When she was nervous, though, she always went back to that pose.
She didn’t know how right she was to be afraid.
I knew my brother well, but I didn’t know who Azrael was when he was lost to her clutches—whether he was lost in his love for her, or his desire for revenge.
He might still love her, but that love wouldn’t save her when we returned to the summer court.
Chapter Twelve
Alisa
When I was steadier on my feet, I closed the guys out of my bedroom. They refused to leave me until the drugs wore off completely, and I didn’t have the energy to pick up my sword and force them out. Honestly, I didn’t entirely mind having them here while I recovered. I felt safer with them around.
I felt safe, but I didn’t feel comfortable. Even with the door closed between us, I could have sworn I felt their presence outside, watchful and waiting.
It was hard to breathe with them around me, even though I never would have admitted that.
I went into my closet, stepping on shoes strewn across the floor, and closed the door behind me. Hidden in the dark, amidst my hanging sweaters and dresses like the fearless badass I was, I called Elly. At least with two doors between us, it felt like I had some space from them, even though my wool coat made my arm itch every time I brushed against it.
Azrael and Duncan and Tiron all made me feel jittery in a strange way. I didn’t feel like I was in danger, exactly. They didn’t feel like a threat.
It was a feeling I wasn’t used to; something sharp and anxious, something aching. The mere presence of their bodies did something to mine. My nipples suddenly hardened painfully against my bra. A strange sensation of emptiness pooled low in my belly. I felt like a horny teenager, noticing everything about the way their muscles rippled when they moved, about their easy, deadly grace. It was easier to think straight when I didn’t have to look at them, breathe them, sense them.
“Alisa!” Elly sounded sharp as soon as she picked up. “When you didn’t come to dinner and you didn’t pick up your phone, I thought the worst. We’ve been looking for you!”
“Well, the worst was right,” I said. “Remember the shifters who were kidnapping humans to turn against their will for breeding stock? They took me off the street.”
“I assume they’re all dead now?”
The brusque question was touching. She had so much faith in me.
“Yep,” I answered. “Well, the ones who took me are. The rest are headed that way.”
There were children’s voices in the background. Her grandchildren were fighting about something. She cupped her hand over the phone for a second, and her voice was muffled when she said, “Take it to the boxing ring in the basement, I’m not hearing it.”
I smiled. Hunters raised their children in what seemed to be strange ways by most human standards.
“Sorry about that,” she said. “Are you all right?”
“More or less,” I said.
“What’s going on, Alisa?”
“I didn’t get away on my own.” I hated to admit that. “I was rescued. By some men who claim they’re Fae… Do you know anything about the Fae?”
“Not much,” she said, her voice troubled. “I’ve heard rumors before. I’ve never seen one of the rips between worlds, but there are Hunters who swear by them… Hunters I trust.”
“But you’re still skeptical.”
“Whether the Fae are real or not, doesn’t mean these men have innocent reasons for claiming you should go with them to another world.” When she spoke the words so tartly, my desire to go with Azrael seemed like insanity.
But part of me was curious if there were answers to be discovered, and maybe even a crown…
“They claim I’m a princess.”
She snorted. “That sounds too good to be true.”
“Doesn’t it?” There was something off, but I wasn’t sure what it was. The males themselves didn’t feel like threats to me. Duncan’s little asides suggesting I was someone else in the Fae world were chilling, but I didn’t get the feeling my life was in danger.
“Do you need help?”
“No,” I said it automatically. Then I added, “I was thinking about going with them. If I really lost my memories in that world, and nothing else can bring them back, maybe I’ll find my answers there.”
There was hesitation on the line. “Alisa, I don’t know how to help you if they’re dangerous to you. Once you leave our world…”
“I know,” I said.
“You’ve always wanted to find answers,” she said gently. “I understand why you might need to do this. But I’m worried about you.”
“Me too,” I admitted. “I feel like I know them.”
“Like the shifters’ mating bond? Fated mates?”
“No!” My voice sounded outraged, and she huffed a laugh in response. I went on, “It just feels like I know them. Like they say.”
“They’re old friends? What do your instincts say?”
I remembered that note I’d carried from my old life. I wasn’t supposed to have any friends.
My voice dropped low, afraid they’d overhear, as I admitted, “I feel like I can trust them.”
“I’m coming over,” she said. “I want to meet them too. So will Carter and Julian and Amy—”
“We are not having a party.”
“Those men hurt you, we’ll be having a castrating party,” she grumbled, and I smiled.
“Just you,” I said.
“And Carter and Julian,” she argued. “You can’t go off into another world without saying goodbye. They’re your best friends.”
I sighed. “Okay. Okay, I can do that.”
“Damn right you can do that for us. We’re your family.”
Warmth swelled in my chest, but I went silent. I didn’t know what to say to that.
“And if you do go,” she went on, ignoring my lack of reaction, as she always did, which made me feel a spike of gratitude too, “you don’t stay long. You hear me? Don’t run off to the Fae world and never come home. You have friends here.”
I closed my eyes. “I’m glad I met you.”
“Don’t start that,” she said sharply. “You’re not saying goodbye to me forever.”
“No, of course not,” I said.
Hunters usually could never admit to any feelings. I fit right in with the bastards, though.
“I’m glad I met you too,” she said. “You’re a good girl, Alisa. A good Hunter. Good friend.”
I nodded, biting my lower lip. Duncan had made it sound like I was a nightmare of a princess back home. But Elly reminded me of all the good I’d done with the Hunters in this world.
“I’m glad I didn’t shoot you for your bad manners the day we met. It was fifty-fifty,” she added, and I let out a bark of laughter.
“You’re awful to me,” I said.
“That’s because you’re one of mine,” she said. “Text me so we can plan. I’ll let Julian and Carter know they’re needed.”