Lure Page 19

  Chapter 18

  CEARO

  “Anyone seen anything yet?” Boden called to his comrades. He sounded frustrated that they were coming up short.

  “It’s like they disappeared back there,” one said defensively.

  “They can’t disappear, you idiot,” Boden replied, voice harsh. “I’m going under. One of you had better find something by the time I come back up.” His angry mutterings subsided, presumably when the ground swallowed him.

  The others spoke up slightly in the absence of their leader. “’They can’t disappear,’ he says. Then how’d they get out of the prison to begin with?”

  “That earth fairy is behind all of it. Why are we even looking here? She’s probably hiding underground.”

  “Yeah, what does he expect us to find?”

  I thought I heard one of them kick our tree in frustration. Stupid Seelie. They are so close.

  Their voices grew faint as they moved on from the area. Boden broke free from the ground and joined them. Soon, I could no longer hear any sound from them at all.

  The Seelie had not even glanced up. Whether Willa was an earth fairy or not, they should never think an opponent incapable of surprising them. Even the humans were getting better at this. Had the fae really been cut off from them for so long that they were forgetting what humans could do? At least it served my purpose.

  I was confident they were gone now. I let my ears focus on other things. Willa was whispering to the other human, Eric, telling him to get off her. There was nowhere for him to go though. He was no fae. His tall form was already hitting the ceiling.

  I admit that I had not planned for this situation. Never had I thought anyone but I would need these hide-outs, and I had built them according to their prospective use. When I had helped Willa run, that was an exception I had not planned on repeating. We had made due with some of these smaller ones, but she was not much bigger than me. It had not been this terribly cramped with the two of us, just slightly uncomfortable. I imagined it would not even be slightly uncomfortable if it was only David and me in here.

  His whole body was basically covering me, but I did not mind. I could stay right here for days and be content with feeling him breathe. His breaths had slowed, and he was not attempting to move away like Eric. It was possible he had figured out that moving was a pointless endeavor, but I decided to believe he was as comfortable as I was.

  My mind relaxed completely and began to wander toward pleasant topics that it had not contemplated for…I had lost track a long time ago.

  His skin feels the same. Soft and warm and inviting. Never-ending. That was how it felt to touch him before. Once I started, I could never stop. I would touch all of him, and then I would do it again.

  And he would do the same to me. We would intertwine and all there would be in the universe was us.

  “Cearo!”

  Goodbye, reverie. The rest of the universe was back.

  Willa was flicking her gaze between me and her panicking son, who was still trying to find space that was not there. “Eric, just stay still,” said swatting him. He settled down, but clearly had to put effort into it. “Cearo?”

  Without sighing, I answered, “Yes?”