When the Woods Go Silent (Haret Chronicles: Dark Fae #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

T ORRENCE

“Did you fucking feed on her while she was awake?” Arlo hisses at me in disbelief as soon as the door latches behind Ruby.

I whirl on him, and whatever he sees in my eyes makes him shrink backward for once.

“Mind your own fucking business, Arlo. This is all mine, and I don’t need you to make it work.” I sweep my arm around the restaurant, but I mean all of it. Everything he knows about, and everything he doesn’t. If he fucks with any of it, I won’t hesitate to get rid of him.

“If she finds out what we do here, she goes to the mines. You know that,” he pushes, and even though I know he’s just repeating my own fucking rules, I have to clamp down on every instinct to keep from slamming him into the ground.

“She doesn’t know anything, and you need to mind your Goddess-damned business,” I growl at him, snatching up the towel that’s smeared with her intoxicating scents. If Arlo hadn’t interrupted us, I would be devouring that sweet pussy right now, and Ruby would be lost in a dream of pleasure so potent she’d never want to wake up.

“You act like this restaurant is so important, man, but we both know it’s a means to an end. Just a cog in the queen’s wheel of plans.” Arlo’s gobbelin form breaks through his glamor magic now that there aren’t any humans around to influence the magic, and as I take in the shift from handsome blond human to fearsome, leather-skinned demon, I remind myself that we’re both the sort of creature nightmares are made of.

What would Ruby think if she ever saw me like this? She would call me a monster. A beast.

I shove the thought deep down as soon as it registers. Ruby and what she thinks of me mean nothing. And even though I’d never admit it, Arlo’s right about one thing. I shouldn’t be wasting time playing games with her, when there’s so much at stake.

“This place could have a purpose beyond war,” I argue instead, and Arlo takes a step back, the demonic slant of his cold eyes narrowing as he takes in my rash words.

“What are you saying, Tor?” We both know what Julianna does to anyone she labels a traitor, and even questioning the true purpose of something like Goblin Market would mark us both in her eyes.

I curse under my breath that I even let the thought free - I’m losing my fucking edge up here in Clearwater. In Haret, and in the blood mines, I know who I’m supposed to be. What I’m supposed to be. What my responsibilities are as the gobbelin prince.

Here? Masquerading as a human and playing with one? Hiding my fae blood and my ties to Julianna? Things can get a little hazy.

“Nothing, Arlo. I’m not saying anything. It’s a good supply chain, but once we win the war, we won’t need it. There will be plenty of blood then.” Once we win the war, we’ll have the magic and the means to steal as many humans as we could ever want.

Arlo grins at me, and I know I’ve succeeded in distracting him. “I’ve tried to tell you, man. They just taste so fucking sweet right from the source, don’t they?” He preens at the thought that he had a part in getting me to break my own rules and drink directly from Ruby, but the glint of his rows of needle-sharp teeth only helps me imagine how satisfying it will feel to finally rip him apart when this masquerade is over.

He continues, oblivious to my thoughts. “Now that you’ve had some good human pussy, it will be all you can think of until you drain her dry. And then? You’ll just want another one, and another.”

A growl vibrates in my throat, and shards of ice begin to form in my palms, sucking moisture from the air. I force the magic back, though, before Arlo can sense it. If he even thinks I care about Ruby as an individual - which I don’t - he’ll try to use it as leverage for something he wants, and I don’t have time for his shit.

I fucked up inviting her here tonight.

I fucking hate this balancing act Julianna makes me do, keeping my status and power secret while I fill her blood mines with human slaves. But this way allows me to be a spy among my own people, keeping constant vigil for anyone who might be trying to play both sides.

Of course, all of the secrecy also makes it that much easier for me to play both sides, and I remind myself this will all be worth it in the end. For Magriel.

I gesture for Arlo to lead the way back to the lodge, swallowing down a grim smile. Julianna has no idea what I’ve been planning with Ronan, and by the time she knows about my betrayal, it will be too late.

The rest of the night is spent at the lodge inspecting the blood slaves Arlo and the others have broken in. There are six ready to be transported to the mines tonight, and our success will only grow as more tourists pour into the town. It takes a couple of weeks to make sure the humans are completely under the spell of our blood magic, and we need to take that time to ensure no other humans are looking for them, too.

“General Idris is here,” Arlo says from the doorway of the lodge basement. I nod, motioning for the guards to get the slaves moving. The six humans shuffle obediently to their feet, eyes blank and calm as they file up the stairs without a sound.

“I’ll miss this one,” Arlo says, pinching the ass of one of the males when he passes. The human doesn’t even react.

“There will be a new one for you to obsess over soon enough,” a sharp voice says from behind the door.

Arlo ducks his head, and I smirk, knowing Idris would enjoy shredding his face as much as I would.

“General,” I say, nodding at her when I reach the top of the stairs after everyone else.

“Another good delivery,” she observes, watching the slaves stand docile and silent while the guards rope them together in a chain.

“We aim for efficiency.” I catch the corner of a smile on her face, but it vanishes quickly. Here in Clearwater, she’s supposed to be my superior, and we have to act like we barely know each other.

“Need an escort?” I ask her.

“No, it’s foggy tonight. We’ll be well hidden.”

I nod, my jaw tightening. Mentioning fog is part of our code, and Idris is passing along a message from Julianna that I need to meet her again in the deep woods.

All I want to do is shut myself in my room and try to sleep without dreaming of Ruby, but instead I have to go learn what new shit my mother requires from me. Life would be so much less complicated if I were strong enough to end her.

It’s nearly daybreak when I find the cave where she’s waiting, and I clench my fists as I sense the remnants of her power in the air. Not her gobbelin magic - one of the fae powers she wields.

