“Trisha, there have to be things you wouldn’t heal from either,” Cray hissed after me.

I just kept walking. I heard a huge sigh behind me, then footsteps. Stupid of me to allow him to put himself in danger, but I sure didn’t mind the company.

I stopped a few feet from Jaden and waited.

“Can we talk?” he asked, his tone calm, his voice a deep rich sound. I shivered a little. He could talk all he wanted. Nope, no, bad idea.

“Why should I talk with you? I’m calling Wade and Starren.” I had to make it look good until I could get close enough to lay him out. Bet if Wade knew about this right now he’d wish he had a phone.

“No, please, wait,” Jaden said. Something in his tone made me pause. He looked at the people on the sidewalk minding their own business and backed up into the alley, waiting to see if we’d follow. I moved after him slowly. Cray stuck to me like glue.

“Are you going to kill us?” Cray asked after we were out of human earshot. Wow, he was getting brave. Except for the octave his voice was in.

“Why did you break out of Faerie?” I asked.

“I ran from Faerie because my family is in danger. That’s why I need you two.”

His family? They had forgotten to mention he had a family. But of course he did. Even I did, now. So, that really was his little sister. Funny how that part had been left out in that little presentation before I’d said yes to the job.

“And how do you know your family is in danger? Did the Council just come and warn you or what?”

“The Council is who they’re in danger from. They want to use them to get me to do what they want.”

“And what’s that?”

He moved in closer, looking over his shoulder again. “I’m going to trust you with this, but only because I’ve seen you.” He leaned in, making the height gap between us a little smaller, his dark eyes mesmerizing. What was this guy’s ability? Because I was starting to feel all gooey inside.

Hopefully he didn’t have some kind of hypno skill like the hyran.

“I can read people. Their heart and their intentions. And I’m going to be completely honest with you since I believe you are going to help me.” He blinked and I blinked back. “I can see bits of the future.”

Whoa, okay, that brought me back. He could see the future? That was his terrible power that he was going to use for evil? Either he was keeping part of the truth from us, the Council had guessed incorrectly about his power, or something was really, really wrong. And he already had his power?

“If you can see the future, why were you in the house when we got there? I’d have thought you would have been long gone,” Cray asked.

“I can only see pieces, never very much at a time and I can’t choose what I see.” His gaze swung from Cray to me. “I knew I had to meet you. I saw your heart and I hoped you would help me.”

Okay, this was a little awkward. I was supposed to be catching him, not having him ‘see my heart.’ Whatever that meant. My fingers started tapping on my thigh, itching to reach for my sword. “How?”

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

“My family,” Jaden said, his voice going rough. “I finally found my way back to them and they can’t even see me. I’m some kind of… ghost. To other fae, I’m completely normal, but to humans, I’m not even there. How am I supposed to protect them?” His voice trailed off but the intensity on his face only grew. He couldn’t be lying, he was fae. I wasn’t going to trust him, no way, but he was telling the truth about his family. The rest I didn’t know about. I didn’t know enough about Faerie.

“Cray?” I asked. Surely he would have a better idea if this was possible or not.

Cray had his head cocked, staring at Jaden. “I don’t know. I don’t know of any other fae that has come back to Earth after being terminated here.”

“Terminated?” Jaden asked. “Really? That’s what you call it?” His voice was getting higher. “That’s definitely not what I’d call it.”

“Wait.” I threw a hand up. “Don’t get all excited.” That had to be the first time it was me saying that to someone instead of the other way around. Wait a second, terminated? Like Wade had done to me? I was starting to get the feeling I’d somehow ended up on the wrong side of all this. “Tell me, right now, that you don’t have any bad intentions. That you didn’t commit some terrible crime to get locked up in the first place.”

“Bad intentions? Like what?” His handsome face really did look confused. “As for what I did to get locked up, nothing. They just wanted me because they know who my father is.”

I ignored his question. That feeling about being on the wrong side? It was getting worse. Much worse. Who was his father? That was a discussion for another time. “What do you want me to do?”

My mind’s eye flew to the little girl watching TV. She was so cute, but had a strange sense of sadness for a kid that age. No bouncing around, not glued to the TV, just kind of watching. She reminded me of me after my mom dropped me off at Waterton Heights. A kid that age wouldn’t understand why her brother wasn’t around, if they really were siblings like I got the strong impression they were. She wouldn’t understand unless she’d had other things happen in her past that helped a kid understand stuff they shouldn’t.

He stared into my eyes, intensity crackling under the surface of his gaze. “Talk to them for me. Warn them.”

“Why can we see you but your family can’t? Aren’t they fae?”

“My mother is actually my step mother. She’s the only mom I’ve ever known, but she doesn’t have a drop of fae blood in her. My two little sisters are half, and they can feel when I’m around, but they still can’t see me. Jaime at least knows I’m there. I think Lucy feels it, but she won’t admit something is going on.”

This was kind of a toss-up for me. Trust the complete stranger, who was an escaped convict, or trust the guy who’d tried to kill me and the girl he’d gotten me to work for. No good choices here, but I was getting used to that. Ah, why couldn’t I just be fae and fully believe the end justified the means. I just wanted to stay on Earth in peace. I needed this guy.

What chance did Cray and I have of holding him here until Starren and Wade started wondering where Cray was? Not a good one, considering how the guy was on high alert. And Cray and I alone had no chance in a fair fight. This guy was built. “If we help you first, will you go back with us willingly? Let me turn you over to Starren? I’ve got stake in this too.”

Jaden’s face grew dark. He thought about it for a moment. “I agree. You have my word.”

I looked to Cray. He was studying Jaden. After a moment, he said “He is fae. He can’t lie. He’ll have to turn himself over.”

Jaden heaved a huge breath. “We just need to head to my house and warn them. I think my mom will believe you. Enough has happened since Dad died for her to know there’s something going on. We have to do it right now. Things are getting worse, and I won’t be able to protect them alone anymore.”

“Protect them from who?”

“The Council.”

“Trisha?” Wade’s voice, from down the alley.

Jaden stiffened. “Meet me at my house. Please.” He didn’t wait for an answer, just took off in the opposite direction Wade’s voice had come from.

I looked at Cray. He shrugged. Now what? Did I really want to risk losing my home with Dan and Nina? Maybe we should just grab him, and then I could warn his family. But if he could see the future, he might know I was going to try something and then I would lose my chance of getting him to turn himself in. Not worth the risk. I could tell Starren, but she wasn’t exactly one for compassion of any kind. What could go wrong talking to some human lady? It would only take a couple minutes, and then Jaden would have to come with me. It was worth a try.

Now to deal with Wade and Starren. She probably wasn’t going to be a in a good mood.