Crossing Boundaries

Chapter 7

Luin

My phone buzzed, but I was still feeling out of sorts from the muted soul bond, so I rolled away from it and burrowed deeper into my blankets. Only seconds after the buzzing stopped, it started up again. One call can usually be ignored, but two calls in a row could mean a problem. I reached my arm into the chilly air and brought the phone back under the blankets as quickly as I could. Someone was calling me from the security gate, I saw with a frown.

"Hello?"

"Luin? There's... ah, there's someone here to see you?"

I recognized Billy's voice. He usually preferred to run patrols rather than working the gate, so I wondered whether he was being punished for something.

"Luin?"

And this is why I usually didn't interact with people too soon after waking. It took a good hour before I could really focus on anything. "I apologize, I'm here. Who's at the gate?"

Billy must have pulled the phone away from his face, because I heard him speaking but couldn't make out the words. His inflection went up at the end, which made me think he was asking someone a question. Even less distinctly, I thought I could just barely hear someone answering. "He says his name is Fen."

"I'll be right there. Thank you."

I hung up the phone and rubbed at my temples.

Of course it was still wonderful that Fen was here and that I could speak with him, but it was getting harder not to be angry that he took away my soul bond, however temporarily. Had I not already proven to the Seelie that I would choose my bond above all else? Didn't I at least deserve a warning before Fen deprived me of it?

Even as groggy as I was, there was still an answering voice in my mind – my more rational side – that recognized there was good reason Fen hadn't given me warning. Some fae could block out such an attack, and then he wouldn't have accomplished his job.

The fact that I had no idea how to shield myself that way was irrelevant here. After all, I only had about ten months of being around other fae once my magic came in, and even the three women who had taken me in and trained me only knew what magic they had figured out for themselves. I knew a fraction of the magic I would have if I'd stayed in Alterra.

I shook my head and ordered myself to focus on what I was supposed to be doing. Fen was waiting for me and we only had a few more hours together until he would be out of my life again, this time for good. I was already being offered an unprecedented second chance at living in Alterra. No way would they ever offer me a third.

Since I still felt shaky and not myself, my movements were automatic. I put on a button-up shirt the color of wine with dark grey slacks that were even more comfortable than pajamas. Socks and shoes followed. The routine I moved through was quick, with the longest part being the time I took to brush my hair and tie it back off my face in a low tail. I would inevitably end up with strands escaping throughout the day, but it was the best I could do.

Maybe Safiya or Glenna, my witch friends, could enchant a hair tie for me, I thought with a snort of amusement. A witch's magic is much more varied than fae magic, but required more study, ingredients, and sometimes incantations. All fae magic required was technique and willpower.

I shook my head again, reminding myself to focus, and teleported to the security gate. As they usually did when I appeared in front of them, Billy and the other guard, Laura, jumped. Laura laughed breathlessly and smiled at me in greeting, while Billy sternly fixed his expression into a professional mask.

"Your guest," he said, nodding in Fen's direction.

Fen's clothes reminded me of home. He had on a tunic with a well-fitted leather jacket that went down past his waist. I could remember how those jackets would be lined with fur for extra warmth. My mother always got me ones with rabbit fur, since she said it was the softest. I had searched for years to find a jacket like the one I brought from Alterra, the one I outgrew after just one winter, but nothing in the human realm ever compared.