The Queen by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Chapter 18
I sat on the bed while Kalen called…well, I don’t know who he
called. In situations like these, he normally would’ve called Tanner, and I
doubted he’d call Faye when she was dealing with her cousin.
But he spoke to someone while I sat there, holding the iron cuff and
staring at the spot where Tanner had been standing.
I was still angry, but I was also…I just couldn’t believe that Tanner
had sent himself back to the Otherworld. Whatever Caden or I would’ve
done to him would’ve paled in comparison to what would happen to him in
a realm ruled by the Winter Queen. We would’ve killed him. End of story.
But a fae stabbed by iron didn’t die. It basically sent them home, and
being sent to the Otherworld was a fate worse than death.
Not that he didn’t deserve it, but I…
I just couldn’t believe any of this.
“Brighton.”
Blinking, I realized that Kalen had been speaking to me. “I’m sorry?”
“It’s all right. I said…” He dragged a hand through his hair, trailing
off as he stared at the same spot as I did. “I can’t believe this. I wouldn’t
have believed any of this if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.”
“I thought that maybe he’d told Tatiana and perhaps her brother. So
that they’d know what was happening and she could pursue Caden, you
know?” I explained hoarsely, running my fingers over the cuff. “I had no
idea.”
“I don’t know what to even say.” Kalen turned away from the spot. “I
really don’t.”
“Neither do I.”
It was only a few minutes later that Caden filled the doorway. I
looked up, my heart seizing at the sight of him. The urge to race over to
him hit me hard. I was starting to stand when I realized what I was doing
and stopped myself. Was he still mad at me? Well, obviously, he had to be.
One didn’t get over all that he learned in a matter of hours. I wasn’t sure if
he would want me to go to him, to touch him.
And God, that was another sting on an already raw, rapidly spreading
wound.