she refused to let this missing princess suffer her fate. “Alona will be found, Finn. And when she is, you and I will find a way to save her from such a stupid fae tradition. Maybe we can even convince douchey Lochlan to help.”
One corner of his mouth curved up. “Maybe you are just what our kingdom needs. Someone to challenge what we all think we know.”
“If you’re telling me to be a pain in the butt, I can totally do that. It’s basically my personality. But you listen to me, Finn. You and I are friends now.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but she shushed him.
“I don’t care if Loch tells you to leave me alone, you will not do that. I’m a bit short on friends at the moment. You can be my fairy whisperer, making sure I don’t embarrass myself. And one day, we will get to see our people again—the people we love don’t get to just disappear from our lives.”
His eyes glistened with unshed tears as he nodded. “I’d very much like us to be friends. I just have one question first.”
“Go for it.”
“Lochlan told me you’re calling him douchey Lochlan because you think him noble, but that isn’t what the human word means, is it?”
She flashed him a grin and scooted to the edge of the bench to climb off. “Goodnight, Finn.”
She turned to walk around a shelf, colliding with a giant wall of flesh. Gripping her shoulder as pain seared from the contact, she looked up into Lochlan’s stormy face.
“Did you love my brother?”
Chapter Twenty-One
Lochlan’s hazy eyes darted around the room before landing on Brea, a mix of anger and drunken desperation on his face.
“What?” She only breathed the word.
“Were you in love with my brother?” he slurred. “I heard you talking to Finn about loving so much it killed you to lose them.” He leaned close, sneering in a very Lochlan-like way. “You didn’t lose him, Lady Brea, you ran.”
“Loch.” Finn appeared behind Brea, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Stop this nonsense.”
“I used to love him too, Brea,” he went on, stumbling back as if he couldn’t control his own steps. “Griff is a master manipulator. He makes you believe you’re part of his family before stabbing you in the back. Don’t waste your breath missing him.”
Anger burned through her, but it didn’t latch onto her magic, not the way fear seemed to be able to. As she looked at the pathetic excuse for Lochlan, she wasn’t afraid.
He was wrong. She didn’t love Griff. But maybe he wasn’t so different from his brother. They both had a cruel streak a mile wide. “I don’t have to answer to you.” She tried to push past him, but he grabbed her arm.
“Loch,” Finn snapped. “Let her go.”
“Not until I know why.”
“Why what?” Her voice shook with rage. “Why I let him kiss me? Why I sought him out in the dead of night to crawl into his bed?” She narrowed her eyes. “Because I enjoyed it. Do I need more reason than that?”
His grip tightened. “Griff could have killed you.”
As she studied his slack expression, she realized why he was so upset. Alona. Whether he was in love with her or not, she didn’t know, but Lochlan knew the truth of why his queen wanted Brea. He’d lied to her just like his brother before him. And something about whatever knowledge he possessed made him intensely protective of her.
Finn put a hand on Lochlan’s arm. “Stop this.”
“Don’t you see it, Finn? Brea Robinson is the reason Alona was taken.” The queen had said the same thing, but she didn’t understand it.
“Why? How are we connected?” What did a fae princess and a half-human girl have in common?
Lochlan released her, turning with a huff. He paced back toward them, his face a storm cloud of emotions. “Griff knew. He knew!”
“Knew what?”
“What our parents died for.” He wobbled where he stood before leaning against a bookshelf to stay upright. “He knew kidnapping Queen Faolan’s daughter would force the truth into the light. He tried to take you both as proof, but you ran away before he could come back with Alona.”
“I still don’t understand!” The words exploded out of her. She was tired, so tired, of all the half-truths and semi-lies.
Lochlan turned on her, his jaw clenched. “Alona is like my sister. You… you’re nothing.”
Tears built in her eyes at his words. “If I’m nothing, why did you go to such lengths to save my