“Hello, Torrence, darling,” she says dreamily, her eyes still clouded over with the drug-like effects of the magic. She’s been fucking dreamwalking again.

“What are you looking for?” I snap. She knows full well that dreamwalking puts our task at risk, and she’s promised me more than once that she’d stop doing it here.

“For? Nothing. I’m just enjoying the magic,” she lies. She’s addicted to it.

I glare at her, wishing I could sneak into her own dreams and find her there, weaker. Finally force her to share some of the secrets she hoards like a dragon. But she’s stronger than me there, too.

“You said you were done with that Sweet Dreamer shit.” I hate how my voice feels small in the cave, as though I’m a child again, whining that she broke another promise.

She sighs, rallying herself from the half-drunk state. “I’m bored. And it’s not like the humans are clueless around here. I know you’ve buried bodies. Humans will come looking eventually.”

“Fucking Arlo,” I mutter, and Julianna snickers.

“Seems to me you should be able to keep a better handle on him. After all, he’s just a gobbelin. You’re part fae - and my son. Prince of Gobbelins.”

“Prince of nothing,” I growl. “And you know I can’t use my fae magic or my family connections here, because you’re the one who made the fucking rules.”

Julianna laughs, and the sound grates on my nerves like metal on concrete.

“I did, didn’t I? I make all the fucking rules, Torrence. And if I want to dreamwalk, I’ll fucking dreamwalk.” She smiles, lounging back against the rocky walls of the cave, her fingers idly making tiny ice sculptures. My own magic itches to be used, but again, I hold it back.

Being a prince of a crumbled kingdom in hiding is as pointless now as it’s always been, but I know she’ll never give up her fight against the fae she believes ruined her life.

“News from Aralia?” I ask, hoping to cut to the point of why she’s here.

“Brigance is courting. He’s considering noble fae, and we’re out of time.”

“Idris collected six more slaves tonight,” I point out, making a mental note to ask Ronan if this story about Brigance is true.

“And I could gather six in a single hour.” She raises one eyebrow at me.

“Not without ruining everything I’ve worked for here,” I snap. “ Goblin Market is working. It’s the plan.”

“It was the plan. Now it’s time for a bolder one. We need to collect all the slaves we can and attack Aralia now, before he takes a queen.”

I huff and turn my back to her, my mind racing to find a rebuttal to her argument. But she’s the queen. This is her war, and I’ve never in my life been able to change her mind. It won’t start tonight.

“The season has barely started,” I try, but she shakes her head.

“We’re going back to the old way. No more training and coddling the stupid humans - we have enough trained slaves in the mines. What we need now is cattle ready for slaughter. It’s time to gather what we can, pull out of the human world, and focus on the fae.”

I suck in a breath, fighting not to lash out at her. She’s going to ruin every fucking thing I have here, and there’s nothing I can do to stop her.

“And the others? At the restaurant?” My voice is tight. I have an idea what she’s going to want me to do with the gobbelins under my charge here, who have been working as servers in a fancy restaurant, enjoying life and fucking humans like they’ve been on vacation. They won’t want to go to war.

“If you think they’ll actually fight, hand them over to Idris. If not, use that magic you’ve been dying to wield. Kill them all, Torrence. You certainly need the practice.” And with that, she stabs at the rock floor with her magic, opening a crevice wide enough to wriggle down into.

“One week, Torrence. Wrap things up with large, pretty numbers, or I will,” she warns as she sinks into the dark rock and crumbling earth.

I don’t move a muscle or make a single sound until the dirt closes back over her head, and I can no longer sense her ice magic.

Only then do I finally let go, giving in to all the rage that’s been building.

Shockwaves of ice splinter around me. The cave walls shatter and crumble, rocks larger than my arms tumbling around me as I shake this little corner of my world. Icicles pierce the ground so deeply I wonder if I could send one after Julianna, stabbing straight through her cold black heart.

I fucking hate her and everything she asks of me.

But I’m not strong enough to beat her, and there’s nowhere I can go that she can’t find. It has to be her life or mine, and I’ve known it long enough now.

Exhaustion finds me far too quickly - I do need the practice. I’m growing soft here among the humans, hiding my true power from everyone. Racing back to the lodge, I shove past the guards and burst into a back room where Arlo is working to drug his latest catch.

“I need blood,” I growl, but Arlo holds up a hand.

“Hang on, man. This one isn’t under yet.”

The young man’s eyes are wild, and he’s thrashing on the bed, trying in vain to free himself from the tie-downs. His screams are lost to the blood-soaked gag in his mouth.

“I need blood,” I repeat, the words turning to an all-consuming roar in my head as the echo of Ruby’s blood on my tongue haunts me, pushes me farther beyond reason. I’ve never felt less fae.

Arlo stands and tries to shove me away, and heat surges through the room. He shouts as his skin sears, and I rush to cover his blisters with a sheet of ice and disguise the magic I’m not supposed to have.

“What the fuck, man?” he yells, and I hear the guards scuffle outside the door. They know not to come in without permission, but I’ve also never lost control like this.

I pin Arlo to the wall with more ice, and when he catches a glimpse of my face, he falls silent and wide-eyed. Desperation to feed consumes me - I used too much magic in the caves.

I could kill Arlo and blow my cover, or I could use this human the way he’s meant to be used.

A slave. A sacrifice. Nothing more than a meal to serve a stronger species.

But as my teeth sink into the human’s neck and I gorge myself on his blood, all I can think is that it doesn’t satisfy my hunger nearly as well as Ruby’s. I thought drinking her blood would make me stronger, but it’s only done the opposite.

Just like our blood-laced food eventually ruins the humans’ appetites for anything else, Ruby has ruined mine.