“God, Mary. I’m sorry,” Tucker managed.
“I don’t remember what it was like,” she said quickly. “Normally a powerful fae would be able to restore my sight, but that was part of the curse, you see. That no fae would be able to heal me. Only a formidable sorcerer—and if more of them live, they don’t exactly advertise their existence. My mother, with all of her power and contacts, couldn’t find anyone who could offer me what Hadrian can. She’s been trying my whole life.”
“How do you know he’ll actually do it? How do you know it’s not a false offer?”
“I won’t marry him otherwise.”
“He could force you,” Tucker pointed out.
“He could try.” She tilted her head in his direction, her eyes focused over his shoulder. “But we’ve seen what I can do when my back is against the wall. I was only getting warmed up.”
“Speaking of. Can I get the number for your vocal coach?”
Mary covered her mouth to smother a laugh, her eyes sparkling over the top of her hands. After a moment, she dropped them away. “You’re probably wondering about the scream. The first time it happened was after the curse took effect.” She paused. “I don’t remember that, either. To me, the scream is just something I’ve always had. But sight? That’s what I really want. I want to see the world. Colors, faces, board games, food, the ocean. I want to…” She trailed off, ducking her head. As if there were even more reasons she wanted her blindness cured, but she wasn’t willing to share them. “I might not agree with a war, but if my sacrifice of marriage is noble enough, if it brings back the Assembly to claim us in a long-overdue Exodus…”
“How is the Assembly summoned by a sacrifice exactly? There is no way to get in touch without marrying this guy? No cell reception in the Faerie Realm?”
“The fae have no awareness of this place unless they travel here. Purposefully. Time passes quicker in their realm, too, so the human realm is more of an afterthought. Kind of a…slow-motion purgatory.”
“Flattering.”
“Isn’t it?” She laughed under her breath. “If an act is noble enough, a sacrifice deemed worthy by our warrior queen, the Assembly will simply be brought through the barrier. They won’t be in control of it. They are simply sent to serve.” Her cheeks stained with red. “They only bring the strongest among them back to the Faerie Realm in the Exodus. My lack of sight is the reason my mother wasn’t taken last time, since she had to stay and care for me, Tucker. I can’t be the reason twice.”
Tucker felt like he’d been scooped up by a tornado and dropped somewhere entirely new. Into a place that was so much larger than him. With potholes and hazards everywhere he looked.
A matter of minutes ago, he’d finally had his purpose.
And he did still have it.
Mary was his purpose.
But his job wasn’t rescuing her from the dark uprising. He was just driving her to the place she could rescue herself. It was no different than what he’d been doing for his friends. For Jonas and Ginny. Elias and Roksana. Only this time…this time it would hurt to watch someone else get their happy ending. Because he’d been stupid enough to hope it might include him.
Not just tonight when she’d walked into Enders and shaken his soul.
Just a couple of days ago in Moscow, he’d played in a poker game to help Roksana win the marriage decree. Before the game started, the host gave each participant a concoction. A drink that when consumed, heightened their desire for what they wanted the most in life. Made the need for it practically unbearable.
As he’d known since his human days, Tucker wanted a home more than anything.
But he’d never seen it. Never visualized it so clearly. A blue split-level on the lake with a white fence and a fire pit out back.
And Mary.
She’d been there in his vision of home. Days before he’d actually met her.
Dark red hair brushing her waist, sipping tea on a porch swing.
Smiling while the fireflies danced.
He could still feel the gut-deep longing as he’d sat around the poker table, missing a woman he’d never met. Craving her to his very bones. If he was an arrogant motherfucker, he’d tell himself a vision was a vision. That foreseeing a blue house with a fire pit meant that was how things were going to end up. Fate. But he wasn’t that arrogant. The world didn’t revolve around his ass. And his desire to make that vision a reality wasn’t more important than what Mary wanted.
So he fell back on doubt. Maybe that concoction had been a cruel joke. It could have projected a life that was never meant to come true. Trying to make it happen, when it went against the path she’d laid out for herself, would make him a selfish bastard.
Being irresponsible and short sighted led to bodies in the road.
Led to the people in his care losing their hopes for the future.
So he’d do what he did best.
He’d drive. He’d guard Mary. And he’d help her.
Mary’s unseeing eyes were fixated on the area between him and the steering wheel. “You’ll make sure I get there at all costs. Won’t you?”
“Yes.” He swallowed his idiot dreams and put the car into drive. “I’m sorry, Mary. I guess I thought I was…saving the day.” That statement seemed to distress her and that was the furthest thing from Tucker’s intention, so he drummed out a beat on the dashboard and worked on lightening the mood, even though his throat felt like it was stuck in a vise. “We’ll make as much progress as we can tonight, but I’ll need to find a place to spend the sunlight hours. I hope you weren’t planning on getting a tan on this road trip.”
“Redheads don’t tan. They fry. At least that’s what I’ve been told.” Mary was still watching him oddly, a line between her brows. “I’m not interested in a tan, but…”
“But?”
Her palms chafed on the material of her skirt and the thighs beneath, drawing his rapt attention. What his hands and mouth wouldn’t give to take over that task. “Well, I-I have a list compiled of things I’ve always wanted to do. Maybe we could knock one or two of them off while I have so much freedom?” She swallowed. “I don’t know what exactly is waiting for me in Ohio, but I doubt I’ll ever have the ability to do whatever I want. It’s too risky.”
The chance to give her something, anything, made him sit up straighter. “What’s on this list?”
She chewed on her bottom lip a moment. Leaning back in the seat and lifting her hips, she dug around in her pocket and Tucker couldn’t stop himself. Couldn’t keep his gaze from tracking down the curve of her butt as it lifted off the seat. Christ. She definitely wasn’t as young as he’d originally thought. Nope. Not at all. As soon as she’d landed in his arms, he’d had to amend his earlier impression that she was too young for him to be lusting after, because it wasn’t true. Mary was a young woman with breasts, hips and a scent that rattled and soothed him at the same time. And he’d already failed in his mission not to notice. Failed with flying colors.
Tucker floored it onto the parkway, only glancing to his right again once he’d gotten his thirst under control and Mary had unfolded the list, tracing her fingertips over an endless sea of braille.