I rolled my eyes.
“Come on. I can’t have you and Thallirin breathing down my neck. Besides, Dad, you have a new daughter to watch over.”
Uan grunted.
“Yes. I will watch her, too.”
Mom rolled out of her bedroom next, looking put together and alert.
“Uan filled me in,” she said. “Do you think she’ll stay?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but a quiet voice beat me.
“Do you want me to?”
We all turned toward Tasha, who was lingering in the hallway, half-hidden by the kitchen cabinets.
“I do,” Mom said.
“Me, too,” Zach said.
“I would like two daughters,” Uan said. “Very much.”
“Hey,” Zach said, feigning indignation. “What about two sons?”
“Do you know of a boy child who needs a father? You can share a room.”
I laughed as Zach sputtered at the idea of room sharing. When I met Tasha’s gaze, she looked less uncertain.
“Come on,” I said. “Uan made waffles.”
While I sat through breakfast and did my best to help Tasha feel welcome and like part of the family, I couldn’t stop glancing at the kitchen window and listening for the door.
“So how long are you staying with us?” Mom asked me, as blunt as ever.
“You don’t live here?” Tasha asked.
“I did until recently. I met someone and moved in with him. But, I still come home for dinner.”
She didn’t seem too upset by the news that she’d have a room to herself.
As soon as Zach took her outside to introduce her to the world of archery, Mom shooed me from the house.
“We’ll see you at dinner.”
My steps were faster than usual as I crossed town.
I was expecting to see Thallirin in the kitchen, looking a little lost at the stove when I walked in. Instead, the house was quiet and still empty. I tried not to let his absence bother me and focused on taking care of myself.
After the hell I went through the day before and a night on the floor, I was ready for a hot shower and a change of clothes. And maybe some more pain reliever; everything was aching from all the manhandling I’d endured.
I dug some medicine out of the bathroom cabinet and drank from the sink. The mirror showed the barest hint of a bruise smudging my cheek from the smack I’d gotten for yelling Thallirin’s name. I had a bruise on my shoulder, too, from hitting the window. Surprisingly, my leg wasn’t too bad despite having my pants taken off and put back on with no regard to the stitches. My neck and throat were sore and bruised, but what hurt most were my shoulder and back muscles from having my hands bound behind me.
By the time I finished rinsing my hair in the shower, everything felt fine. Everything except for the ache in my chest that flared to life when I let myself wonder why Thallirin wasn’t home yet. Tucking my towel around my torso, I left the bathroom.
The degree of worry that settled into my stomach surprised me a bit. Thallirin was strong, and the fey were immune. I shouldn’t be worried. And when it came to Thallirin and his friends dealing with infected and hellhounds, I wasn’t. I’d seen how they fought them. But, it wasn’t infected that Thallirin had scaled the wall for. It’d been humans. The worst kind. I’d seen Van and Oscar’s cruelty firsthand and knew not to trust them. What if they’d found a way to trick the fey? In spite of their strengths, I knew the fey could be hurt.
I took several of my calming breaths and focused on drying my hair.
Thallirin would be fine. He had to be.
That thought made me pause as I realized just how much I needed that to be true. Thallirin helped me feel safe in a world filled with creatures and people who wanted to destroy humanity as I knew it. Without him, I hated what the future might hold for me. Nothing but more anger and suffering. With him, though, I could be happy. He was gentle, despite all his roughness, and endearing, despite his sparse words.
A small smile lifted my lips as I understood what had happened. Somewhere along the way, I’d started to see past my fear of having my choices taken from me. Then, love had taken hold. It felt scary and fragile and, yet, so right.
I desperately wished Thallirin was there to hug at that moment.
Tossing my towel over the bathroom door, I glanced at myself in the mirror and really focused on me. The tank top and sleep shorts I wore hid nothing. I was bruised, stitched, emotionally scarred, and more than a few pounds shy of being overfed. But, I was also a strong, determined survivor. Like Thallirin.
“He’ll be back,” I whispered to myself. “Because if it were me out there, I’d find a way back, too.”
Resolute in holding to my positive outlook, I went to the kitchen, foregoing my need for a nap, and set about making something to eat. I’d only just turned off the stove and moved to the table with my bowl of beans and franks when the door opened.
My heart leapt as I looked up at Thallirin.
He saw me immediately, his gaze tracking over my face then down to the bowl in my hands before he stepped inside and softly closed the door behind him.
“Why are you here?”
The near-crippling hurt I felt at such an unwelcoming and toneless question took a large amount of effort to ignore. Rather than feel attacked by the ugly words, I chose to believe I had misunderstood him.
“Because you want me here, and I want to be here. Why would you think I shouldn’t be?”
His gaze drifted over my face again, and I could see the flicker of something in the depths of his eyes. Fear? Uncertainty? It was odd seeing either of those from him.
“Because I killed the humans. They didn’t shoot at me. They screamed, and pled, and tried to run.”
“Were you hurt?”
He looked down at the floor and smiled.
“They cannot hurt me.”
I took a deep breath, set my bowl aside, and went to him.
“Only I can do that, right?”
He grunted in his non-committal way.
“I should feel bad that they’re dead, but the only thing I feel is relief. Thank you for making sure they will never be back. I won’t ever have to watch for their faces in any new people who join us. I’m just sorry you were the one who had to do it.”
He reached up and tenderly ran a fingertip over the bruises circling my neck.
“I would do anything for you.”
The simple words sent my heart racing.
“Do you mean that?”
“Yes.”
I reached up, standing on my toes as I threaded my fingers in his hair, and slowly drew him to me. He didn’t fight what I wanted. In fact, his hands settled on my sides, holding me in place as he leaned down to brush his lips against mine. The contact was all the sweeter for the briefness of it.
He set his forehead against mine, and I rubbed my nose against his.
“Then keep me safe forever,” I said softly. “Make me immune.”
He jerked as if I’d slapped him but didn’t pull away.
“I know you think I’m too young. If it’d help, I’ll ask Mom to bake me a cake and sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to me tonight. The truth is that I honestly don’t know when I’ll officially be eighteen. It could be next week or it could be a few weeks from now. But the actual date doesn’t matter, Thallirin. The rule was made to protect the young and innocent. I don’t believe it was meant to keep those who are too young to make their own intelligent and informed choices from making choices they might later come to regret. I think it was just to keep them innocent for as long as possible. I lost my virginity well before the earthquakes, and any remaining innocence was taken since then. Your hesitation isn’t saving me anything but is putting me at risk.