I wrinkled my nose. That sounded gross. Residue.
“Against you for what?” Annie glanced back and forth between us. “What’s going on?”
Rian tilted his head to the side. “They’re nearing.”
The buzzing closed in even more, and I swallowed nervously. “We have to go. Grab a coat.” I looked at Annie and then around the room. “Where’s Hash?”
Annie’s shoulders dropped, and she wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Dad shot him.”
With that, she grabbed the sweater slung over the couch and shrugged it on. I blinked, my chest painfully tight.
“Rae.”
I nodded at Rian’s warning look and followed him out the door. Grabbing Annie’s hand, I tugged her after us. I didn’t realize she was hitting my arm until I heard the slap on my skin. It felt like a tickle.
No wonder Sabine had laughed at my attempt to fight against her.
“I know it doesn’t make sense, but you need to come with me,” I told her tightly. “Some bad people are after me. I can’t explain now, but I swear I will when we’re safe.”
She tugged against my hold again, a mulish expression on her face. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on.”
Releasing her, I threw my hands up into the air. “Why are you so damn stubborn? All right, cliff notes. When I was on my way here after your call, I crashed into a Fae. She literally dragged me to Faerie.” I paused, taking a breath. “They planned to use a group of other girls and me for a sacrifice.” My heart stuttered, and I looked at Annie with wide eyes. She was my sister… That meant she would turn Fae, too, if I managed to unbind magic. A mix of emotions whirled in me.
“And?” Annie snapped me out of my musings, arms crossed. It was obvious she didn’t believe me if the quirk of her eyebrow was any indication.
“Instead, Rian and the Faerie Queen helped us escape. The Queen… sacrificed herself for me, putting essence inside me. Now, I have to help them unbind magic.” My chest rose and fell harshly with my outpour of words. Annie’s mouth dropped, doubt cresting her expression. I gripped her sweater and tugged her toward the trailer park exit. She resisted, but my grip on her forced her to follow.
“Are you pulling some prank on me?” Desperation edged her words, as if she wanted me to say got ya.
I didn’t slow my steady pace as we slipped deeper into the woods. I was about to grab Annie and take off at a run when a crunch sounded to my side. My head swung around to find a big man watching us with narrowed eyes. The woodsy smell intensified, seeming to coat him.
He tilted his nose up and inhaled deeply. His eyes flashed, and his lip curled. A deep growl built from his chest. The movements were animalistic, and they successfully scared the crap out of me.
“Time to go,” Rian said and scooped Annie up.
Leaves rustled from behind us, and I whirled to see another tall, wide male step out of the shrubbery. Where were they coming from? It was as if they were a part of the woodlands.
I sensed more than saw Rian take off in the split second he did. I traced his steps, but a large hand fell on my arm and dug in. The sharp indents stung. On instinct, I hissed.
“I finally tracked you down,” he said with a threatening growl.
Not thinking twice, my fist flew out. It connected with a hard jaw, and then I was free. In a burst of speed, I took off. Cursing sounded behind me as branches snapped. Fear trilled through me. They were keeping up. My heart pounded inside my chest, trying to escape. It wasn’t until their steps fell off minutes later that I was able to breathe. What had he meant “tracked me”? Why was he even looking for me?
Tilting my head, I listened for the rustle of Rian’s steps and raced in his direction, skidding to an unsteady halt. I still needed to get the hang of the whole graceful Fae thing.
Annie was hitting his chest, trying to get him to put her down. She stopped beating him when she saw me. “Why were we being followed? Rae, what’s going on?”
Rian looked at me with strain and exasperation on his face. The fear in Annie’s voice twisted my chest. I had never wanted to have to face this reality, but here we were.
“There are people after me,” I repeated my earlier explanation.
“But—” She paused and shook her head. “How did he run so fast? I-I just don’t understand.”
My expression softened. “It’s all real, Annie. Every supernatural crap you’ve ever heard of, there’s some version of it that actually exists.”
And you will be part of that world.
I held those words in, though, because she still had time to live a normal life. Fae didn’t reach maturity until they were twenty-two. Annie had four years to enjoy being human—that is, if I managed to figure out how to do it in that time frame.
Annie’s mouth opened, but nothing came out. Her eyes hadn’t moved off mine, and I attempted to convey how serious I was. Slowly, she nodded.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but we need to get to a portal,” Rian said tightly.
Annie looked up at Rian, and her eyes flickered with appreciation.
“Crap,” I muttered running my hand through my hair. “No, we need to get Annie to the closest town.”
“That would not be the wisest—” He stopped talking when I gave him a death glare.
“I feel nauseous.” Annie moaned, clutching her stomach.
“I know the feeling,” I said, focusing on her, but all her attention was on Rian. “But you’ll live.”
He gently put her on her feet and offered her a smile. The sort of smiles he’d given me. The kind, brotherly ones. Annie, on the other hand, seemed to have hearts
