Page 26 of Fae Unleashed
Feri cared about his court. That’s why I trusted him to keep an eye on Cerri—most of the time. However, he was still Seelie through and through. He couldn’t see the benefit of the fae looking up at Cerri with love and awe right now.
I stepped back into the shadows and watched quietly as Cerri knelt and spoke with the fae that approached her all at once. They asked her about her wild curls, about her curvy mortal body, about her potion-craft, and about anything else that came to mind.
She answered with patience. Her cheeks turned a soft pink when the fae mentioned her body. I watched the princess look back at the house behind us and smile, as if someone inside had assured her that her body was more than beautiful.
Jealousy struck me and made my beast snarl possessively. I sucked in a breath and shoved the creature back down before the deal shattered and turned me into a beast full-time. The moment that I gave everything to Cerri, I would lose it all to the beast.
That’s what I was fighting against. I wasn’t allowed to fall in love, not because of the vow I’d made to become a knight. That just kept me from exploring Cerri’s body the way I craved. What kept me from declaring my love for the sweet yet determined princess was the deal I’d made to gain my beast.
I’d been unafraid of the final clause of the deal I’d struck with Faust. As a knight with a vow of celibacy, how could I ever fall in love? Faust had grinned at my naïve foolishness at the time. I’d scoffed and laid back for the curse about to take me over. Not once did I consider what would come and how my love for Cerri could turn me into a beast once and for all.
Like a twisted fairy tale, true love would allow my beast to take over. I would forget everything that made me a man. My life would become consumed by the hunt and the Sluagh.
I just had to make it through to the end of this battle. Once we defeated Beryl, and Cerri had her throne, then I could give in to my feelings.
Ahead of me, Cerri stood and searched over her shoulder. I stepped out of the shadows. When her gaze touched me, her face lit up. My heart clenched. I silenced the feelings trying to take over my mind and kept my hands fisted at my sides. She caught my internal battle. Confusion twisted her expression for an instant.
Then, Cerri turned back to the small fae and gave them all a sweet smile. She invited them home with us. There they would find a bit of safety and peace…which was all true, but I wasn’t looking forward to sharing space with redcaps. The murderous little bastards were going to stab me in the shin just to keep their caps wet with blood.
I gave the redcaps a look, pointing two fingers at my own eyes before pointing them at the redcaps. Their sharp-toothed grins promised nothing. I rolled my eyes and made mental plans to redcap-proof the apartment.
Somehow.
I wasn’t quite sure how to do it, but I would figure it out. At least, I knew they weren’t going to stab Cerri any time soon. Siding with Cerri gave the redcaps another opportunity to drench their hats in royal blood.
It reminded me of what Beryl had done to Tal. Was it poetic justice? I didn’t think so, but she still deserved it, nonetheless.
“Ready to go home?” I asked Cerri.
She nodded and held out her hand. At first, I wasn’t going to take it. I had to keep my distance from her and her silky soft skin. Barely a breath later, I found my hand sliding into hers like it’d always belonged there. Our palms fit together in a way that I never thought possible.
Was this what Cerri’s father had felt when he held his wife’s hand?
11
CERRI
Irealized, rather belatedly, that I hadn’t thought my invitation through. When the small fae, as Rhoan called them, came to me and asked to become a part of my court, I’d accepted because I considered it an honor.
It was no longer an honor when I was lying in bed at four in the morning, listening to raucous laughter and the clinking of glasses in my kitchen. I shot up and glared at the flower-covered doorway. As badly as I wanted to march out there and tell them all to shut up, I didn’t want to come across as an Unseelie like Beryl.
There were too many damned lines I couldn’t cross because of this curse, and no way in Hell that I could break it because the man I loved refused to love me back. Well, that and the fact that we’d already kissed. Like, that kind of ruined that wholetrue love’s first kisspart.
Beryl knew what she’d been doing when she laid the parameters of this curse, and I hated her for it. I wanted to sneak over to her restaurant and spray paint a big dick on the side of it just to vent a little bit of my frustration. That was the kind of thing Ness and Vi would have done, and I admired them for that.
Perhaps we could…No, venturing over there without an army at my side and the intention to attack would only get me killed. I mean, that might also get me killed, but it wasn’t as assured.
The inability to sleep had my mind addled. Instead of falling back into the pillows and plushes, I got out of bed, threw on a thick bathrobe and slippers, and went upstairs to the building’s roof.
The stars weren’t out like I’d hoped. A thick layer of clouds covered the brilliant cosmos above. Still, I lounged in my folding lawn chair and savored the blessed silence here in the open.
Before I knew it, light stabbed at my eyes. I cracked them open and recoiled at the sight of the sun above. Hand up to shade my eyes from the morning light, I processed just how long I’d been up here.
Of course, Feri was always nearby to remind me.
“How is this befitting of a princess? Sleeping outside? In a bathrobe no less? Preposterous. Cerridwen, I really need you to start taking your position seriously.” The ferret shook his head disapprovingly. “The fact that you took on the small fae does not help your standing. You are a feral fae, touched with an Unseelie curse, cavorting with those far below the courts. No one is going to take you seriously.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Good.”
