I brought the kitten close to my face, smiling when it stretched out a tiny leg and planted its paw on my nose. “I’m not mad. Honestly.” I sat the kitten down on the bed and it waddled off to investigate Tink’s fingers. “Dixon? Named after a certain Walking Dead character?”
“Of course.” Tink jerked his thumbs at his shirt. “Proud Daryl lover over here.”I laughed, and it sounded strange and hoarse to my own ears. I couldn’t remember the last time I genuinely laughed. I took a shaky breath. “What happened?”
Tink wiggled his fingers for the kitten. “Maybe you should tell Tink what happened to you.”
Biting my lip, I shook my head. “I . . . I . . . Can you just tell me first?”
For a moment, I thought he was going to protest. “You left Wednesday morning and that was it. Then, about a week later, Ren showed up. He told me that you’d been taken by the prince. He didn’t know how to get back to you. He said he barely remembered his time at the house where you two were kept, and he had no idea how to find it.”
God, I hoped that was the case. I really did. It would be a blessing, a true gift, to have no memories.
“Then a fae showed up at your place. Not a good one. We took care of that. Together.” He paused, grinning proudly. “The fae was totally gunning for Ren. Said he was going to take Ren’s body back to the prince, and he would be awarded something creepy like humans for dinner for life, but that obviously didn’t happen.”
My hands curled into fists. Son of a bitch. I knew it. The prince couldn’t touch Ren, but I knew the other fae would be going after him to gain some kind of favor from their leader.
“We talked about going to the Order, but he knew that wouldn’t be smart, because of what you are. You told him.”
I opened my mouth.
“Can’t get pissed at you for that, because it’s kind of a moot point considering he got captured and would’ve found out anyway. But you lied to me. When you were upset and said you two had a fight, it was because you told him the truth. Actually, that doesn’t even matter now.” As he talked, the kitten grew tired of trying to jump on his fingers and moseyed on up my legs, plopping down in my lap. “Anyway, it was only like a day after the fae attack when Kalen showed up. Or maybe Dane? I don’t know. They all look alike.”
My brows inched up my forehead as I scratched Dixon behind the ear.
“Dane or possibly Kalen said that he could help us get you back. Of course, Ren tried to kill him. It was kind of dramatic, but finally Dane slash possibly Kalen mentioned this Merle person, who by the way, is pretty cool but a bit of an odd bird. And Ren started listening to him. Dane slash possibly Kalen said that they had someone on the inside who would get in contact when they thought they could help you get out,” he continued. “We tried to look for you first. I left the house with him. It was loud. I forgot how loud the world is, but we didn’t know where to look.”
“You worked with Ren?” I asked. At least now I knew how they came to be with these fae. Not all my questions were answered, but things were starting to fall into place. “I’m surprised.”
He raised a shoulder. “I had to find my Ivy-Divy.”
I smiled as the kitten stretched out his tiny legs. Tink leaving the house and pairing up with Ren was a big deal even if he didn’t say it. “Thank you,” I told him, drawing a shaky breath. My skin felt too raw as he lifted his gaze to mine. “Thank you for looking for me and—”
“You don’t have to thank me,” Tink said. “It’s what friends do. And we’re the very best friends.”
My smile returned.
“And it’s what boyfriends do, right? I wouldn’t know. Don’t currently have a boyfriend or a girlfriend,” he added, and then rolled his eyes. “Ren wasn’t going to stop until he got you back.”
Air caught in my throat. Boyfriend? Girlfriend? Oh God, pressure clamped down on my chest and my throat burned. It had nothing to do with Valor’s earlier death grip. “I don’t know if Ren is my . . . I think he was just doing his duty, Tink. He knew I couldn’t be left there.”
Tink frowned. “I don’t think it’s just his duty. He wanted to storm that house from the moment Dane slash possibly Kalen told him he had someone on the inside. The Order hasn’t been involved in any of this.”
I continued petting Dixon, liking how his little body rumbled like a tiny engine. There was no way that things were the same as before. No way.
“As much as it hurts my soul to say this, and yes, I believe I have a soul full of glitter and rainbows, I don’t think you’re giving him enough credit,” he said, and if I wasn’t already sitting down, I would’ve fallen down. “I don’t know exactly what happened between you two or what came afterward for both of you, but he . . . he barely slept or ate during this time. He . . . he missed you, Ivy. He worried.”
I watched Dixon’s paw twitch as he slept, thinking about what Tink was saying. I could think of a lot of reasons why Ren would have had problems eating or sleeping even if he didn’t remember exactly what had happened to him. And of course he would have worried. My womb was a ticking time bomb.