Keeper of Storms (The Fallen Fae #3) - Jenna Wolfhart Page 0,46

Some had suspected he was a shadow fae, but that had never felt right. Others had wondered if he was part of a smuggling ring, to explain his odd accent, one no one could quite pinpoint. And then there had been the trickery in Tairngire. Someone had been lying then, moving pieces into play.

“You’re not from this continent,” Reyna said slowly. “Are you?”

There were a few different things he could be. Not Fomorian. He didn’t have that kind of power. He could be from the distant lands to the west of the Empire of Fomor, but that was even more doubtful. There were dragon shifters there, and he was too weaselly to be a fearsome beast like that.

That left only one thing.

“You’re human,” Moina said.

Aengus stumbled back, but he was quickly seized by the air fae warriors. They clamped their arms around his shoulders and held him firmly in place. Reyna stalked toward him, her mind whirring. How had he gotten away with it for so long? How had no one noticed?

Because they were the fallen fae. Their magic was gone. A human could fit right in, as long as they got one detail right.

Reyna flicked the tips of his pointed ears. He flinched in response.

“How’d you manage these?” she asked. “I know they can’t be real.”

He struggled against his captors, looking anywhere but into Reyna’s hardened eyes. “Let me go.”

“Absolutely not. Tell me how you got those ears.”

Suddenly, he stopped squirming. A strange smile spread across his face, and when he met her gaze, rage lit his eyes. “Tricked you, did they? You fae think you’re so much better than us, but you’re nothing without your magic. Only a few of you embrace the one thing that can give you power. How do you think I created my illusion? Unseelie.” He laughed then. “Your honor will be your undoing. You’ll all die. And then what? Humans will rule your lands.”

He did not have a chance to spout off anything else. Moina reached the Grand Alderman in two quick strides, and she slashed her blade across his throat.

16

Reyna

“I suppose that means you believe me then.” Reyna stared down at Aengus’s prone form. Blood dripped from the hole in his neck. His eyes were wide and unseeing, and strangely enough, the sharp tips of his ears had vanished, leaving behind a smooth, curved line. It really had been an illusion all this time. Reyna had so many questions. How had humans discovered the magic of Unseelie? Did Aengus drink blood to gain the illusion? If so, why hadn’t he done anything more?

But the biggest question Reyna had was this: how many other humans knew about this?

“Don’t be so hasty,” Moina said with a frown, toeing Aengus’s leg as if she wanted to be certain he was dead. “Just because I stabbed him doesn’t mean I won’t stab you, too.”

“You won’t stab me.”

“You’re awfully confident.”

“If you wanted to stab me, you would have done it already.” Reyna shrugged and pointed at Aengus. “You made that clear as day.”

“Hmph. Well, I still don’t like that you can lie. You could say anything to me, and none of it could be true. It’s not natural.”

“Trust and faith, that’s all you have,” Reyna said with a sad smile. “It’s all anyone has when it comes down to it. You, and everyone else, might not be able to lie, but you could make me believe a falsehood easily enough. Fae learned a long time ago how to weave words. Truth-tellers trick each other all the time. All we can count on is ourselves and what we believe to be true and good.”

Moina stared at her for a good long while. “You speak far too much philosophy for a Shieldmaiden.”

“You’re right.” Reyna laughed. “Enough of this. I much prefer stabbing things.”

“Like the wood king’s heart?” Moina asked, lifting her gaze toward the glowing bonfire in the distance where the High King of the Wood Court had feasted on the blood of his own people.

“Like the wood king’s heart,” Reyna repeated, voice hardening into ice.

“Then, get ready, princess,” Moina said. “Because we’ll do it tonight.”

Drumbeats pounded in the night. The wood fae screeched as they tossed off their armor to streak through the darkness, flesh exposed to the warm air. Reyna huddled in the shadows, watching them with a building unease. When she had returned to the wood fae’s side of the camp, she’d discovered that the king had not stopped with a single sacrifice. He’d killed the