Page 113 of Cursed Fae (Fae War Chronicles 2)

“You have one second, fae,” the woman snarls.

I turn back to face her and open my mouth, but am cut off by the sound of thundering bootsteps.

“Rainey! Wait!” A man I’d know anywhere rushes in and steps in front of me.

“Ridley?” I question, but Rafferty’s brother doesn’t bother looking back at me. Not yet, at least.

“It’s Ember,” he tells the woman.

She looks around him at me then back to him again before finally lowering her weapon. “I thought she was dead.”

Now, he turns to me. “She was. Where the hell have you been?”

“I don’t—I think I dematerialized.”

“No shit, sherlock. We got that.”

I turn to the woman, still in shock.I dematerialized.I really am a fae. What the hell? That’s so damn insane!

“Ember. Where have you been?” Ridley questions again.

I turn back to him. “How long have I been gone? Please, Ridley. How long?” I choke out, my throat burning. Where’s Rafferty? Why is he not here?

“Seven years,” he deadpans. “You’ve been dead for the better part of a decade.”

Wally takes form right beside me, and Rainey raises her weapon again. Though this time, she doesn’t hesitate. A gunshot rings out, and my father appears behind her, hand on her head—one on her throat. “Move and I’ll snap your fucking neck, hunter.”

“Hunter?” I look from him to the woman, then to Ridley. “What the hell is going on?”

“Release her, Ancient,” Ridley warns.

“She shot me,” Wally snarls, his silver eyes flashing with power.

“I shot at you, dumbass,” the woman clarifies. “Iron bullet. Was only going to wound you so we could have a chat.”

I look to Ridley. “Ailis? Is she still leading the ancients?”

Ridley’s expression falters, and within the depths of his golden eyes, I see pain. A lot of it. “Ailis is on the run,” he explains. “And Rafferty is now working with the ancients in a mission to rip Faerie apart.”

I gape at him.

Shock.

Horror.

Confusion.

Terror.

I don’t even know what the fuck to think because what he just told me cannot be true. “No. Not Raffe.”

Walter releases the hunter Ridley called Rainey and appears back at my side.

“Believe it,” Rainey snaps. “They’ve nearly decimated all of Faerie. We’re barely keeping them at bay, and the fuckers keep coming back.”

“Because they can’t die,” I tell her.

“No shit,” she deadpans. “Figured that out when one of the fuckers came back and torched our camp.”