The berserkers took Audrina, thinking that she was the Chosen One. We don’t know why they took her, or what they’re going to do with her… but Susan is determined to find her.
To make everything worse, Susan’s falling in love with Donovan, her handsome fae prince. Cress is going to rip out her eyeballs and wear them as earrings if she finds out.
Chapter
One
Bronwyn tapped on her notepad for a second, the corners of her lips pulled down in a frown. “Okay, Susan. I guess we can get started. Is there something important you wanted to share in this session?”
“Oh, no.” I managed to keep my smile benign and carefree, even though I was screaming on the inside. “Not really, Bronwyn. I’m doing just fine.”
She waited, leaving me to marinate uncomfortably in the silence. It might have worked on anyone else, but I’d always been good with uncomfortable silences.
And, since my incarceration, I’d become an expert. Today was harder than usual, though; I was so tense I wanted to jump out of my skin. I distracted myself by admiring Bronwyn’s outfit—tie-dyed dungarees over a long-sleeved striped shirt, with rainbow platform heels strapped to her feet. Earrings shaped like little ducks hung from her ears.
My therapist dressed like a toddler. Idly, I wondered if it was intentional to get her clients to remember their childhoods better. Or it could be a trick to make her seem less intimidating. Underneath those baggy dungarees, I knew for a fact that Bronwyn had the muscles of an MMA fighter. She spent weekends at jiu jitsu tournaments wrapping grown men up like pretzels.
Unfortunately, she was also a fantastic therapist, and she wasn’t buying my lie for a second. “You said on the phone you needed an urgent appointment.”
I shrugged, a casual hitch of my shoulders. “I was having a little anxiety a couple of days ago, so I thought I should check in with you.” And I thought I was having the most horrifying hallucinations, but it turned out that they were all real. I’m the Chosen One, the One of Every Blood, destined to protect the spark stones of every wacky supernatural creature in existence from the Devourer, who just happens to be the twin brother of the man who I think I am falling in love with.
“Things have calmed down now, though,” I said. “I was up for a promotion at work, and, I’ll be honest with you, Bronwyn, it was causing me a lot of stress. As you know, I’ve been desperate to rebuild my life, and a big part of my life was always my career.”
“Yes.” Bronwyn nodded. “Go on, please, Susan.”
“I’m happy to say that I got the job.” My knee bounced up and down restlessly. “So, I’m a lot happier. And the office is closed for Labor Day, so I’ve got a long weekend ahead of me.”
“Okay.” She scribbled a note on her notepad and studied my bouncing knee for a moment. “You still seem quite tense, though.”
That’s because a rampage of berserkers abducted my teenage neighbor only a couple of hours ago, and we don’t know where they’ve taken her. “Oh, I’m fine.” I forced my knee to stay still. “I’ve just been really busy.”
Bronwyn had that expression on her face that I hated—frank stare, thin lips, that look in her eyes that said, I’m not falling for your bullshit, Susan. “Really?”
“Uh huh.” I nodded and gave her an extra-benign smile.
“Nothing else going on with you?”
“No. Not that I can think of.”
“You didn’t want to mention your… uh… companion?” She nodded towards the corner of her office.
Donovan glowered in an armchair in the corner, leaning forward, elbows on his knees, watching us intently.
“Him?” I waved my hand dismissively. “Oh, just ignore him.”
“I’m not sure if I can do that, Susan.”
My smile grew strained. At least Donovan wasn’t wearing his fae prince battle leathers—Bronwyn might have had a heart attack. Instead, he wore a plain crisp cotton shirt the color of fresh cream and perfectly tailored tan chinos; a normal, smart-casual outfit on any other man, but on Donovan, it looked like he’d strolled off a photoshoot for a luxury brand cologne.
He’d rolled up the sleeves of his shirt to the elbow. I could barely even look at him. Apparently, I had a thing for muscular forearms. I felt like a horny Victorian man getting a glimpse of a lady’s ankle.
So many conflicting emotions swirled like a tornado inside me—panic for Audrina, lust for Donovan, worry for Audrina, and terror that Princess Cress would find out that I was falling for her man while she was out cleaning up my mess. She would murder me twelve different ways before I could blink.
I was wildly aware that I’d be no help in hunting the berserkers who took Audrina. I wasn't even sure what a berserker was. So, after a flurry of conversation around my kitchen table, it was decided that I’d keep my appointment with Bronwyn while the others went out and hunted berserkers.
I had assumed that the whole fae company would go, but Donovan insisted on staying with me. And he’d insisted on coming into the office, ignoring Bronwyn’s polite request to stay in the waiting room.
“Is there any reason you felt like you had to bring your friend into the room with us today?” Bronwyn gave me her hard stare. She was a no-nonsense type of girl; I could almost see the calculations going on in her eyes. Who is this guy? Is he threatening you?
I lowered my eyes demurely. “Oh, no. I’m sorry again, Bronwyn. My friend is, uh, not from around here. He’s European,” I added, like it could explain away any strange behavior.
She pursed her lips for a second. “Well… would you like to introduce your friend to me?”
“Oh. Sure. Donovan, this is Bronwyn, my therapist. Bronwyn, this is Donovan. My, er–”
“Mate.” Donovan stood up, unfolding himself elegantly from the armchair as if he were a massive panther getting up to stretch. He towered above us. “We are lovers, Susan and I.”
Oh, my God. I choked on my tongue, coughed once, and leaned forward to pour myself a glass of water from the pitcher on the little coffee table in front of us.
“That’s interesting.” Bronwyn’s sharp eyes scanned him again, then flicked over to me. “Well, Donovan, if Susan is comfortable having you here, I suppose we can turn this into a couple’s session. Would you like to come and sit beside Susan?”
He glared at her for a moment, then gracefully folded himself back down next to me on the loveseat. After a second, he wound his arm around my waist and pulled me a little closer.
I swallowed roughly.
“Tell me,” Bronwyn said, leaning forward, tapping her pen against her notepad. “Why did you feel like you had to come into Susan’s session today, Donovan?”
“I am here to protect her,” he replied, his dark-emerald eyes meeting hers in a frank stare.
