City of Fae

Event security poured into the gaps left by the fleeing crowd. I didn’t see the electroshock gun until the security guard punched it into my side. A targeted explosion of electricity snapped through me. My jaw locked. Muscles seized. And a blinding, thought-sundering pain tore through my head. The guards piled in, six on one. Camera flashes blitzed my vision. My fingers burned as my daggers were wrenched free. It didn’t matter. I didn’t need them. These people were weak. They didn’t know what they were dealing with. Someone heaved the barrier off and rough hands wrenched me to my feet.

“Get her out of here,” a voice barked.

I searched the crowd of shocked and intrigued faces for Sovereign, only to find him turned away, hanging back with the band members. The guards hustled me away from the crowd and my sight line back to Sovereign flooded with fans. I didn’t want to hurt the guards, but I would. I couldn’t fail her. Not again. The guards were big, but slow. I mapped in my mind exactly how I’d take them down.

“It’s okay.” Sovereign jogged up from behind, breaking away from those still eager to touch him and ignoring their attentive cries. “Let her go.”

The grips on my arms and shoulders tightened. One of my guards replied, “You know ’er?”

Reign gave them a single nod and trained his electric gaze on me. “She won’t hurt anyone. It was a stunt.”

“A stunt.” I repeated. A fabulous idea. Although I couldn’t quite figure out why Sovereign would want me free when I was clearly going to try and kill him at the first opportunity.

The grip on my arms vanished, dropping me back onto my feet. I staggered and shrugged my coat into position. “I don’t suppose I could have my daggers back?” My captors glowered. They would never know how close they’d come to feeling the kiss of my blades against their flesh.

Sovereign held out a hand. “The blades.” The guards didn’t look pleased by his request either. “They’re fae property. If you take them, you’ll spend the rest of the night filling out paperwork.” He flashed them a stellar smile. “Hand them over and nobody has to know.”

Once the daggers were tucked against the small of his back, Sovereign escorted me back-stage. Tension simmered between us. Moments building, words unsaid. Tap-tap … “Alina. Go, wait for me, my sweet thing. Fulfill your purpose. Prove your worth. Soon … I come. So soon.”

Sovereign opened a dressing room door. I gave the inside of the small room a cursory glance, finding it empty. “Ladies first. I insist.”

“Since when were you a gentleman?”

“Since turning my back on you means inviting a dagger in it. Get inside, Alina.” The sound of my name spoken as a threat scattered shivers across my flesh. He breathed the word, gave it a life all of its own, made it intimate. A memory, bright and sharp, sliced through the dark inhabiting my mind; his soft lips on mine, teasing, tasting, so gentle, as though I’d break if pushed too far. Intoxicating memories bloomed; the sweet intoxicating poison that was Reign.

He attacked in a burst of speed. Slamming into me like a battering ram, he thrust me face-first against a wall while the cloying dark in my head battled with bright memories, with the past, with the fragile hopes I’d buried deep. He leaned against me, trapping my body against the cool steel of his. Ghostly memories twitched, but fled before I could latch onto them.

“This isn’t you,” he hissed, breath warm against my cheek. “She got to you.” When I didn’t answer, he gripped my shoulders and spun me around, planting his hands against the wall on either side of my head, fencing me in. Those butterfly eyes widened, becoming all I could see, all I could form thoughts around. So beautiful. But they were a warning. Get too close and there’s a monster inside.

“I am remade,” I replied, words simple, tone flat.

Sadness softened his face. “You went to her, didn’t you? Alone? Of course you did. For someone afraid of spiders, you sure have a funny way of showing it.”

His sadness wouldn’t save him. Cocking my head I filtered through my own mind, searching for the memories. Afraid of spiders? That wasn’t me. That was … that was the mistake. The other me. The one who failed.

Sovereign sighed. “She’s really done a number on you, hasn’t she?” He muttered a curse. “I’m not ready. You can’t be here. It’s not over yet.”

“She’s coming.”

He leaned back and trawled his gaze up my body, a muddle of confusion, anger and fear muddying his expression. I’d seen that look before, after stepping off a train I’d never taken to find him sprawled on the platform. He looked at me like I was a stranger.

“Is there any part of Alina left in there at all?” he asked quietly.

A frown tightened my face. I couldn’t allow these memories a foothold. They were the error in my making. I was new. My past was debris. Pain, regret, love … these things meant nothing.

Sovereign pushed off and backed away, careful to face me, keeping the daggers out of reach. “A construct, is that all you are now?” Disappointment sharpened his words with an edge of disgust.