Ravage (Royal Fae Academy #1) - Lacey Carter Andersen Page 0,43

the traps set up to stop people, and to avoid the creatures charged with killing any who should trespass.

But it might not be enough to reach her in time.

I stretch my senses out and her fear is so powerful that I nearly stumble. Esmeray, our Esmeray, is afraid. And she’s never afraid.

As we draw closer to her, Lucian shoves at the secret door, but it doesn’t budget. I push him out of the way and grit my teeth. At any other time, I might not have the strength to move it, but this time I do. Pulling the heavy wall of stone to the side, I open it just enough to see Esmeray on the other side.

I don’t hesitate. As her huge eyes fall on me, I grab her and pull her in behind me. A groan tears from my lips as I drag the door back into place. Seconds later, there’s a sound on the other side of the door. A strange, deep sound that sends every hair on my arms standing on end. I stretch my senses out but feel nothing.

What the hell can hide itself like that from a fae?

Someone grabs my shoulder, and I turn to see Bron gesturing that we need to go. I look at Esmeray. Her shoulders are drawn back and her eyes have that fire that belongs to her and her alone, but she’s also pale. If we do nothing else in life, we have to protect her. I know that down to my very soul.

We surround her as we start forward, and none of us speak or slow until we come to our room deep in the tunnels. The one place we feel relatively safe down here. We close the door behind us, sealing us in, and even though there are a few bulbs in this part of the tunnels, Lucian lights torches to chase the shadows away.

When he’s done, I turn to face Esmeray. She still looks terrified, and somehow angry too.

God, I want to touch her. I want to hold her and bring her comfort more than anything in this world. When we were kids, she always seemed to mask her emotions with anger, or with an I don’t care attitude, but I would hug her, and slowly she’d let down her walls. I hate that things are different now. That instead of holding her, I just freeze, not sure if I have the right to touch her.

“Are you okay?” Bron asks, and I can sense the terror he felt when he couldn’t find her, even if Esmeray can’t.

Her chin lifts. “Yes, I’m always fine. But you three have a lot of answering to do.”

She sounds so confident, so angry, but I can still feel her terror echoing through me. It shatters something in my soul that tells me I failed her. I’m supposed to one day lead my people. I’m supposed to one day direct the armies of the fae and handle the training of our youth. But how can I do any of those things if I can’t keep my mate from feeling like that?

Suddenly, Bron seems to come to life. “We have a lot of answering to do?” Rage awakens in his hazel eyes, and he steps closer to her, towering over her small frame. “You fuck with our minds, disappear, and end up in this cursed place and you think we have a lot to answer for?”

“How about for lying to me?” she says, her voice low and threatening, and I swear all three of us flinch. “How about for knowing the truth about my brother and hiding it from me? How about for having something to do with his death?”

The air rushes out of the room.

“No--” Bron begins.

I cut him off. “She deserves the truth.”

Bron and Lucian look at me, and I know we gave our words. I’ve never broken my word before, but if there’s anyone I would lose my honor for, it’s Esmeray. Lucian and Bron might think that we can come back from this, but I know the truth. My family might be known as warriors. We might be feared by most people. But we also knew that it’s hard to run from the truth.

“Tell me,” she says, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Bron doesn’t back down. “We can’t, because we can’t trust you to be smart with this information. You’ll go and get yourself killed.”

“And what does it matter to you what I do?”

Lucian speaks, his voice gentle.