Page 23 of Fae Farewells

We all pointed at York.

“I grew it,” the druid admitted with a small smile. “If you don’t like it, I can remove it.”

Sloane and Vaughn popped out amongst the dark forest, smiles on their faces… and a few new bruises. The closer they got, the more damage we could see. Our fae was sporting a gnarly black eye. Our mate had thick purple bands reaching from her wrists to her forearms. Dried blood and sex hung in the air around them.

And we were all confused. They weren’t the rough pair in this mate group.

Barbie dropped into my lap, and I wrinkled my nose. “You smell like the fae.”

Vaughn rubbed something across my forehead. “Now you smell like me, too.”

“What is that?” Palmer ducked and dodged until Vaughn caught him. “Why did you do that?”

“Don’t touch me until you tell us what that is.” Stone grabbed his wrist, but Vaughn used his left hand.

“Mother fucker,” York cursed at our fae.

Novak held his hands up as he asked, “Why do we all need to smell like you? I’m not objecting, but an answer would be great.”

“It’s cum.” Sloane cackled when we all glared at Vaughn.

“It is not,” Palmer enunciated slowly. “Tell me you didn’t—”

“He did,” she assured us, Sarge joining in with her continued laughter.

Stone touched his forehead with the tip of his finger, then licked it. “It’s not cum.”

I closed my eyes, shaking my head. “What is it?”

“Spit.” I could hear Vaughn’s shrug, the smug asshole.

“What the fuck?” York whispered, disgusted.

“Don’t you dare,” the mer seethed as Levi warded Vaughn away with a polite but direct, “No, thank you.”

“That’s worse than cum,” Novak stated, smearing it in as he tried to wipe it off.

Stone took a deep breath. “Just… Why?”

“For fun,” Vaughn answered. “Also for magic.”

“What fucking magic is in spit?” Palmer’s voice rose as his eyes widened.

Our fae furrowed his brows, only shrugging his right shoulder. “Mine. I was thinking ahead. Now, there’s a bit of my magic on you. That way, should the land revolt with so many new species roaming around, you won’t get kicked out.”

I started to scrub at my forehead, then drew my hand back. “Land? The land can kick us out of the realm?”

“It’s sentient,” Valano chimed in as he peered at the sexed-up pair. “You two are brimming with power. He certainly filled you up.”

“I’m sorry?” Barbie inquired, blinking her eyes twice as Vaughn covered his face.

“The fae awakening? Ritual Magic from the land? That’s what happened at the temple.”

“I didn’t notice,” Barbie said to Valano as Vaughn mumbled, “That’s not all that happened.”

Novak circled his eye as he raised a brow at our fae, his reply dry, “We can tell.”

The old king looked concerned. “The magic should have affected you both.”