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

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

T ORRENCE

Ruby stares up at me with those big onyx eyes, shimmering with tears, and the words just fucking fall out.

I can’t take them back now, and I find I’m actually relieved to have it out in the open.

“You were right,” I repeat as she struggles to find words.

“Are you a vampire?” she whispers then, and Goddess help me, I laugh. She scowls, and I hold her tighter.

“I have a lot to tell you, but no, Ruby. I am not a vampire.”

She smiles a little, her lower lip quivering enough that all I can do is pull her closer and kiss her, sucking that full lip between mine until she melts against me.

This isn’t how I would have liked to tell her, even if I’d been planning to. But part of me knows that Ruby would have figured everything out eventually. And if Rose wouldn’t tell her? Then I’m fucking thrilled to be the one who gives Ruby the biggest news of her life.

Her stupid phone dings again, and she pulls away from me to check it, deflating in my arms.

“I should probably check in with her.”

“Tell me what happened first. With Rose.” I try not to be pushy, but Julianna‘s looking for this changeling too, and I need to know what’s happening. If I could find the changeling before any of them do...

Ruby thuds her forehead against my chest, silent for a moment as her stuttering breaths calm. Then she gives in.

“There was a guy in the shop this morning. He said some things to Rose and I overheard them.”

“What guy?” I’m already plotting his murder, if he upset Ruby like this.

Ruby shrugs. “I’ve never seen him. But he knew Kier. Tall, dark hair. Pretty, like all of you are.”

All of us? My eyes narrow at that. None of my gobbelins should know Kier.

“And he was talking about magic?” I ask, not quite believing it would happen so casually. We all know telling humans about magic leads to trouble, but maybe someone found out what Kier had shown Rose. Maybe someone was checking up on him.

And then it clicks in my head. Fucking Ronan . It has to be. But if he’s involved, this is already much worse than I thought. I can’t let Julianna get wind of it. If she finds the changeling before the fae do, then Idris and I will have no shot at reviving Magriel.

“So what is this about magic being real?” Ruby asks, pulling me back from my spinning thoughts and giving me the look. The one that says she won’t accept a single word of bullshit.

“It’s not something humans are supposed to know. But yes, killer kitten, magic exists.” I chuckle as so many emotions flash across her face. Stepping back from her a bit, I hold out my palm, forming an icicle and handing it to her.

“I knew it,” Ruby yells, grabbing the ice and holding it to the sky like a damn sword. She’s lost the shell-shocked look she had a minute ago, and now she’s glowing with excitement. “You made ice in the kitchen, too, didn’t you?”

I nod, a smirk tugging at my lips as I remember teasing her nipples with the ice. She liked that, didn’t she?

“Are you... are you a fae?” she asks, and the plain hope in her eyes almost kills me.

I could lie, but what would be the point? “My father was fae. My mother only part. I’m also part gobbelin.”

“Gobbelin?” There’s disbelief in her voice, and I assume she’s thinking of the short, gnarled figures in human folk tales that have green skin and huge ears. They’re usually stupid and clumsy, not much better than angry children. And of course, she can’t see past the gobbelin magic to my true form. I shudder at what she’d think of it, and I hope I never have to show her my gobbelin face.

“Like Goblin Market ,” I offer instead, and she hums, accepting it easily, even though I know she has a lot to learn.

“What else can you do?” The ice is melting against the heat of her skin, and I open my palm to call up the fire that runs in my fae blood. Ruby gasps, running her fingertips quickly through the flame and snatching them away as she understands it’s very real.

“This is so freaking cool. I fucking knew it,” she murmurs again, and I grin at her cursing.

“I’ve never told a human about this before. It’s going better than I thought it would.” I’m teasing her, but she looks at me with raised eyebrows.

“It’s not common, is it? For humans to know?”

“It’s not forbidden, but no. It almost always turns out badly.”

“What is Kier?” A shadow crosses her face as she says his name. I scowl into the trees behind her, hating that Kier and his brothers are exactly what Ruby has been searching for, all this time. Once she meets full-blooded fae princes, she’ll realize how little I have to offer her. Once she knows everything about my world, she won’t want any part of it.

I answer her anyway, grinding out the words. “Kier is fae. And completely full of himself. He will ruin your friend’s life with his selfishness. Use her up and leave her.” There’s just as much danger of me doing the same to Ruby, but selfishly, I keep that from her.

Ruby is silent for a moment too long, and I tip her chin up again.

“What about you? What will you do to me?” she asks, as though reading my mind.

There’s a faint edge of new fear in her eyes that I don’t like at all - it’s nothing like the exhilaration she shows when we run through the woods, or the excitement in her dreams last night when I caught her and forced her beneath me.

She already knows something about the dark side of magic.

“I’ll take care of you, Ruby. I said it before, though - you’re not safe here.”

“Where am I safe?”

My shoulders slump, because it’s a valid question, and I don’t have a good enough answer for her. If Julianna sets her eyes on Ruby, then she’s safest far, far away from me. But the thought of her being somewhere I can’t protect makes my chest constrict.

My hands fall to my sides as I realize I’ve been lying to myself that this thing between us is only a distraction. I fucking care for Ruby. Somewhere in our flirting and teasing, I’ve come to think of her as mine, to please and protect, to savor and save.

I’ve never cared for anyone this way, much less a human. How did this happen?

“I should go,” she whispers, stepping away from me as I realize I never answered her question. That haunted look is back, and I scramble to change her mind.

“Stay a while longer. There’s so much to tell you. Show you.”

“I want to. Tor, I really, really want to. But I’m worried about Rose,” she admits. And I can’t argue with that, not if I want to keep my place in this delicate balance.

Kier and his brothers are every bit as dangerous as any gobbelin. They’re just politer about the kill.

