Hilda moved aside, and our now much smaller group streamed toward the side room and down the ramp. I marched straight into the armory along with everyone else. I was glad to be free of the gloves and tunic, but not the Utem?. That was tough to leave behind.
As a pack, we moved out, heading for the exit. No one else stopped to look at the rejected recruit, Cassandra Hart.
I hadn’t noticed her until now, sitting on a stone bench in a corner, tears staining her round cheeks. Her short blonde hair stuck up at odd angles as if she’d been running her fingers through it repeatedly.
I wavered. Frazer instantly halted. “What is it?” he asked me.
Ignoring the question, I went to sit by Cassandra. “Is there anything I can do?”
The rest of my pack stopped and gathered together. They kept a respectable distance away. All apart from Liora, who joined us on the bench. Cassandra wouldn’t look at any of us. She just croaked, “Make that fae waiting in the stands take you instead of me.”
Frazer hissed; Cassandra flinched. “I wasn’t being serious,” she muttered.
Liora asked, “Why are you waiting in here?”
Cassandra bit down on her lip so viciously that the soft flesh bled in spots. “Hilda told me to wait until the end and then head to the main arena entrance. That fae, the one taking me—he’ll be waiting.”
“D’you want us to go meet him with you?” Liora inquired gently—kindly.
Cassandra shrugged and sniffed a bit. I tried another tactic. “The fae you’re meeting—I know him. He’s the one who brought me here. Maybe I could persuade him to help you somehow.”
She looked at me then. A challenging frown. “Why would a fae from the Wild Hunt listen to someone who used to be its prey?”
A fair question.
Liora had an answer though. “Don’t underestimate her. The fae considers her a friend.”
Cassandra spoke with venom. “You can’t be friends with a fae. Are you sure it wasn’t something else?”
Her eyes narrowed in suspicion and my back went up. It wasn’t just me though. Frazer stilled, Adrianna’s lip puckered; even Liora was leaning away, doubt worming its way into her face.
I took a breath and continued. “We were friends. Nothing more.”
I stood alongside Liora and said, “D’you want my help or not?”
Cassandra wavered, staring down at her boots, scowling.
“Bye then.”
I was turning when she stopped me.
“Wait!” Cassandra jumped up and rubbed the wetness from her cheeks. “If you can do something … anything, I’d be grateful.”
A nod was my response.
No one said a word as we walked back along the stone tunnel and out the other end, into daylight. I didn’t even need to search for Hunter. Liora immediately pointed and said, “Over there.”
He stood stock-still next to the arena’s huge gate. The perfect picture of a mindless minion. As soon as he saw me, however, his face lit with a sweet smile.
It awoke such joy and disgust and sadness in me.
Adrianna moved to my side, her head tilted, questioning. “That’s the slaver?”
Hunter’s smile faltered. He’d heard. Of course he had.
Adrianna said, “Hilda wanted us to go back to the barracks … You might get in trouble if you talk with him.”
“I know.”
Adrianna nodded once. No censure or disapproval. Just acceptance.
I looked around at my pack. “Don’t risk trouble for my sake. Go. I’ll meet you back there.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Frazer said, glowering at Hunter.
Liora clucked her tongue and took him by the elbow. “Don’t fuss.”
He blinked and frowned down at the touch, but amazingly, he let her steer him away. Bound or not, Liora had her own brand of magic. Frazer peered over his shoulder. Send something down the bond if he gives you trouble.
Yes, brata.
He flashed me a dry look at the obvious exasperation in my thoughts and spun back around. Cai gave me a quick grin goodbye, and Adrianna just left.
Alone with Cassandra, I asked, “Ready?”
She said nothing in response; she only stared dead ahead with a locked spine. I took it to mean “yes,” and led the way.
My heart jumped into my stomach as we closed the distance. Green cloth, brown leathers, daggers at his hip, just like I remembered him. The only changes being that he didn’t carry a bow, and he had no overcoat, presumably because of the fast approaching summer season.
“Hi,” I said. Gods, that sounded lame.
“How have you been?” He seemed genuinely interested. Concerned, even.
The softness around his mouth caused a flowering ache in my chest. His brown eyes never left mine, which meant he’d yet to acknowledge the human he was about to take into chains. I gestured to my left. “I’m guessing you know who this is?”
The words punched out of me. Hunter noticed and frowned. “Of course. I’ve got orders to escort Cassandra to her new position.”
I came close to spitting the words at him. “And can you tell us where she’s going?”
Hunter’s wings rustled. The only sign of discomfort. “The Solar Market.”
Cassandra blurted out, “Where I’ll be sold, again.”
Hunter’s eyes cut to Cassandra’s, finally. “Yes.”
My palm tingled; I wanted to slap him. But those violent urges would do no good. Reining myself in and schooling my voice into even tones, I said, “Is there nothing you can do to help her?” No answer. I persisted. “You know what Solar is, Hunter.”
He stepped closer. Barely a foot separated us. “The law is clear: a human without magic or position is eligible to become fae property.”
I blinked. Property. That word echoed in my mind long afterward.
Hunter continued, gesticulating, clearly agitated. As if desperate to explain. “She didn’t make it as a soldier. The only occupation left is a domestic. It’s that, or the brothel. And I’m guessing she doesn’t want to go there.”
“She is standing right here,” Cassandra burst out.
Hunter’s focus shifted to her. Backing up a touch, he asked, “You want to be a whore?”
Forget slapping him, I wanted to pummel every inch of him.
“No.” Cassandra raised her chin and tried valiantly to stare down her nose at her captor. “But what I want doesn’t matter to your lot, does it? So I’ll stick with what I can live with. If I’m going to be owned and abused,” her voice cracked and so did my heart as she said, “I’d rather it be out in the open with other women around me who know how to survive.”
I felt a huge surge of respect for her. Hunter, on the other hand, merely frowned. “Not every household is alike. And not every fae is cruel. It sounds like you’ve listened to a couple of horror stories and assumed we’re all the same.”
I snapped then. “If there’s no danger, why did you fight to bring me here?”
His focus whipped to me. “Serena.”
It was a groan and a plea.
He knew. That rutting coward knew how dangerous Solar was for humans.
My thoughts must’ve shown. He dipped his head, murmuring, “I haven’t got a choice.”
The storm swelling in my heart’s blood turned me wild and cold and distant. “Yes. You have. So, please, for me, take Cassandra to a brothel. One of the better ones, if such a thing exists.”
Hunter’s clay-colored eyes found mine. There was a pain there. One that I didn’t understand. Finally, he sighed through his nose and looked away, but he also nodded.
“Thank you,” Cassandra muttered to me softly.
That just made me feel guiltier. Guilty that I’d once called this fae a friend. I hoped that showed when I stared into her round, fearful eyes and said, “I’m sorry it wasn’t more.”
She tried to hide the tight misery gripping her body with a shrug. “I’d never have made it as a soldier. At least in a brothel I’ll have a chance at life.” She continued in a terribly bright voice, “Maybe I’ll get lucky and some wealthy fae will take a liking to me. I hear they sometimes pamper their whores.”
There were no words in me. Just a cold, sick feeling. Hunter suddenly grabbed my elbow and ordered Cassandra to stay put. He pulled me a good distance away, only stopping once we reached the fence around the training ring. Rounding on me, he breathed, “How are you, really?”
I blinked. Totally speechless.
Spooling myself back in, I hissed, “How … how can you ask me that right now?”