The Faerie Curses

Chapter Eighteen: Afraid of Losing

I gave him a dismissive shrug, and his face suddenly brightened. "Speaking of Lorely, you think that she knows exactly where the Objects of Power are?"

I nodded confidently. "My guess would be that she does." I bit my lip. "Although I don't know if you should come with me."

"What are you talking about?" Glen exclaimed, hurt flashing across his face. "Like it or not, Marissa, we're partners, and there's no chance that I'm turning back now." His jaw was set determinedly as he spoke. "You know that the fae armies won't recover the objects in time, they don't even know where they are. We're the fae's last hope."

I sighed. I wasn't sure how to tell him this. Just seeing him laying there, trembling in fear as the spell took over his mind had nearly driven me over the edge. I couldn't afford to lose him again, not after what had just happened.

"Glen, you did your job. You rescued the children from The Master. Shouldn't you return to Summer Court?"

"So you can go after the objects and take down The Master and his sprite army all by yourself?" Glen fumed. "Of course not!"

"I'll be fine," I reassured him. "Diandre can tell me what they're planning and I can stop them."

"Leaving you with the wingless wonder," Glen said sarcastically. "That makes me feel so much better."

I put my head in my hands in exasperation.

"I'm not going back to the Faerie Realm until we finish what we started." Glen pressed on. "Everyone thinks that a prince's job is to sit safely on a throne and kiss the heads of small children while preaching motivational speeches. It's not. I'm actually protecting my kingdom for once, and you want to shut me back up in my castle?"

My irritation erupted out of me.

"When will you get it, Glen?" I exploded. The force of my own words shocked me. Glen flinched as he lay on the sofa, staring up into my blazing eyes. "You could have died if we hadn't found Lorely and if she hadn't saved you! Do you have any idea what would happen if you were gone? I would never forgive myself. Waiting for you to wake up, wondering if you would ever open your eyes again was enough to tear me apart on the inside. Your kingdom can't afford to lose you." I swallowed hard. "I can't afford to lose you, either."

Those last words came out broken, and I wanted to hurriedly shove them back in my mouth. It was too late, I had already spoken them. Wetness was gathering in my eyes and I brushed it away fiercely.

Glen was silent for a moment, and slowly I watched his face soften.

"Marissa, you're not going to lose me." He said, his gaze locked with mine. "And I'm not going to lose you, either. You're strong, but you can't face all of this darkness alone. So I'm not going anywhere." His words were so sincere it left me in an awe filled silence. "We're going to do this the way we've done it since the beginning." He smiled softly. "Together."

I took a shuddering breath.

I knew that there was no point in arguing any longer. I wanted to keep Glen safe, but I wasn't going to keep him away from what he wanted. Looking back at it now, it seemed as if his entire life was planned out by a queen or palace officials over the years. I could see it in his face that this was the first time that Glen had chosen to do something himself, with nothing but his will telling him what to do. A selfish part of me, way down deep in a chasm inside me, was secretly happy that Glen wasn't going to go. I couldn't place the feeling, but it throbbed against my rib cage ceaselessly.

"I can't stop you," I sighed. "But I swear you're going to be the death of me."

"You should have known," Glen grinned. "You can't get rid of me that easily. You need to step up your game if you want me gone, partner." His eyebrows knitted together. "So what's the plan? Are we going after the Summer Scepter and the Winter Wand?"