Cruel Fae

Cruel Fae THE WICKED THORNS BOOK ONE RENAE WRIGHT Copyright © 2023 by Renae Wright All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. www.renaewright.com Contents Author’s Note 1. Chapter One 2. Chapter Two 3. Chapter Three 4. Chapter Four 5. Chapter Five 6. Chapter Six 7. Chapter Seven 8. Chapter Eight 9. Chapter Nine 10. Chapter Ten 11. Chapter Eleven 12. Chapter Twelve 13. Chapter Thirteen 14. Chapter Fourteen 15. Chapter Fifteen 16. Chapter Sixteen 17. Chapter Seventeen 18. Chapter Eighteen 19. Chapter Nineteen 20. Chapter Twenty 21. Chapter Twenty-One 22. Chapter Twenty-Two 23. Chapter Twenty-Three 24. Chapter Twenty-Four 25. Chapter Twenty-Five 26. Chapter Twenty-Six 27. Chapter Twenty-Seven 28. Chapter Twenty-Eight 29. Chapter Twenty-Nine 30. Chapter Thirty 31. Chapter Thirty-One 32. Chapter Thirty-Two Thank you for reading Also by Renae Wright Connect with Renae Wright Author’s Note Cruel Fae is a reverse harem romance which means the main character, Storm, won’t have to choose between multiple love interests. It ends on a cliffhanger with a happy ending in the final book. Oh, and the characters are complicated and deeply flawed. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Trigger Warning: Chapter ten contains content which may be uncomfortable or triggering. The beginning and end of the triggering scene have been marked with ***. Please skip depending on your personal preferences. Chapter One STORM “Thief!” The sounds of heavy footsteps and clanging armor pursued me down the cobblestone streets. I ran, ignoring the growing ache in my side, and instead, I focused on the emotions swirling through my gut like clashing armies—frustration, anger, and pain. They all took residence inside me, fueling me, and they were all I had left. That, and the coins and jewelry jingling in my pockets. I didn’t steal them; I redistributed wealth from the elites’ rich pockets to my poor ones. I was a hero if you asked me. I just needed to get the Arillian Guard off my ass. I wished I’d spent a little less time practicing how to steal and a little more time learning how to not get caught. “There she is. Stop! Thief!” I glanced back at the sentinels rounding the corner. The one leading the pack homed in on me, and his cruel gaze pierced me like a dagger, stabbing fear right into my very soul. My stomach churned. He didn’t care that I’d made off with a few things, stolen from some fancy lady’s carriage when she’d been silly enough to leave it unattended. No, his eyes gleamed with the joy of the chase, and his desired prize was me, trapped and tortured. When he was done with me, he would leave me dead, just the way he liked all his women. Jaxson was a sick fuck, and he’d been looking for an excuse to hunt me down and lock me up for years. Unfortunately, I’d just gone and handed him one on a silver platter. Taking a sharp left, I caught my hip on the corner of a wooden post. I winced but didn’t slow my pace. Coins fell from my pockets, and I cursed but didn’t stop. My sister, Tessa, wasn’t the only one willing to make sacrifices for our family. She’d reinvented herself and became one of them—a member of the Arillian Guard. I couldn’t stomach being sent to Vaentia to fight the fae. I’d rather die than face one of those creatures. The setting sun cast muted orange rays on the streets, meaning it wasn’t light enough to feel safe, but not yet dark enough for the true monsters who roamed our streets to rouse. Not that the fae didn’t roam during the day as well. I struggled to maintain my pace. I had nothing but stale bread and leftover scraps from serving at The Rusty Skitt to fuel me. The sentinels gained on me, but the thought of my mother’s relief when I presented her with my hard-won, stolen goods pushed me onward. I shoved my way past a woman. She shrieked, catching herself against a lamppost, while an elderly man in the common linens of the Arillian working class shouted curses at me. “Got you.” A guard grasped the collar of my tunic and yanked back, choking me. Not today. I lifted my arms and dropped, slipping out of the loose material. Damn, there went my best tunic. Long, dirty-blonde tendrils of hair fell in messy waves over my face. I shoved my hair back and darted forward. The guard swore as I raced down a narrow alleyway, where pallets of goods and trash lined the walls. I grabbed random items, throwing them down behind me. More jewelry spilled from my pockets, but I didn’t have time to worry about it, not when the sounds of crashing and cursing chased me. I sucked in desperate breaths but couldn’t relax as I exited the alley onto a wide road. Strangers looked on, shocked as I sprinted past in nothing but stained linen pants and a sheer slip that barely covered my breasts. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment, but I didn’t have time for modesty. I stumbled around exhausted workers heading home and hawkers pushing carts of goods for sale. I’d lose the Arillian Guard in these crowds. A shadowy figure stepped in front of me, and I ground to a halt as a rough hand cupped my breast. I jerked away, throwing my arms over my chest. “How much?” The man leered at me. His cheekbones were sunken, as if his skin itself ate away at his face, and soot from the coal factories blackened his fingers. “Don’t touch me.” I injected as much spite as possible into my voice until my words dripped with venom, and then I shoved him off. “Don’t play dumb. You’re wandering the streets for