Page 11 of The Wind and the Wild (The Keepers of Faerie #1)

“ You went back.”

“ He wasn’t so awful... when he was trying to be kind.

” I bite the inside of my cheek, frustrated with myself.

Only now does it occur to me that he may have been putting on the air of being more human, if only to not frighten me.

Of course, that in and of itself is not awful.

Kind of him, in fact. But I believed in it, fell for it with a little bit of reading a book with him standing near me, and every faerie tale and cautionary word I’ve heard about Faerie and those that dwell in it left my thoughts the moment I met one.

“ You’re going to go back in.”

“ What?” I ask. “ No? ”

She stares at me with her pale eyes.

“ No! ”

“ Shh! ”

I wave her off, rolling my eyes.

“ Look, I can’t stop you, but if you do it, would you at least tell me first?”

“ Why would I go back in right now?”

She gives me such a look that I know she’s probably right.

“ Swear it.”

“ Fine, I swear— ”

“ And only in the daytime.”

“ I’ve agreed to that already.”

She glowers.

“ Una, I swear I will not go at night. I don’t even go in the evening. Happy?”

“ Hmph.” She pulls the blankets up to her chin and rolls back over. “ I’ll believe you when you tell me. Oh, and when you are back well before evening.”

I roll my eyes again and turn over onto her, using her back as my pillow.

Perhaps I should not, but I find myself watching the trees the next morning. There are more monster tracks along the edge of the village and others in the fields this time, not close to the houses but causing even greater concern nonetheless.

Someone’s chicken was found in pieces near the trees, feathers scattered in the morning wind, caught on blades of grass, a few splatters of blood and meat left. It must have gotten free of its coop, but if they are eating our livestock, it was not purely a passing incident.

It will worsen.

I think of Una and her soft hands and pretty eyes, her unblemished skin. Of Niall and his easy strength. Of Cara, who likes to wander out in the fields, gathering mushrooms. We’re all so vulnerable and always have been, rooted as close as we are to Faerie.

But these monsters shouldn’t be coming out of the trees, and everyone realizes it.

Likewise, other fae do not venture near the edges of the border.

Those more human in appearance have not been seen in decades, long enough that they have mostly fallen into stories, though we all are aware of their existence.

It’s more likely to get a brownie in one’s sock drawer than it is to come across one of the tall beautiful fair folk I found in the library.

In truth, I’m shocked he’s even there, let alone for long enough to take up residence.

Would he know why the hunt hounds are here?

“ Una, ” I say while she’s stitching a pattern of lace out in the sunlight. “ I’m going back in.”

“ Any particular reason?” Her voice is calmer than I expected.

When I look over my shoulder, she shrugs as if I’m dense.

“ I knew you were always going to go back in—I’m not an idiot.

I just want you to let me know so I can decide if I’m supposed to go in after you.

And if you make me do that”—she brandishes her needle at me—“I will cry the whole time and punish you for life.”

“ I wouldn’t want you to do that,” I say, then go and kiss her forehead. “ I’ll be back long before nightfall.”

“ You still haven’t told me why.”

I sigh, putting my hands on my lower back. My dress is nicer than the one I usually wear into Faerie, but I’m not planning on traipsing through berry brambles, and I don’t wish to return to my cottage. “ To ask if he knows why the hounds are coming out of the trees.”

And to ask if he can make them stop.

“ And if it’s him?”

With more bravery than we both know I have, I tell her, “ I’ll ask him why.”

She looks up at me for a long time, then glances at her mam where she’s hanging sheets on a line. “ Don’t do that.”

I shake my head and flap my hand at her . “ I’ll be back when the sun is still up, I promise.”

“ I’m warning you, I will throw a fit if you don’t—”

I wave over my shoulder as I leave their garden, likewise waving at her mam so she knows I’m only going for a walk.

I take the sunny path out of the village before easing into the tree line and doubling back, telling myself I am as much a fool as Una claims. Pausing at the hawthorn, I look up into its calm branches, considering that perhaps I should turn around.

Going back might end with my body strewn across the honeysuckle outside the library or me dancing for his pleasure until my feet break bone by bone and fall off.

Why am I going back in?

Because he may have answers.

Because he may be the protection we all pray for at night.

These monsters cannot keep slinking into our lands.

Eventually, the claw marks will cease being in the soil and will instead be in our skin.

Perhaps they don’t know the beasts of Faerie are sneaking out of their borders and informing him will put an end to it.

He can tell the others of their kind who keep the dangerous beasts away from the fragile humans, and that shall be the end of it.

A strange part of me, I can admit to myself, wants to return to see his strange features and intelligent eyes again, even if they are frightening.

I close my eyes and walk forward until I smell honeysuckle.

Of course, the library is as I left it. Fingers trembling, I edge around the wall until I find the side door and let myself in.

There is no reason to sneak in or creep about. If I am in here, he will know.

Instead, I stand under the massive tree sprouting from the floor and call, “ Hello? ”