Curse And Craving

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Ronan had been plotting against the Hunt from the inside, and no one had any idea. I would not forget the lesson that enemies were everywhere. I would learn everything that I could, gain every advantage available, and I would accept my fate head-on. If that meant stopping a war, so be it. If I got the opportunity to kill Ronan in the process, even better. I would overcome my fear of the dark side of my magic. I would embrace it, own it, control it. Black eyes, black necklace, black clothes, black heart—black may have been just a color, but what it represented was my power. My power to take control of my circumstances and deny fear the chance to rule over me. Lochlan had said not to fear the transition to being Fae, and I wouldn’t. I would wrap myself in the change, revel in my metamorphosis, and emerge stronger and more ferocious than ever. OceanofPDF.com Chapter Twenty-Three “THAT SPELL YOU USED ON THE BRACELET—COULD YOU USE SOMETHING like that to ward a house? Some kind of spell to keep out intruders?” I asked Cat upon entering the museum the following morning. Her eyebrows shot up, and she looked around the room for the presence of others. “I’m not supposed to share our knowledge, Rebecca, and you know that. My mom would skin me alive if she found out,” she responded in a harsh whisper, hand anxiously twisting at one of her red curls. “I know how important secrecy is to you and your family, trust me. I’m not asking you to tell me how you see the Fae or why you all are so deathly afraid of them. But this is my life we’re talking about here—someone got in my apartment last night and attacked me. Please, will you help me?” “Oh, Rebecca. I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” Her kind eyes rounded with worry. “I am, but I’d rather not go through it again.” “Of course. When do you want me to come by? What my mam doesn’t know won’t hurt her.” “Thank you, Cat. I need all the help I can get right now. I have somewhere to be after work. Could you come by around eight, or is that too late?” “Eight works just fine.” She looked left and right before continuing. “Was it one of them? A Fae?” “Yes, but it wasn’t exactly your standard attack.” “Will you tell me what happened? You don’t have to if it makes you uncomfortable,” she quickly added before chewing on her fingernails. “I let Ronan in my house, and it turns out he’s not a good guy. I want to make sure he can’t get back in, and if it’s possible, I’d like to protect my place from anyone entering who intends me any harm.” “We have a couple of options we can discuss. Are you truly okay?” she whispered, her hand reaching for mine. “I am, I promise. It wasn’t anything I can’t get over, but I don’t want anything like that to happen again if I can help it.” I gave her my address before heading up to my office with the intent of burying myself in work to keep my mind occupied. I was willing to accept that I was becoming Fae and that I couldn’t escape my fate, but that didn’t mean I wanted to spend time dwelling on the catalytic event that spurred on my change of attitude. I was also actively avoiding thoughts of the visit I would make to Lochlan after work. I would need to tell him that Ronan was a traitor, but explaining how I’d learned that information would be tricky. He’d told me over and over to stay away from Ronan, and while I knew what Ronan had done wasn’t my fault—that I shouldn’t feel shame or guilt over his actions —I couldn’t shake a degree of embarrassment. The conversation would be endlessly awkward. How do you know he’s working with the enemy? He told me the Red Cap attack was a trap meant for you. Why would he tell you that? Because I figured out that he’d tricked me into having s*x with him. You had s*x with him? Only because he was glamoured to look like you. How is it you didn’t see through the glamour? I had taken off my necklace that morning in the hopes that I could go home and pretend the Fae didn’t exist. I didn’t want him to know I’d been so stupid as to take off the necklace. That I’d been so damn naïve to think the necklace was the sole source of my problems. Lochlan was a warrior and a leader. I wanted him to respect me. I wasn’t sure why, but I did, and because of that, I was desperate to avoid telling him what had happened. DRAWING out my inevitable talk with Lochlan, I set out to walk to the Huntsman from work instead of taking a cab. The crisp evening air did wonders to clear my head. I practiced what I wanted to say for the hundredth time and gathered my courage. The Do Not Walk sign was displayed as I came to the first major intersection on my route. I stood at the corner along with several other commuting pedestrians. Normally, I was an avid people watcher, but my chaotic thoughts were focused elsewhere until my eyes drifted to the car stopped next to me, first in line at the intersection. Inside the white basemodel Toyota Corolla sat an older woman, both hands on the steering wheel, eyes diligently focused on the red light. What caught my attention was the gruesome Unseelie creature sitting in the passenger seat beside her. He was the size of a small adult human and had brown skin with very large, pointed ears—what I might have thought Faerie ears looked like before moving to Ireland. His bulging yellow eyes peered over at me as he grinned mischievously next to the woman. She glanced over at her companion and smiled, no doubt seeing a glamour the creature was projecting. She had no idea of the danger she’d invited into her car with her.