Fae Bound

by Hailey Woodward

  “Safer not knowing,” I said flatly. He nodded, though he still wasn’t quite looking at me. “Right. Like how I was before two fae creatures showed up and kidnapped me.”

  He blinked, his gaze flicking up to meet mine. “Um…”

  “You want me to go back to where I was, how I was before. Meanwhile, Aerenia is going to start a fae war, mortals are going to be hurt, and the worldlines are failing. And you want me to just… forget about it.”

  “I—”

  “No,” I said, glaring at him. “Just—no.” He was staring at me with his brow furrowed. “I want to help.” The words were out of my mouth before I’d even realized I was thinking them. He leaned back in evident surprise, blinking. I hesitated, suddenly unsure, but I pushed on. “You still need a Shadow, right? I’m right here.”

  He shook his head. “No. Sam, no. I’m not going to drag you any further into all of this. The Septagonal will assign me to another sorcerer while I finish my apprenticeship.” His voice shook a little at that, but he pressed on. “Mitchell was using you, the Seelie were using you, even I was using you in the labyrinth. I’m not going to keep doing that. Besides, the idea is to break the curse, not keep it around.”

  “Why shouldn’t we?” I asked, feeling more than a little mulish. I found myself somewhat resenting the fact that he was telling me he couldn’t put me in danger not five minutes after thanking me for saving his life. “If Aerenia was nice enough to hand you a tool…”

  “You are not a tool! You don’t—you have no idea how dangerous they can be!” Oh, really. I folded my arms. “Well, maybe you do,” he amended, seeing my expression. “Sorry. That was a stupid thing to say. But I can’t… I’m not putting you at risk.”

  “Don’t, then,” I said. “Let me do something else. Anything else. I bet even sorcerers’ organizations need administrative assistants. I just…” I trailed off. He was looking at me with an odd expression that I couldn’t quite read.

  “You want to work for the Septagonal? After what happened?” he said at last, his tone bordering on incredulous. “I’m not even sure I want to work for the Septagonal. I meant what I said to Mitchell. If it turns out that what we did to you was sanctioned, I’m resigning.” I blinked, surprised. I didn’t doubt his sincerity, but this… working to protect people from fae, practicing sorcery… it had been his whole life. “I won’t work for people that would allow something like that. I can’t.”

  “Let’s find out, then,” I said. “If it was sanctioned. When you know, we can work from there.” I sat up as straight as I could. It was possible I was making an awful mistake. But doing as he suggested… going home, forgetting everything… it would be even worse. “Thomas… like it or not, I’m involved now. I want to do what I can to help with what’s coming.” I exhaled quickly. I couldn’t just leave. “I need to see this through,” I said. “Please.”

  He was still watching me with that peculiar look. There was a long, drawn out silence. “Everyone forgets,” he said.

  “What?”

  “Everyone forgets,” he repeated. “Everyone chooses to forget. Just a month ago I saw a man in Dublin… Mitchell and I had saved his life last year, but he didn’t know us. Didn’t give us a second glance. Do you know how many people I’ve…” He shook his head slowly. “I thought with everything that happened to you… I was sure, I thought you would…” I saw a slight shift in his expression. There was still concern there, but there was also a measure of respect that went deeper than what I’d seen before. “You know, you’re right,” he said suddenly. “There’s a lot of work that doesn’t require being in the field. Sorcerers need administrators, too.” He seemed to be fighting a smile, but it wasn’t one of amusement. He just looked… happy. Abruptly he stood and walked towards the door.

  “Where are you going?” He turned back to face me.

  “I need to pack,” he said. “We’re going to London, aren’t we?”

  I took a breath. Was this right? I didn’t know, but… I felt it was. I might not be able to do much in this fight, but I wasn’t going to run from it. I nodded. “London.”

  About the Author

  A.E. Maxwell is a resident of the Sonoran Desert, where she lives with her husband and troublemaking dog. She works for the University of Arizona, where she is also a graduate student in the International Security Studies program. She has been writing since she was six years old and recently rediscovered her first piece of fiction (it reads, in its entirety, “This morning I woke up and was turned into a witch.”) She is the author of two other novels: Headwinds and Crosswinds. You can find her on Facebook at facebook.com/aemaxwellcw, or on Twitter @aemaxwellcw.