Page 24 of The Queen The Fae Forgot
That wasn’t exactly the word I’d use to describe this towering, horned, black-winged fae of the forbidden wilds.
Gorgeous. Deceptive. Cruel.
Those were better words.
I focused on the last two and forced out a half bark of a laugh, even though my mind wanted to linger on the way the shadows cast by the fire now at his back only served to make him glow with his uniquely dark beauty.
“Honest? You? What makes you think I’d believe anything you’re telling me—now or ever?”
“I’m not asking you to have faith in me,” Icarus said. “I’m asking you to have faith in yourself.”
My lips parted, but I had nothing to say to that. Before I had to, however, Icarus held out his hands.
“Command me to tell the truth, Aurra. Use your power on me.”
“I—”
I stumbled over my words as my mind struggled to catch up. I suddenly found myself breathless, a deep pit settling in my stomach as the image played itself out in my mind, of me commanding Icarus to do … well …anything.I already hated that I’d used my powers on other fae, even when I’d done it on accident. That was bad enough, but to do it to Icarus?
Something about that seemed so fundamentally wrong that it physically sickened me.
The wringing in my stomach didn’t stop rage from flaring up in me too, however, when I saw the amusement play across the dark fae’s face.
“Come now, please tell me you’re not afraid to use the Tongues.”
I blurted out my answer too quick. “I’m not afraid.” I said, inwardly flinching at how clearly I was lying. Icarus didn’t need to use his glamour on me to make my truth so painfully obvious.
“What are you then?”
Had Icarus moved closer, or had I?
We were standing almost close enough to touch now, but I didn’t dare tear my eyes away to see for sure. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was the way my breath suddenly hitched, and from the way his chest rose beneath the dark curls that spilled over his shoulders, so had his.
What are you then?
I didn’t know the answer to Icarus’ question. I had an idea of why the idea sickened me in a general sense, why it felt so wrong to force other fae—and humans, too—to do my bidding. But that wasn’t the reason I found myself so averse to following his suggestion.
It was because I didn’t want to forcehim.
It was foolish, the very idea of it. Icarus had tried to force me, had tried to manipulate me through omission—another kind of lie as cruel, or maybe even more cruel than an outright one—into doing his dark work. So why, then, was it not only impossible for me to use my power to get the answers I needed, but even more impossible for me to tell him why that was.
I could have floundered there for hours, drowning slowly, but Icarus put me out of my misery.
“Iwantyou to command me, Aurra,” he said, his voice lower, softer now. One of us stepped closer, but again, I was lost too deep in his eyes to know which one it was. Perhaps it was both of us. I couldn’t feel my physical body anymore. I didn’t exist, nothing did, nothing outside of the dark pools of Icarus’ eyes as they held mine, and his voice as it wrapped around me, each one sweeter and more dangerous than the last. “I’m asking you to do this for me,for me,Aurra. My Storm …” His breath caught for a moment. “Can you do that for me?”
This time when my lips parted and a sigh slipped from between them, it wasn’t in exasperation or anger, it was frustration.
“I don’t have much glamour yet. I don’t want to waste it.”
Somehow, we’d moved even closer. I could see the curl of Icarus’ lashes, see the individual hues in his dark eyes, see the slightest twitch at the outer corner of his mouth as he reached out to me and took my hands.
“Then let me give you mine.”
Before I had the chance to respond, I felt it. I felthim.
The magic flowed from Icarus into me, searing through my veins like fire. It was a powerful, all-consuming sensation that left me gasping for breath. I could feel his glamour taking hold, amplifying my own power and making me feel as though I could conquer the world.
But it was more than just power. It was Icarus himself, his essence and his energy flowing through me. It was an intimate connection that left me feeling vulnerable and exposed, yet at the same time, exhilarated.
