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

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

R UBY

“You’re here awfully early,” I finally say to Torrence as I toss the handful of bloodied napkins in the trash.

Torrence has apologized several times and sat quietly while I got him all fixed up, but he still hasn’t said why he was fist-fighting on our porch before nine in the morning.

Still, a smile breaks over my face as he tugs me into his lap, my legs going to either side of his waist. My mind fills with the memories of last night when I straddled him like this. I lift my chin, anticipating a kiss.

“I can’t stop thinking about you,” he whispers, and then his eyes go wide and his face flushes adorably, like he can’t believe he just said those words out loud. My chest tightens. Somehow, I don’t think this is a game he’s played before, and it thrills me to think he’s breaking his own rules for me.

“Are you going to try and stalk a serial killer?” I tease, as his lips fall to the hollow of my throat. My head tips back and I feel the need rising in my body like the tide as he sucks gently at my skin. By the Goddess, I want this man. I want him like I’ve never wanted anyone else, as though I’m barely in control of my own body anymore.

“I’ve always been drawn to darkness,” he murmurs against my throat. I weave my fingers through his silky hair, tugging at the gold-streaked waves as his hands wrap my waist, pressing every bit of me flush against the heat of his body.

“You think I’m made of darkness?” I whisper, half-drunk on the building fire between us.

“I think you crave it because you are,” he answers, and there’s a truth in his words that I’ve rarely admitted to myself. I play at the bubbly book lover on social media, but deep down, I know a lot of that is just masking my true self to fit in. I’m drawn to darkness, too, and maybe that’s why I crave him.

Torrence kisses the soft skin just below my ear, and my head tips to the side, my body wanting so much more. I could invite him upstairs right now, I realize.

The possibility opens like a door in a darkened room, spilling an irresistible spotlight directly onto what I want. But something tugs me back from that daydream. He’s left me twice now, and that sort of pattern makes me nervous. He might be willing to protect my body from dangers in the woods, but I have to be the one to protect my heart.

Even through the haze of need, I know I’ll get too attached if I invite Torrence into my bed now. Getting my heart broken by someone who never intended to stay is something I promised myself wouldn’t happen again.

Aching in all the wrong places, I force myself to pull back from Torrence, my fingers sliding under his chin and nudging his face up so I can look into his eyes. His pupils are so dilated I can barely see the amber fire, and my core clenches at the wild need I see there.

I might be the one on top, but I’m merely a bird perched on an alligator’s snout. One snap of those jaws, and there will be nothing left of me.

The image jerks me farther out of my little lust bubble, and I work to clear my head. I don’t need to make things so easy for him if I’m trying to determine how much he wants me, beyond the physical moments.

“What are you drawn to, besides darkness? In me,” I add, hoping it doesn’t sound like asking for compliments. I only want reassurance that there’s something more than lust between us.

Torrence sighs deeply, his breath hot against my skin. “You... remind me of someone.”

He’s silent for such a long moment that I think he isn’t going to continue. I wait anyway, his body still as stone beneath me. Whatever it is, the association is bittersweet.

“My younger sister. Rinna,” he mumbles finally, his hands tensing around my waist as he fixes his eyes somewhere beyond me. “She was... drawn to darkness, too.”

I catch the past tense and move to lean back, wanting to see his expression. But Torrence locks his arms around my back, forcing me tight against his chest again. Something like a snarl rips from his lips, and before I can try and shove him away, he buries his face back in my neck. Pleasure spools through me, until an icy chill spikes up my spine, sharp pinpoints of cold paralyzing me everywhere his fingers press into my skin.

“I’m sorry... about Rinna.” I choke out the words, but he doesn’t seem to hear them.

His arms shake as he squeezes me tightly enough to make breathing hard. I gasp a shallow breath and shiver against him. My skin seems to freeze on contact, and then I yelp as the sensitive skin of my throat is pinched hard.

Taut and torn under his teeth.

My body shrills with alarm as I squirm to fight my way out of his icy grip. He’s so much stronger than me, and panic edges darkly at the corners of my mind.

“Torrence,” I beg, the adrenaline of shock and pain helping me shove harder. “Fucking let go of me,” I growl, kicking at his shins until his hold breaks, and he lets me duck under his arms and stumble off his lap. I skitter to the other side of the office, putting the broad table between us, even though it takes me farther from the door. My fingers shake as I wipe them across my neck and realize he really did break skin.

He bit me hard enough to bleed.

Rose’s story about Arlo floods into my mind, and I struggle to understand. Torrence’s eyes are nearly black, all the gold fire gone as he locks on the bright smear on my fingertips, standing so quickly his chair topples over.

“I can’t do this,” he snarls, slamming his fist into the old oak table before turning toward the door. Anger flares in me as he moves to leave, though. I want some freaking answers.

“What the hell, Tor? That hurt,” I cry, darting around the table to grab him. Flight has turned into fight, and I want something better than a cop-out. Part of me is scared, but I’m too pissed to listen to it.