“Keep her away from Kier,” I warn, and Ruby laughs hollowly.

“Somehow, I doubt that’s my decision. And it shouldn’t be. Just like I shouldn’t have to listen to her when she warns me to stay away from you.”

“From me?” I echo, trying not to let my anger boil over again. So Kier has been telling stories, has he? I hate the idea that Ruby might learn anything about me from his words.

“I need to go,” Ruby says again, more force to her words this time. “But I want to finish this conversation. And... I want to talk about Arlo.”

I scowl, thinking about how I should have gotten rid of that asshole a dozen times over by now. If Julianna really is pulling the plug early on Goblin Market , that little stunt in the bathroom was Arlo’s last chance. He doesn’t even deserve a place in my army now.

While Ruby deals with her friend, it’s time I deal with the fucker who’s pretending to be mine.

RUBY

How am I supposed to go back to the bookshop now, and pretend like nothing has happened?

How am I supposed to talk to Rose, knowing she hid this from me?

My heart hurts and my brain aches, and I just want to curl up in bed and pretend like this day never happened. Finding out about magic should have been the best moment of my life. But it isn’t, and it’s all because it’s coming between Rose and me. I trudge through the back door of the book shop, and she’s there instantly, a frightened look on her face.

“Ruby, I-”

I hold up my hand. “I already talked to Torrence. I know about the magic and Kier being a fae.”

She gulps, her mouth opening then snapping closed as she tries to figure out what to say.

“And I don’t fucking appreciate the fact that my best friend was lying to my face, and I had to run to a boy to get the answers. What the hell, Rose?”

She flinches harder with each word as my voice rises. She’s feeling every bit of my hurt now, and I’m glad for it.

“He told me not to tell you,” she blurts, like that’s going to help anything.

“Since when do you listen to him over me? It’s besties before boys, Rose!” I shut my mouth before I say anything else I might regret later. Throwing my hands in the air, I huff and stomp up the staircase.

“Ruby, wait! It’s so much more than that,” Rose calls, though she doesn’t follow me.

Now that I see Rose is perfectly fine, I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be anywhere near her. We should be opening the shop now, and I don’t even care anymore.

Grabbing the car keys from the hook in the kitchen, I sling my purse over my shoulder and stalk back downstairs. I don’t stop to look at Rose, and I don’t listen to her frantic pleas to stop or wait.

I just go.

Slamming the car door, I drive without a plan, ignoring every one of the text messages she keeps sending me. Tears blur my vision as I drive neighborhoods I’ve never been in and take turns aimlessly. My mind is split into two halves, one busy with operating the car and obeying traffic rules, and the other having an existential crisis.

I’ve wished for this day for almost two decades, and it’s nothing like I thought it would be.

I finally pull over when I see a tourist stop marked along the highway for picture-taking. There’s a small staircase leading to a platform, and thank the Goddess it’s empty. I walk down and lean against the railing, looking out at the gorgeous view of the woods and soaking in its calming energy, trying to recenter myself and focus on the good parts of today.

Starting with magic being freaking real .

Rose and I will heal from this - nothing can break us apart, not really. My heart knows this, and admitting it lets me focus back on the miracle of Torrence creating ice and fire from absolutely nothing. It looked so easy, so natural.

Fae are real - he’s part fae, and Kier is fully fae, and that means there’s a whole hidden world out there I’ve been looking for my whole life. It hasn’t been in vain. I’m not crazy. My mood begins to lift toward excitement as this finally starts to sink in, filtering through the intense hurt of Rose’s secrets.

Magic is real .

I’ve been holding onto that belief my entire life, and now, it’s like I’ve manifested it right into my lap. Excitement floods through my body as I let it all sink in. I was freaking right.

My phone pings again, and I scowl, hoping it isn’t another half-assed apology from Rose. She’s going to have to do better than that.

But it’s an unknown number. I open the text.

It’s Arlo. Sorry to make things weird. I think Torrence could use you now, though. Yeah I fucked up, but I’ve never seen him react like this. He’s worried about you.

I narrow my eyes, trying to read between the lines. I’m not sure how Arlo got my number, and I feel like Torrence would be pretty pissed to find out he was texting me after what happened this morning. It almost sounds like it’s happened before, but that certainly doesn’t make it any less weird.

I read the words again and again, trying to guess his hidden agenda, but it’s the thought of Torrence worrying about me that turns me back to the car. Maybe they’re just friends having a fight, like Rose and me.

By the time I snap on my seatbelt, I’ve gotten another text from him, this time with an address I don’t recognize. I frown, wondering if this is a good idea. Why wouldn’t Torrence just text me? He didn’t want me at his house before.

What’s your angle in all of this? I send back to Arlo.

The typing bubble pops up, then disappears, then pops up again, like he’s trying to decide what to say. I was purposefully vague. He might not even realize Torrence admitted magic to me, if it’s that uncommon.

Just don’t like seeing him pissed and knowing I caused it. He won’t talk to me right now.

Considering what I witnessed in the bathroom, I really don’t blame Torrence for that. Although, maybe I should carry some of the responsibility, since I didn’t exactly run away.

And he’s too proud to text you .

I sigh and plug the address into my maps app, just to see where it is. It’s only a few miles from the restaurant, tucked far off the road in a wooded area. The house looks pretty big on the satellite image, and I wonder how many of the Goblin Market employees might live there.

How many of them might also have magic.

It’s definitely possible that Torrence is the only one, and his servers don’t know anything about it. But my gut is telling me otherwise. Secret restaurant, secret business plans, secret compound. This just screams supernatural, and my curiosity is getting the better of my judgment.

I begin following the directions, still debating as I drive, but deep down, I know I’m going to knock on that door when I find it.

How could I stop now, when the answers are so close?