Reaching Answers (Artemis University #8) - Erin R Flynn Page 0,36

much of an apology, but he’d been there for me and helped me when I’d been triggered and with all my issues, so I could do the same.

But really, that sounded like a seriously unhealthy relationship.

Or I was too tired and beat up to judge much of anything. Both?

Yeah, probably both.

I handed him one of the bushels as if that gave permission for him to stay, and headed for the door as I let the barrier come down. I gasped as I blinked and Darby was suddenly just there in front of me, Neldor grabbing his arm.

Meaning that had been what he’d been reaching to do to me. I glanced between his hand and where I was, letting him know that I saw his intent. “You ever put your hands on me in anger like that and you’re out of here.”

Neldor let go of Darby with a shove. “That was all you did to me yesterday. Don’t preach about equality and then use your sex as a shield. Have more pride than that.” He spun on his heel and stormed inside.

The blow he landed might not have been physical, but it hurt enough to feel like it. I hurried after him to say… Something, but slid to a stop when I saw Craftsman slug Neldor.

“She does not do that,” the warlock sneered. “She doesn’t fire unprovoked shots. You were trying to intimidate her. She reacts to what you do. You went for her in anger when she was carrying something and her hands full. She made it clear what she was going to do and gave you every option to apologize and bail out of the talk. There is a vast difference unless you’re stupid.”

“But you’re not,” Lucca snarled from behind Neldor. “You’re abusing her emotionally again.” He threw a punch when Neldor turned to face him. “And we’re done letting you do that and interfering in our lives.”

“I was not,” Neldor snapped, holding his face and actually taking a step away from both of them.

“He’s not lying,” Lucca admitted, not hiding his confusion. “What were you trying to say then?”

“I’ve seen Melody grab her just the same and demand answers,” Neldor grumbled. “Others have and—”

“She trusts them. She’s friends with them,” Craftsman explained. “You’re nothing to her. You keep declaring that you’re betrothed, and she has stated over and over again that means nothing to her. She will not mate you. Fairies don’t force matings, so it means nothing.”

“It’s not nothing,” Neldor snarled.

“No, it’s the reason you might die, and by my hand,” I chuckled darkly as I set down the bushel on the counter. “You keep clinging to it, and I would rather kill you than mate you.” I sighed when he started to argue. “Listen to me!”

“Fine, what?” he growled, shooting the hobgoblins a look that let me know it was only because he respected them he was doing it as they got upset when he was a dick.

Dick.

“You can tell if I’m telling the truth with a rune or whatever, right?” I waited until he nodded. “Do it. No more bullshit or fighting. Hear me for real this time.” Again, I waited until he nodded he’d done it. “I would rather die than ever mate you when I was sold to you on principle alone.”

His eyes slowly went wide. “You cannot be serious.”

“I am. It goes against everything I believe in. Family or blood or even the gods cannot sell me to a man. They gave me to you and I’m not theirs to give. I would never mate you because we were betrothed, my fate decided for me, on principle alone. And I would rather kill you than be pressured into this. I will kill you if it comes down to the choice.”

“That’s not fair or—”

“Oh, I think it is,” I chuckled, smirking when I saw he believed me. “You want to own my life. That puts your life up as the consequence, Neldor. It’s the same thing as self-defense in my mind. Maybe it’s not the law, but it’s eye for an eye and from what I’ve read of fairies, it tracks as our idea of fair.”

Craftsman snorted. “Especially since you just made it clear again that she won’t be a real mate to you, but trophy at your side you couldn’t give a fuck about. You need her to control Faerie. That’s it. You were promised her and are fighting for that like she is a toy and the power you want that