Free Fae by Jennifer Bene Page A

tail with just a single braid trailing from his temple. He grinned when he saw Kiernan, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. It never did.
    Kiernan had really hoped Cole would appear first.
    “Ah, there you are Kiernan. Cole said you’d be coming.” His voice was bored, and he didn’t even meet Kiernan’s gaze. Instead, he looked over the hall and roared out a cheer that was echoed back by several of the groups who then toasted their general. Eryn’s viciousness had long ago earned him the respect of the Laochra and had provided him the place of honor as their unofficial general. Right hand to Gormahn.
    “Cole told me to meet you both here, but I’ve been here for a couple of hours.” Eryn turned his eyes back to him, looking over Kiernan’s jeans, converse shoes, and vintage Mariners shirt. Kiernan raised an eyebrow at Eryn’s long evaluation of him, suddenly nervous that his mental changes were written all over him like war paint. It wouldn’t do well for Eryn to already be curious about him.
    “I was meeting with Gormahn. I’m sure he’d be interested in seeing you since you decided to return to base.” Eryn finally met Kiernan’s eyes, and it made his stomach clench. Although Eryn looked about nineteen, his eyes told a different story. The black revealed a cold, calculating individual devoid of empathy. Just the thought of seeing Gormahn face to face made Kiernan sick, especially if it was just he and Eryn in the room. He had a feeling Gormahn would somehow know everything and that he would realize his grip on Kiernan was slipping.
    Who knew what he’d do then?
    Kiernan kept his voice light, and didn’t look away from Eryn even though he was going out of his way to make Kiernan uncomfortable. “If he wants to see me, sure. Have you seen Cole though? Little prick said he’d meet me here.” He crossed his long legs in front of him, trying to look casual under the harsh stare of the man. Showing any kind of weakness in this moment would make Eryn go for blood, and he would likely drag Kiernan in front of Gormahn just to see what would happen.
    “I don’t know where he is. Cole is unpredictable as always. Are you sure you’re going to be able to handle the hunt? From what I understand you’re out of practice.” Eryn crossed his arms and Kiernan laughed, leaning back in the chair.
    “Is that what Cole says about me? I think he’s just jealous that I’ve always been better than him, he knows I’ll come home with the first kill.” With that Eryn gave his first real smile, and Kiernan could remember how exhilarating it had been to go into battle with Eryn and receive that smile before the charge.
    When it came to war, Eryn was a pureblood killer. He had no hesitation, no regret, and he actually enjoyed it. Modern psychiatrists would probably have a field day categorizing him while he told them about what it was like to fight until his arms were coated in blood.
    Then he’d probably kill the psychiatrists.
    Kiernan had loved it as well once, had roared into battle at Eryn’s right hand – and now he just wanted to distance himself from all of it. From all of them. Staring at the man who had once been his friend, he felt like he had come upon a wolf while walking in the woods and he had to be careful with how he moved away so he didn’t get taken down. Eryn stared at him, evaluating, weighing his answers and the relaxed posture that Kiernan forced himself to hold.
    “I’ve missed this.” He tried to lie smoothly, but the words settled heavy in his stomach. “It feels good to be back around the men, to know we’ll be out again. I forgot how good it felt.”
    Eryn’s smile finally soaked into the rest of his body and he relaxed a little. “It’s been a little boring since you decided to enter the world, Kiernan. I haven’t done a midnight raid in too long. Does that mean you’re coming back to us?”
    “Maybe. It’s easy to lose track of time in these walls, and there’s so much