Soul (Chaos #1)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

I woke up in my fae bed to see Brendan standing over me, a deep frown marring Drake's features. Arlen stood behind him, his stern face impassive.

"What did you do?" Brendan asked. "They say you haven't left this bed for days, and yet you smell like... another place."

I sat up and stretched. "I'm hungry."

Realtín flew over to me. "I thought you would die!" She pulled my hair and kissed my cheek.

I yawned and lay back down. "I thought you felt my pain."

"At first," Brendan said, "and then it disappeared. Anya weakened, but she didn't suffer. You didn't suffer. We felt nothing at all for the last day. I thought... we were concerned that we had broken your mind."

"Not yet," I said, giving Grim a weak smile. His eyes were red-rimmed, and Líle was fidgeting anxiously by the doorway. "Why are you all so worried?"

"If you die, so do they," Brendan said coldly.

"That's not why!" Realtín screeched in my ear. "You know we worried for her."

He narrowed his eyes at the sprite until she hid behind me.

"Don't bully her," I said, yawning again.

"Here's your breakfast," he said as Anya ran in, followed by Sorcha. "I'll leave you to it."

"Wait!" I said. "What day is it?"

"Friday," he said.

"Great. We're going on that human night you promised me tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" he exclaimed. "You almost wasted away this week. What are you talking about?"

"That's what I'm talking about. Whether I like it or not, I'm bound to be used up by the fae, and I want to see my friends one more time. I want to celebrate the last birthday I might ever see. I'm allowed to be drunk and weepy, but if I act like I'll never see my friends again during the day, they'll know something is up. Besides, all of this... faeness isn't good for me. Obviously. Maybe I overdosed on being around so many fae."

He glared at Grim. "Is that possible?"

Grim nodded, surprising me. "She's just a human, and she's been thrown in with us like one of the summer wives. They don't last very long because they aren't used to us. It's been a lot to take, even for someone with a trace of fae in her."

"And you promised," I said. "We made a deal. Fae don't break deals."

"No." Brendan sighed. "But we do our best to worm our way out of them."

"I thought you wanted to know what a human night out would be like."

He hesitated. "I do, but there's so much to do. Arlen's reorganising everything, and we don't have long left. It seems like a risk."

"So you're scared," I said.

"I am not scared."

"Whatever you say. All I know is that if I were you, being attacked and all, being disrespected in my own home, I'd want to show the world I wasn't afraid. I'd want the world to see me out there, enjoying life and daring my enemies to come get me."

He smiled. "Compelling reason, I admit. There would need to be rules enforced. You would have to-"

"I will be so good, you'll think my soul has been swapped out. Maybe I need to have some fun, Brendan. Isn't that what the fae are all about? Fun, excess, and debauchery? And after everything you told me, I need to get out of my head for a while." And I needed to be away from so much concentrated fae magic to figure out what I really felt and thought.