the others are nowhere to be seen.

I sit down at the table with him. ‘What is it? I’ll be going to the auctions soon.’

‘What are we doing?’ I growl quietly.

‘What we came here to do,’ he says simply.

‘With her , Locke.’

He regards me with a calm and detached look that I find infuriating.

‘I don’t know what you’ve done to Morgan to make him forget her,’ I whisper, ‘but I’m taking her with us. I don’t care what you say or do. She’s not being sold to the pits.’

Locke straightens with a sigh. ‘I warned you both not to get attached to her. I told you that we wouldn’t be able to save her and still do what we must. The reason we’re here is what’s most important. Her life. Yours. Morgan’s. Mine. They’re not significant. You told me you understood that.’

‘I do. I did .’ I stare at him stonily. ‘But what’s the point of any of this if we can’t save any of them?’

‘It’s too late for them. All we can do is shut down the slavers who are bringing them here in the first place.’

‘It’s not enough,’ I snap.

‘I’m sorry, my friend. I didn’t want it to come to this, and you should know that while this won’t cause any permanent damage to you, I don’t do it lightly. But the mission is paramount.’

My eyes widen as I take in his words and Morgan’s odd behavior today flashes through my mind.

I jump to my feet, shaking my head at my friend. ‘N?—’

I see a bright flash and blink away the momentary blindness.

‘What happened?’ I ask Locke.

He shrugs. ‘Ready to go back to the Light Realm? I’ll follow you in a couple of days.’

I grin. ‘Are you sure? You don’t need us?’

Locke shakes his head. ‘Bere is ready to tell me everything we need. There’s nothing more you can do here. You might as well go back and fill everyone in, find out who Tori and Soreno were sold on to after The Barrack. Morgan’s waiting for you.’

All right,’ I say. ‘If you’re sure. See you in a few days.’

I go out through the barn, vaguely seeing a human slave girl in the paddock who’s staring at me.

She says something to me and gets a hard smack from one of Bere’s men for speaking out of turn.

I frown as I hear her pained cry. The poor humans here , I think as I shake my head.

I catch up with Morgan, who gives me an odd look.

‘Is there something we’re forgetting?’ he asks, scratching his temple. ‘I feel as if there is.’

I think for a moment, canting my head and pursing my lips.

‘No,’ I say finally. ‘There’s nothing that I can think of. Let’s get to the Ring and get home. I’m done with this fucking place.’