Page 45 of Rejected By the Shifter King

Estrella slowly sat down. "I...see."

"You know..." Esme cleared her throat. "His words kinda surprised me."

You and me both,Estrella thought.

"I mean, sure, almost getting kidnapped is no joke, but you've survived far worse than that.We'veall survived far worse, after what happened at the detention camp. So...what I'm really saying is—-"

"No."

Esme blinked.

"You want to know if the kidnapping attempt gave me some kind of trauma, and the answer is no."

"I knew it," Esme exclaimed. "It just didn't seem like you..."

An idea occurred to her then, and Estrella said slowly, "I think that's it. Kidnapping attempts just piss me offnow,but the old me would've been terrified to death." It was the only plausible reason for Lysander to leave her like she was some kind of helpless baby that required cosseting and protecting. And maybe that had been true before...but not anymore.

Chapter Sixteen

IVY WAS A FAERIE, POSSESSINGnoble blood and one of the loveliest faces of their race. She would've been the last person for anyone to suspect of treason and treachery, and this was probably why Ivy had found it so damn easy to fool them all. By the time they learned of her perfidy, their realm - the very last refuge of their race - had been razed to the ground, and the Fates once again revealed its fickle nature as the Faes became a stateless kingdom overnight.

A hefty bounty had been placed on her head, but the woman had managed to elude capture...until now.

If Fina's deductions were correct and her sources trustworthy, then Ivy had made camp at an abandoned Chernobyl-like industrial site located several miles away from Coral Springs.

"Since they're here..." Fina placed the red marker to establish the location of the vampires' camp on the digital map displayed by the table's LCD screen. "I suggest we strike from here, which my sources tell me is the one opening they've overlooked."

Alain tapped on the screen, switching map views until it showed the terrain of their target's location. This new layout showed how extremely defensible the area was, and while it could be the reason why the vampires had opted to camp there...

"It's too damn near to our stronghold," he said flatly. Where Faes were, Ivy avoided. That was how she eluded capture all this time...and now Fina wished them to believe the traitor had suddenly made the mistake of doing the exact opposite thing of what kept her alive?

Fina, however, appeared indifferent to Alain's concerns. "Ever heard of reverse psychology?"

Alain didn't even bother to dignify this with a reply.

"Come on, general. When have I ever been wrong?"