He steps in front of me and grips my wrists, pulling my hands away from my face and setting them in my lap. “It’s been over a week since—”
“I know,” I cut in. I don’t want him to say what went down the night Danielle poisoned me, or the day in the ballroom. It all felt too intimate. “It’s fine. I just need to grab a coffee.”
“Have you spoken to Skylar?”
“About this?” I ask in a sharp tone.
He chuckles. “No. About the charity event.”
“Oh,” I mumble. “I was going to head over and meet with her now.”
“I’m going there, too. Why don’t you ride with me?”
I catch my lower lip between my teeth. The idea of riding in a car alone with Tristan sets me on edge.
“Aurora,” he says in an amused tone.
“Yeah, okay,” I say. “Before we go, why didn’t you tell me you were coming today?”
“And miss the look on your face when you saw me? No way.”
I narrow my eyes. “For an all-powerful fae leader, you sure can act like a twelve-year-old.”
He chuckles, arching a brow. “All-powerful, huh?”
I push him back a few steps and slide off the desk. “Why are you here? You wouldn’t waste your time teaching humans without your own agenda. You won’t teach me.”
“You must be upset about that, considering this isn’t the first time you’ve mentioned it,” he points out with an arrogant smirk.
“Whatever. Stop avoiding my question.”
“I was here to monitor a situation.”
“A light fae situation?”
“I want to make sure you’re safe.” His eyes meet mine and soften. “I don’t want you targeted because of me.”
“Screw that. Who I spend my time with is no freaking concern of the light fae.”
Tristan smiles as if he’s trying not to laugh.
“What?” I snap.
“Nothing. Just you.” His tone is confusing.
“Yeah, go ahead, laugh at the human who can’t protect herself from the supernatural. I’m hilarious.” I roll my eyes. “Mark my words, if I catch wind of more light fae targeting me, you can bet your ass I’m going to cut a bitch.”
“Take a breath, sweetheart. It won’t come to that.”
“Danielle tried to kill me. What makes you think someone else won’t try?”
“I won’t let anyone hurt you,” he vows in a deep voice.
I glance away before nodding. “We should go.”
Never did I think I’d be walking out of class with Tristan beside me. While I’ve gotten used to his presence, I’m not used to the eyes that follow us the entire way to the parking lot.
Tristan goes through the Starbucks drive-thru on the way back to the hotel and orders himself a coffee. As I’m about to tell him what I want, he orders my usual iced caramel macchiato and drives to the window. He’s paid attention to the coffee I drink at the office. Something so minimal shouldn’t stick out to me so much, but it does.
Max pulls Tristan into a meeting the minute we get back to the office, so I drop my stuff and find Skylar in the conference room, poring over a stack of papers.
“Hey,” I say.
“You’re late,” she snaps.
“By three minutes,” I toss back, ignoring her defensive tone, and sit across from her. “What are you working on?”
“I’m going over the donors for the event. We’ve got more than enough, and I’m still waiting on a few companies to get back to me.”
“That’s great. Is the guest list finalized?”
Skylar pushes a sheet of paper across the table, and I scan it. “This looks good to me,” I offer.
“I don’t care what it looks like to you, human. I need you to take it to Tristan and get his approval.” She doesn’t spare me a glance.
I bite back my retort. It won’t do me any good. Pushing the rolling chair away from the table to stand, I grab the guest list and head for Tristan’s office. I knock and wait this time, knowing he was pulled into a meeting. One of his employees answers, and I hold out the list. “I need Mr. Westbrook to sign off on this.”
“Sure. Wait here,” he instructs, taking the paper from me.
I stand in the hall and wait for him to return.
“That’s not what I’m saying,” Max growls from inside the room.
I bite the inside of my cheek. Whatever the meeting is about, he’s unhappy with it.
“What are you saying?” a female voice asks.
“We can’t keep letting them attack. Our numbers are dwindling as it is. We have to take action. Fight back. Now.”
Someone slams their fist on the table, and I suck in a breath from behind the door. There’s a pause in conversation when the employee returns to the door and hands me back the list.
“Thanks,” I say. He closes the door in my face without a word as if he’s worried I’ve already heard too much. I return to the conference room and give Skylar the list. “All good.”
“Fine. I need you to call the bartender to confirm what they’re bringing.”
“Sure.” I glance at my hands then back at her. “Can I ask you something?”
“If you must,” she answers.
“When I went to Tristan’s office, he seemed to be in a pretty important meeting about the issues that have been going on with the light fae.”
“That’s not a question.”
“Right. I was wondering why you’re sitting here working on this human event and not in there offering your opinion. I’m sure you have one.”
She laughs, stapling some pages together. “I chose to sit out of that meeting. I sit in enough meetings for Westbrook Inc. as it is. I lead the physical training. Teaching fae how to protect themselves and each other. Max gets to sit in there and take notes, which I’ll be briefed on later. This power struggle between the two sides has been going on for a long time. Too many of ours have died. We’re going to retaliate soon, and we’re going to make sure we have the resources and power behind us to win. That takes time, training, and planning.”
“When is this going to happen?” I’m not sure I want an answer.
“Don’t worry about it,” she grumbles, and with that, she goes back to work as though I’m not there.
All I can do after that is worry about it. What will happen once the dark fae launch their retaliation? How many innocent humans will get killed in the crossfire? What will happen when Allison finds out the dark fae—her people—are going to kill the light fae, including her boyfriend? What the hell is going to happen to me?
It’s dark outside when I collect my things. Skylar left hours ago, but I wanted to keep working. The charity gala is fast approaching, and being given the opportunity to spearhead it makes me want to ensure it’s a smashing success. It’ll look good on my resume, and it’s a great opportunity to gain some contacts in the business world. So I’m all for the extra work, even if it means juggling my responsibilities.
I flip the light off on my way out and peek down the hall to see Tristan’s light still on. I walk to his office, my flats not making much sound, and knock on his door before I slip inside, letting the door close behind me. “Can I talk to you?”
He glances up from the paperwork on his desk.
I take that as my cue to speak. “I had a conversation with Allison’s—uh, Evan the other day.”