Deal With Eli

"What?" Islinda felt the breath knocked out of her lungs. Her hands began to tremble and suspicion rose in her heart but she refused to believe it. 

It can't be. 

Unaware of the change in her emotion, Belinda elaborated, "It was days after you left that Eli came to my store in tears, pleading that I should look for you. He told me that he had seen a Fae in the abandoned cottage when you found him…." 

But Islinda was not listening to the rest of her story because she was lost in her thoughts. Islinda began to think about the circumstances regarding their meeting and recalled she had stumbled upon Eli in the forest after she met with Valerie. Could it be the boy had seen her with Valerie and was telling the truth? 

What if he wasn't just a boy? 

The thought crossed her mind and her blood chilled to a freezing point. Islinda did not dare to make a move, not to talk or carelessly breathe as the dots began to connect in her mind.