The Siege of Shadows: Book one

Coming Home (46)

I wanted to restore the Well. I had to. But the problem was, I had no idea how. The path had been hazy, the journey uncertain, and every step I took felt like a test. All I knew was that the Well needed to be back where it belonged, and it had to be me who did it. Yet... I still couldn't figure out how.

I tried to talk to Kael about it, but since my transformation, he had been distant. The change in me must have been too much for him, or maybe he wasn't as interested as he used to be. He hadn't called me "kitten" since that night by the fire, and I noticed he avoided making contact, as if the simple touch of a hand was suddenly too much to bear.

What had changed?

It wasn't as though I was the same person I had been when I arrived here, but... I didn't think I'd changed so much that he couldn't bear to look at me. My hands clenched into fists, frustration rising in me. The silence between us had stretched thin, but I couldn't ignore it anymore. I needed answers.

So, I confronted him.

"Kael," I said, my voice steady, but my insides were shaking. "Why are you avoiding me? What's going on? What's changed between us?"

He didn't look at me right away, his eyes fixed on the distant horizon. "Nothing has changed," he muttered, his voice cold.

"Then why haven't you called me kitten? Why won't you touch me?"

Kael's jaw tightened, his eyes darkening with something hard—something angry. He finally turned to face me.

"The truth?" His voice was sharp, like a knife scraping across stone. "The truth is... I know what you are now." He spat the words, disgust swirling in his tone. "The unseelie... they are wild. Dangerous. Vicious creatures. Absolutely vile."

His words hit me like a slap. For a moment, I was speechless. The realization that Kael—Kael, who had been my captor, my ally, and in some twisted way, the closest thing to family I had—could look at me and think of me that way twisted something in my chest.

I took a deep breath, my fingers curling into fists at my sides, fighting the tremor in my hands.

"And the Seelie aren't?" I snarled, not caring anymore. "I've seen nothing but the absolute worst treatment from the hands of the oh-so-gracious, warm-hearted Seelie."

Kael's face grew harder, but I wasn't finished.

"I think your views are corrupt and twisted," I continued, taking a step toward him, my voice rising. "And hypocritical. How can you of all people think like this, especially with everything you've been through? And why turn that on me?" I took another step forward, closer now, my voice harsh with emotion. "You were fine with me before. Have I really changed so much?"

The words tasted bitter, like ashes in my mouth. My breath came in ragged bursts, but I didn't back down.

Kael said nothing for a long moment. His eyes were hard, his shoulders stiff. Finally, he spoke, his voice quieter but no less cutting.

"Maybe I was wrong to think you were different," he muttered. "Maybe you never were."

I felt the last of the hope I had been holding onto crack, splintering into pieces inside me.

Rowan snarled, picking up the Well from the ground. "If you feel so strongly about it now, then leave," I bit out, my voice trembling. "I don't need your help."

The amulet around my neck, the one that had once been a strange and unfamiliar thing, began to glow faintly. It pulsed in time with the beat of my heart, warming my skin.

I didn't care anymore.

I stormed off into the woods, the Well heavy in my arms. Each step felt like a rebellion against him, against everything that had brought me here.