Page 76 of Fae Unleashed
“Your demon is showing,” I said, dryly.
Vi didn’t have the grace to blush. Instead, she gave me a mischievous smile. “I wanted to see if they would be fun in the bedroom!”
Morgan’s head twisted in our direction. His glare could have bored holes into the back of his mate’s head. Vi just smiled and laughed.
While the moment was light and fun, I needed to know the bad news. We all fell quiet. Vi’s gaze dropped to the ground like she was the one to blame.
“So, ah…” She avoided the topic.
I waited patiently even though my heart pounded in my throat.
“This guy, Lord Foxglove? He left. He said he was no longer interested in an alliance with someone who couldn’t keep the enemy out of their domain. These are his words. Not mine.”
I sighed, but the sound turned into a frustrated growl. I wasn’t particularly surprised, but I also wasn’t very happy, either. Foxglove’s soldiers had helped in Beryl’s recent assault on the castle. Without them, we were losing numbers.
Did I even have a court? I didn’t have many followers as of right now. While I knew that I had to keep fighting for those who were trapped in a sleeping curse here, would they even trust me once they woke? It seemed like no one here wanted to put their faith in me. I could defeat Beryl and reclaim my ancestral home, but I couldn’t convince anyone that I was worthy of their trust.
Rhoan snorted. “That fight showed Foxglove that he won’t be able to manipulate you.”
I spun, surprised.
“Fox was only here to see how far he could get.” Rhoan smiled. “We showed him that he’s not going to get away with shit. Since he can’t get what he wants from you, he left. It’s going to hurt us, for sure, but we’ll be safer in the long run.”
Together, we went into the castle and made our way to the dining hall. It’d been turned into a war room. Tal stood at the far end of the table with both palms pressed to the surface. His brow furrowed over pale skin.
While my stomach growled, I knew that we had plenty of work to get to. I didn’t have to worry about my hunger for long. The moment word of my return spread through the castle, it brought the small fae flocking to the dining hall.
The dryads poured in with trays of food. They surrounded me with choices and moved to my hair so they could braid it out of my face. The red caps came and bowed before me. Red droplets splattered the floor when they removed their hats. I’d given them a chance to dip those cursed hats in blood again, and they were infinitely pleased.
When I looked up, I found myself surrounded by small fae. There were so many faces I’d never seen before. Pixies and sprites filled the air and caught onto my braids. There were fae that I didn’t even know existed. This was my court. These were the people I protected.
And, beyond them, stood Ostara and her entourage. Ostara smiled fondly. She looked to Rhoan and nodded in approval. It was amazing that the woman who’d so boldly insulted me was now one of my biggest supporters. I knew it was mostly because she didn’t want to do the work that I was doing, but it still felt nice that she trusted me to do it.
I sucked in a breath and told myself that I could do this.
Rhoan
I couldn’t do this.
Tal walked us through his plan. We needed to make one last push on Beryl before she struck again. If we caught her off guard, then there was a chance that we could finish this once and for all.
Yet, the whole time I should have been paying attention, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Cerri. Her hair had changed again. There was a tinge of gold at the tips as if her true form was trying to break through. I wondered, rather selfishly, if my touch had brought it out of her.
I couldn’t stop thinking about the look on her face back in the cottage. Watching her eyes roll back in pleasure had changed me, and now I would never be the same again. I wanted more. I wanted to feel Cerri writhe beneath me. I wanted to hear her moan my name so that I knew I belonged to her wholly and completely.
Outside, I sat on the edge of the roof terrace and let my feet hang over the twenty-foot drop to the next terrace. The night air brushed through my hair. My beast rose and growled in warning at me. It’d been trying to protect me from the very choices I made right after it finally let me out again. To say that the beast was disappointed was an understatement.
“It was worth it, though,” I told my beast. “You and I both know the truth.”
I had vague memories of Cerri’s promise. She wanted to make a potion that would break my contract. That wouldn’t be necessary if I could kill Faust once and for all. Beryl would have him somewhere safe. So long as Faust lived, Beryl knew that she would have us at a disadvantage.
This was why I lived.
When Beryl swept through the Seelie Court and killed everyone who stood up against her, I’d been one of the few to make it out alive. Others turned against their court. Some ran to save their own skin. I’d been in the thick of the fight and still somehow survived.
I’d always thought that the order to leave had saved me, but I knew now that Beryl had let me leave. Someone must have told her the future. They assured her that the princess and I would grow close, and it would become a hindrance.
I cursed under my breath. I shouldn’t have survived that day. The court had been a sinking ship, and I should have gone down with it.