“I can’t fucking do this, Ruby. I don’t want to hurt you, but I will. I can’t keep you safe.” Torrence shoves away the hand I reach toward him, but he isn’t quick enough, and I grip his hand between mine, fingernails digging into skin like I want to hurt him back.

“Yeah, not before you tell me what that was all about. I deserve-”

He yanks his hand away and bursts through the door, heavy footsteps telling me he’s practically running out of the bookshop.

And I’m left staring down at my hands, where a single, dagger-shaped icicle rests right where his fingers were a moment ago, melting slowly against the heat of my skin. The smear of my blood swirls under it, pooling liquid pink in my palm as I try to process what’s just happened.

What was he doing with this piece of ice, sharp enough to be a weapon? Is that what I felt digging into my spine?

And where the hell did he get it? It’s impossible to think he brought it with him, stashed in a back pocket. I don’t remember seeing him get ice from anywhere last night, either, but it was real enough when he was teasing my skin.

And why the hell would he bite my neck?

Something wriggles in the corner of my brain, the thrill of a puzzle threatening to overpower my survival instincts. No, I shouldn’t go after a man who bit me. Yes, Rose would lock me up, and maybe for good reason.

But an idea is taking shape in my crazy brain, built from equal parts fear and excitement. I’m afraid of what I might find if I chase after Torrence, but I also know what I saw, years ago in these very woods. Whenever impossible things can’t be explained away by logic or reason, I believe there’s only one way left to turn.

Toward the magic.

And I’ll be damned if I miss my chance at finding it this time.

ROSE

Hot tears of confusion are sliding down my face, and my mind aches with the effort of rearranging my entire understanding of the world and how it works.

Kier has shown me something beautiful and fucking terrifying all at once.

“How is this possible?” I gulp back the panicked emotions, trying not to feel like I’m going insane. This is going to change everything, and my initial gut reaction is that I just want to go back in time ten minutes ago, to when life made sense. I miss the girl I was then.

Kier lets me hold the tiny tree, pulling my fingers over it to feel the incredible realness.

“Magic has always been real. Humans even used it, once. But powerful churches and frightened kings stamped it out over the centuries, until barely anyone remembers. But Earth isn’t the only world, and mine still has magic.”

“Fucking aliens?” I choke, shaking my head and dropping the plant like it’s made of poison. Absolutely not. He’s crazy. Delusional.

Kier sighs. “Not from space like your movies. More like an alternate world. Haret isn’t a planet in your solar system, and you can’t take an airplane there. It exists in a different realm. We were connected from the beginning - sister worlds - but greed separated our paths. Any of your myths and folk stories about supernatural creatures come from Haret’s magic.”

“Like vampires?” I joke, wiping my face on my sleeve and trying to stay cool about all of this. If he is a little deranged, the last thing I want to do is set him off before I can get safely away.

But then he fucking nods .

“Vampires, shifters of all kinds, dragons. Mages. Mer. All of them are real. And Fae,” he says, holding my shocked gaze as his freckled skin begins to deepen to a deep forest green that blends into the shadowy woods behind us. My stomach drops as his features sharpen right before my eyes, giving him even more of that foxlike quality. He brushes his ginger hair back to show me pointed ears, and pulls up his sleeves so I can see a web of intricate black tattoos that look like writing in a language I’ve never seen.

My heart is pounding, but I’m frozen in place, reeling. I couldn’t run if my life depended on it.

“Fae,” I repeat dumbly, taking it all in but feeling like I’m the star of one huge prank show. The excuse of him being crazy is quickly crumbling, since my own vision is confirming the shift in his features. I don’t know of any way to fake that unless I’m the crazy one. “Like fairies?”

He gives me a wry grin. “Fae are nothing like fairies. But yes, those, too. And the creatures that humans call demons, Rose? Those have nothing to do with heaven or hell. Those are gobbelins.” The word hangs in the air, making my heart pound.

I suck in a breath as everything slots into place, making a bizarre sort of sense that makes me nauseous with fear. I’ve never been religious, but there’s no denying the presence of evil in the world. And he’s telling me it’s here in Clearwater.

“ Goblin Market ,” I whisper as the wall of denial crashes down and I see the truth looming behind it like a tangle of thorn bushes.

Kier nods. “That poem? The one about the goblins feeding the young girls and getting them addicted to goblin food? I don’t know if the author was human or Haretian, but it’s a good example of Haret lore finding its way to Earth. Gobbelin blood is worse than an opiate for humans.”

My head reels, and I don’t think I can take any more. How does he even know about the poem if he’s from some other world? Not that such a tiny detail matters in the face of everything I’m trying to assimilate here, but still. The bigger question is why is he here with me now, and what are gobbelins doing running a fucking restaurant in Clearwater?

“Ruby,” I whisper, suddenly remembering she’s all alone with Torrence right now. Torrence, who owns and cooks for Goblin Market . Torrence, who might actually have rows of sharp teeth and icy, pale skin and flashing fiery eyes.

