“I’m sorry,” she says through her breathy giggles. Rachel rights herself and forces her face into a more serious expression, swallowing her amusement. “Okay, I’m good. Continue.” Her laughter begins anew before Nova can get back into delivering his evil monologue.
“Are you quite done yet?” All pretense of Nova’s villainy is forgotten.
Rachel inhales deeply and nods, managing a, “Yup.”
Nova straightens behind her, and continues with a rather lame, “Leave, brother, and she’s safe.”
“I have your word?”
“On my honor as King of Amaris, I solemnly swear to send her back after you’ve left,” Nova answers.
Orion presses his lips into a thin line, diminishing his flame into nonexistence before he turns on his heel and walks through the Harrowsgate. Nova releases his hold on her. In a flash, Rachel spins around, balls her hand into a fist, and punches the Fae King in the face. He sucks in air through his teeth as the song of swords being pulled from their scabbards play around her.
“Never use me like that again,” Rachel says. She hides her throbbing fist behind her back.
He holds out a hand to halt his guard from advancing on them, the shiner already blooming over his left eye.
“I am the King of Amaris,” he booms over the clearing.
“I couldn’t care less if you were the King of freaking Hearts. I am tired of men trying to take advantage of me.” Rachel pivots and heads toward the Harrowsgate. “And take a vacation, for heaven’s sake. You need a break,” she calls back, before exiting the Fae Realm.
Thirteen
Charnel Melancholy
Orion’s scarred hands find Rachel’s face when she enters the Human Realm. “Did he hurt you?” he asks, galaxy eyes full of concern as he evaluates her from head to toe. “Are you okay?”
Rachel shoves him back and walks out of the mushroom circle. She stops in her tracks, lifts a finger into the air, and turns to face him. “You abandoned me in the middle of nowhere. There wasn’t food. I had no way of reaching anyone. And best of all, I had no idea if you would ever come back for me. So, no, I am not okay.”
“Of course I would’ve gone back for you,” Orion says. “But I had to fix—”
“Be careful of your next words,” Rachel interrupts.
He grimaces. “Three-hundred-and-twelve Halflings died when the Sluaghs attacked.”
The pang of guilt gives her pause.
Three-hundred-and-twelve?
Rachel crosses her arms, her knuckles still painful after having punched Nova.
“If I hadn’t gone back, the loss would’ve been much greater,” Orion continues. “Some of those men had wives and children, Clarré. I had to answer to them as to why their husbands and fathers won’t be going home.”
The forest seemed colder, icy enough to chill Rachel to the bone.
“Yes, and I’m responsible for all their deaths, because I led the Sluaghs to your military camp.” She acts the exact opposite of how she feels, and waves one hand through the air. She drops her arm back to her side. “Here’s the thing, though. If you’d actually come back after you dealt with the Night Weaver, I wouldn’t have had to enter that infernal realm to get you.” Rachel stomps toward the rotting tree trunk.
“They needed me,” he says behind her.
“I needed you.”
“You’re being selfish.” Orion walks up to her side.
She lifts her chin higher, but says nothing to contradict him. Yes, perhaps she was selfish. Maybe she could even be classified as heartless. So what? It’s not like Orion would be the first person to think Rachel is something she’s not. The truth of the matter, she cares a great deal about the dead Halfling soldiers and their families, but she also has a mission to complete. Without Orion, though, it won’t be possible. Shadow Grove may not be a grand kingdom with heated rock pools and toilets that date back to the Dark Ages, but the small New England town is her home. Even if she doesn’t like everyone who lives here, she’ll protect them with her life. Hopefully, it won’t come to dying for Shadow Grove, but she will. She would sacrifice herself for this town she both loves and loathes.
“You never answered my questions,” he says after as they make the trek back to Griswold Road. “Did Nova hurt you?”
“I hurt him more,” she mumbles, which earns herself an inquisitive look. “I punched him in the face after you left.” Rachel’s lips tug at the corners.
“You’re kidding.”
Rachel shows him her bruised knuckles.
Orion guffaws as his thumb runs over the back of her hand. “You actually punched him in the face?”
She shrugs and pulls her hand away, half-hugging herself against the cold. “Nova’s going to nurse a shiner for at least two weeks.”
“He could have had your head,” Orion says. “He still can.”
“At this point, Nova needs to get in line,” Rachel says. “There’s a Miser who needs to be put in place, Greg’s acting all kinds of weird, Mrs. Crenshaw is in the hospital after shattering her hip, and I owe you money.”
Orion frowns. “Why would you owe me money?”
“I had to trade goldmint for a map.” Rachel pats down her pockets and groans. “Crap. I forgot Mercia’s mirror in the cabin.”
“The Holstein girl?” he asks, and Rachel nods. “She’s a regular. Don’t worry about the money.”
“One less thing for me to worry about,” she says. “Thanks.”
“So, what’s this Miser getting up to?”
Rachel tells Orion all about the situation she’s left behind as they make their way out of the forest—everything from finding a boneless body in the school’s boiler room to discovering the bone carvings.
As they exit the forest, he says, “You do realize my powers are inhibited in the Human Realm, right? Here, I’m only at ten percent strength.”
“Your ten percent is still better than my hundred percent,” Rachel answers, staring longingly at her home. “Okay, so I have your keys—”
“I don’t need keys, remember?” Orion cuts her short. He gives her a half-smile, the first one she’s seen since he’d gone after
