Page 89 of Slaying the Shifter Prince
Celestine. It seemed impossible that it could be her, and yet her name was amongst the others. Zinnia had been strangled, the killer’s grip hard enough to leave marks. Celestine was frail, but she was still fae. Did she have the strength to do that?
That question followed me through the winding corridors and out into the gardens.
The party was in full swing when we arrived, though much smaller than I’d expected, with fewer than fifteen people on the lake’s shore and bathing in its shallows. They all turned and raised their glasses at our arrival, and Sepher milked the moment perfectly, one arm slung around my shoulders, chin raised, a smug smirk on his lips.
He waved them off. “Get back to it, you degenerates.”
As he scooped up drinks for us both, several of the folk slapped him on the back and greeted him. Though their broad smiles were perhaps a little stiff. His expression was as easy, as arrogant as ever, but I noted his tail’s slow swish from side to side.
Who were these people? I only knew a handful from the Court of Monsters. Celestine, Roark, Cadan, and a few others. The rest were new faces who eyed me with interest as we passed.
Sepher didn’t bother to introduce me. I supposed he wanted to keep up the appearance of pet and master in public. I hadn’t included that in my bargain. A foolish mistake.
Eventually, he sank into the throne under the domed structure overlooking the lake—the same one he’d occupied the day I’d collapsed in the snow. A drink in each hand, he spread his arms and nodded at his lap, the instruction unmistakable.
“I can’t believe you’ve dragged me out here for this,” I muttered as I sat on his knee.
“I told you to have patience, little bird.” He handed me a glass of deep orange liquid. It smelled of sour citrus and something sweet and tropical that I’d only ever had at the tables of my richest patrons. “You’ll be able to spread your wings and capture your prey soon.”
Lips pursed, I gave him a hard look. My time would be better spent inside, working on the clues we had, not playing his pet at a party.
But I took a sip of whatever this drink was and couldn’t help the sound that came from my throat at its taste. Summer and sunshine. Our day at the beach. Sweet and sharp, zinging on my tongue. All that from a single mouthful.
He grinned like he took pleasure from my pleasure. “It’s good, isn’t it?”
I huffed. “I suppose it is.”
He chuckled softly, and pulled me up his lap. “Well done for admitting it. Now, listen closely…” He spoke in my ear, little more than a breath, and I leant in until his lips brushed my skin. “Roark, Celestine, Cadan—you know all of them. And those three over there.” He nodded to a group lying on the bank playing cards. They lived here at the palace full-time, so I’d encountered them at a number of parties and meals.
I canted my head, not understanding why he was pointing these people out to me when I already knew them.
“There, with the indigo hair, that’s Mayrie.”
Playing in the water was perhaps the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Deep blue hair pooled around her on the lake’s surface, and her skin held a pale turquoise tinge.
“Her mother was a selkie, so as pretty as she looks, she has a sharper side.”
Dark, dark eyes snapped to us as she caught us looking, and her mouth spread in a wide grin full entirely of sharp teeth.
“You see what I mean?” Sepher raised his drink in greeting. “Then, over there, you see the brothers, Tavin and Thurl.”
Two fae men lay sunbathing, their naked bodies perfect, deep bronze skin flawless. Apart from the pointed ears poking out from their charcoal-black hair, they might’ve been human. Albeit, I’d never seen humans quite so handsome.
Sepher’s tail curled around my calf. “They still live in Luminis.” A gritted edge entered his voice, and when I tore myself from them, I found him staring, jaw and brow tight.
He saw in them what he had once been. They still lived the life he’d once had.
I ran my fingertips through the silky thickness of his hair. “More fool Luminis.” His gaze shot to mine. “They’re missing out.”
He raised an eyebrow in question.
“Well, they’re very… boring, aren’t they? Why look like a pretty human with pointed ears when you could be so muchmore?” I grazed my fingers over his claws and flexed my calf, where his muscular tail wrapped around it. Sliding one hand under his open-fronted shirt, I traced the stripes that wrapped around his sides. “One of them couldn’t fuck my arse with their tail, could they?”
His pupils blew wide. “They couldn’t,” he said with a growl, tail tightening as it slid up my leg. “Maybe I should do that again tonight to remind you.”
Goosebumps flooded my skin, but I went on, “They would never have warmed me as quickly as you did when I was freezing to death. And none of them are nearly as perfectly princely and prickish and arrogant as you are.” Yet I found myself smiling as I said it all, not hating those features of his nearly as much as I had two months ago.
It seemed he didn’t take it as an insult, either—at least not entirely—because his muscles solidified around and under me as he straightened in his throne. “Clever girl.” He planted an impulsive kiss on my lips, shooting a sweet kind of pleasure through me. “But are you clever enough to work out why I’ve brought them all here?” He cocked his head in challenge.