My eyes haven’t been playing tricks on me, and Ruby’s camera is working just fine. My senses have been telling me the truth all along, and I’ve been discounting them, refusing to trust myself because I didn’t believe in something that seemed crazy just minutes ago.

At this point I’d almost rather be going crazy. At least there are meds for that. This? I have to fucking do something.

I’m on my feet before I can even form a plan, but Kier yanks me down, his hand locked on my arm like a vise. I try to yank away, but he’s incredibly, inhumanly strong.

“Yes, you have to keep her away from Torrence, but you can never tell her why, Rose. Magic isn’t the game she thinks it is. Not anymore. Certainly not between fae and gobbelins. You’re going to be caught up in this war no matter what. But Ruby doesn’t have to be. You can keep her safe, as long as she doesn’t know anything .”

My stomach sinks farther with every single word, until I feel hollowed out and desolate.

“War?” I echo hoarsely, rejecting the thought immediately.

He nods, his fingers still tight on my arm as though he thinks I might run at any second. “The fae and the gobbelins are on the brink of war. Fighting could break out any day now, both in Haret or even here. There’s too much history between us, too much bad blood. It’s unavoidable, unless...” His voice trails off, and I shake myself out of the panic.

Forget about why he’s here. Why am I here?

What does he want from me? In a flash, I understand that none of this - meeting him now - was ever a coincidence.

“Unless what?” I ask sharply, tension tightening every muscle in my body.

“Unless the fae can find a weapon that’s been lost for decades. I’m here hunting for it, Rose.”

“And you think I have it? That’s actually insane, you know. I’ve never even heard of any of this. My family is just normal. Fucked up, but normal. I would know if we had some long-lost sword or magical book or whatever.”

“It’s a lot to explain right now, but I promise I’ll tell you everything soon. I don’t know enough yet, but Rose, I think finding you is the closest I’ve gotten to finding what we need to destroy the gobbelins.”

My eyes slide shut as I try not to laugh at the absurdity of it all, working to convince myself I’m not lost in a fantasy book. This is actually happening, and I can’t just close the cover and go about my regular life anymore. Not ever again.

If I’m going to believe Kier - and I don’t possibly see how I could explain all of this away - this changes everything.

“Ruby,” I say again, more urgently this time. She’s been right all along. I never thought she was crazy, but knowing she was actually right? This changes everything.

Kier grabs me by both shoulders, locking me to the blanket. “Rose, you have to be smart about this. I saw how Ruby looks at Torrence. She’s already under his blood magic spell. Gobbelin blood, Rose. You’ve both ingested it - it’s in every fucking bite of their food and sip of their alcohol. She’s already addicted. She’ll follow him like a lost lamb. And I think you know as well as I do, if she suspects Torrence has the magic she craves, she’ll never leave him .”

I blink at him, wondering how he knows so much about Ruby. And... blood magic?

“How?” is all I can manage.

“The food,” he repeats, and I can tell he’s trying to be patient, but this is a fucking lot. “The blood is in every fucking dish they serve at Goblin Market . Humans lap it up, and the most susceptible - the most vulnerable - they never have a shot. I’ve had to kill more than one gobbelin for bleeding a human dry. They’re worse than any vampire legend.”

I hold my hands up, silently begging him to stop. I can’t take in so much of this at once. Addictive blood, Ruby in danger, war in a whole other world... my brain is too close to rejecting every word of it and checking myself into a slipper-sock resort.

“I have to go. The shop...” I trail off, realizing it’s a dumb time to worry about work. But I can’t handle any more talk about magic. Not right now. Maybe not ever. I just want to put my head in the sand and pretend it’s all normal.

“I’m sorry. I know it’s hard to believe when you’ve never known it. But I’ll be back after closing. We’ll go over more of it then,” Kier promises, and I can only nod, even though I’d much rather insist he never come back. My best friend has been right all along, but all I can think about is how this threatens the perfect little life we’ve just started building.

How can I not tell her she was right about such a huge secret? And then again, how can I, when it will change fucking everything? Kier’s right - addiction or not, Ruby would follow Torrence anywhere if he showed her magic was real.

“I have to go,” I repeat, looking at him but barely seeing anything. He doesn’t look like a fox or a fae anymore, just an unreasonably attractive ginger man with worry darkening his pretty green eyes.

Goddamn it, I wish that’s all he was.

“Remember, Rose. You can’t tell Ruby any of this. It’s too dangerous for her right now,” he warns, not trying to stop me this time as I grab my bag and stand to leave. I shake my head, unwilling to let him make this kind of decision for me.

“We don’t keep secrets from each other,” I whisper, but Kier leans forward and fixes me in a hard stare, his mouth a firm line of warning.

“You will if it could save her life.”

A little cry of despair slips from my lips and I smack my palm over my mouth, turning and half-running out of the forest.