Saving the Fae (Daughter of Light #3) - Leia Stone Page 0,17

be safe there. Your brothers can have the regenerating abilities of the crystals, and we can hunt for the rest. Together.”

Silence.

“I’ve already had the fae start to build you all a village across the river, so you could have your own space and come and go as you please,” I added.

He said nothing.

“Your mother could also move back in with Mara, and she would be safe.” I was rambling. This was me begging, and he knew it.

He was silent for a long moment before he sighed. “I’ll think about it.”

That was fair. “If you decide not to, you can keep the second crystal you brought us. Just let me know, and I’ll get it back to you.”

Turning, he finally faced me, and there was so much emotion swimming in his eyes it nearly brought me to my knees. “If you took my mother from me, even in self-defense, I would never be able to look at you again,” he said. “How can you look at me?”

I realized, this entire time, that he hadn’t faced the wall because he was so mad at me that he couldn’t look at me. He’d done it to spare me from any pain from looking at him.

Fresh, hot tears rolled down my face. “Because before I knew you took her from me, I fell in love with you, and I guess love is stronger than hate.”

He squeezed his eyes shut, and one single tear rolled down his cheek before he wiped it away and turned back around to face the wall. “I’ll send you my answer in the morning.” His voice was full of emotion.

Reaching out, I squeezed his ankle lightly. “I don’t know where we go from here… you and I, but maybe we can just start over. It won’t be perfect, but if we work at it every day, it will be something new, something we create together.”

Without waiting for a reply, I got up and left the room. Love was messy and hard and, at times, ugly, but I was learning that just maybe… love was enough. Because being near Liam again had made me feel at home. He was my family now, and we had to find a way to fix what was broken.

Together.

The next morning, I chugged my second cup of coffee and tapped a nervous rhythm on the dining table. Trissa, Elle, and Kira all sat around the table, staring at me. After leaving the Vegas hotel, Elle and I had gotten drunk on the Vegas Strip and come back here where I rambled to all my roommates about how I still loved Liam and hoped he’d pick me. Shitty thing about being fae was that the alcohol didn’t last long, and soon I was just sober and spilling my guts, which was less fun.

“Think they’ll want to help us again?” I asked, holding my cup.

Trissa set down her coffee. “I hope so, but if not, we will go city to city and put out feelers the old-fashioned way. Your mother and I did it for twenty years.”

I nodded. “But I’m not sure we have that long. There could be a dark attack from the forest at any moment, and with the king turning the crystals dark… I need Liam.”

I couldn’t touch the dark crystals; only he could. Maybe if I brought a jar of the healing water and threw it over the crystal before grabbing it, that would work—

There was a knock at the door.

I jumped up so quickly that my coffee sloshed all over the table. Getting to my feet, I hurried for the door. I’d sent Mara to Vegas early this morning to await word and now…

Pulling the door open, I felt my heart flip over when I saw Liam standing there, leaning against a crutch to help steady himself.

But his family wasn’t behind him, neither were his men. He’d come alone.

Oh, gods, please don’t let this be goodbye.

“Mara said you live here now?” he asked, eyeing the Tree of Life behind me. So much had happened since he’d gone. His eyes lingered on the three crystals.

Of course.

I promised him a crystal, and he’d come for it. I nodded, biting back the tears. “Yeah, I’ll get you the crystal.” I spun to go when his hand snaked out and stopped me. Feeling the warm pressure of his skin on my upper arm sent heat right through my core.

“I’m not here for that.” His voice, his touch, I missed it all so much.

I gulped, turning to face