The true king has returned…
The words brought a faint smile to my lips.
In the bark, a hole began to open, widening to a hollow large enough to fit through. The edges of the opening pressed against my wings as I entered.
Stepping inside, I motioned to Aenor to join me. The enchanted tree opened up into a small, round cottage. Candles flickered in silver sconces, and tiny stars hung in the dark air above us, casting light over a single circular room. A bed curved into the wall, and a table was set with ancient fairy wine, bread, and fruit. A fire burned in a stony hearth, and wildflowers grew from the walls.
This had all been here since the dawn of history, but the wine would still taste sweet, the bread still fresh. This was my true home on earth. How had I forgotten it?
I turned to see Aenor stepping in behind me, her eyes wide. I felt absurdly pleased that I had managed to impress her with this. She belonged here, with me.
“What is this place?” she asked.
“My old home, the one away from the castle. The witches won’t find us in here, so we can heal our injuries,” I said. “This was once my little getaway from the palace.”
“Where you brought your women when they weren’t allowed inside the palace? Those considered not sophisticated enough for the court, but good enough to bang?”
I frowned. “Yes, actually, but I wasn’t going to go on about my conquests because it seemed uncouth.”
She sat on the bed, gripping her injured side. “Since when did you care about being couth?”
I grabbed the wine off the small table and poured some into a glass. I handed it to Aenor, then filled my little flask with fairy wine.
Aenor took a sip, but her eyes were on the door as she thought of her next step.
“Okay, let’s get this over with,” she said.
Close as I was to achieving my destiny, I didn’t want to leave here. I felt at ease in here in a way that I hadn’t felt in centuries. How different things would have been if I’d never left.
“Stand up,” I said.
She drained her glass in one long gulp, like she was steeling herself for something terrible. Then she rose. “Are you going to do that thing with your hand on my chest again?”
“It’s the best way to heal you.”
It was, in fact, the best way for mates to heal each other. Mates, in the fae world, were so few and far between that most people didn’t know much about them.
I put my hand on her chest, the heel of my palm between her breasts. I let my magic pulse through my arm, into her body. Standing this close to her was a dizzying experience, like my senses were heightened. Her skin glistened gold, and her eyes shone like sunlight on the waves.
“It’s working,” she said quietly. “I can feel the iron leaving my system.”
Her cheeks were growing pinker now, her healthy color returning. Warmth spread in my chest. Even if she didn’t want it all, I would return her magic to her. She might need it when I was gone. My gaze dipped to her lips, full and slightly parted as she looked at me. She did desire me, didn’t she?
Maybe I would seduce her, just once. I could tell that she wanted me by the way her heart raced when we were closer, and her cheeks flushed a little. As I healed her, she held my gaze steadily.
I could lay her down beneath me and bring her such intense pleasure that she’d forget that she hated me. I’d kiss and lick her between her thighs until she couldn’t remember her name.
It was the wrong thing to do, of course. I should leave her alone.
But since when did I take the high road?
My fevered thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the tree groaning around me. I pulled my hand away from Aenor and felt the air going cold.
“What’s that sound?” asked Aenor. I crossed to the room’s oak walls and pressed my hand against the wood—freezing now. Ice spread through the tree’s veins. They were killing it.
“The witches have found us,” said Aenor. “I can hear their music. They’re surrounding us.”
Alarm bells tolled in my mind. I didn’t want them to destroy my home.
Anger simmered. “I’m going to kill them all now, once and for all. I’m going to sever their heads from their bodies and carve out their dreadful hearts.” And then I would send them all to the Winter Witch, that repugnant canker. She’d spawned all these monsters in the first place.
I drew Lightbringer, and celestial flames flickered across its blade. “Wait in here.”
“Uh, no,” said Aenor. “You’re still injured. I’m not.”
“Fine.” I couldn’t think of a more perfect way to pass the time on earth than ripping apart the repulsive bodies of winter witches with my mate. Pity our fun together would be ending soon.
Pity, too, that my mate was biding her time before betraying me completely.
Aenor
I stood behind Salem as he pressed his palm against the oak. As the opening widened, I summoned my magic until strength imbued my limbs. Were these witches after me because of Salem, or did they try to kill anyone? I had no idea. All I knew was that they wanted me dead right now, and my sense of self-preservation filled me with a quiet violence.
As soon as I stepped out of the little tree cottage, the cold air hit me. The instant one of the witches lunged for me, I was slamming my fist into her head so hard that I thought I shattered her skull. Not many of them left now, just a small handful. I fought them with my bare hands, my feet, strength pounding through my blood.
Even with his broken wing, Salem was fighting with precision. And with one final arc of his blade, he severed the head of the last witch. Her body fell, writhing, to the forest floor.
I bit my lip, wondering if I could run fast enough to get to the castle before Salem. He was injured, after all, and I hadn’t healed him yet.
But how would I even get in there? Hello, guards, I’d like to conspire with someone you imprisoned for treason.
Salem’s eyes were on me, flickering from burned orange to a dusky blue. “Aenor,” he murmured, his voice wrapping around me like a smoky caress, “I would love to know why it is that you keep looking at the castle.”
My pulse sped up. If he learned the truth, my death would be more brutal than those he’d delivered to the witches. “Just looking out for more attackers. Like you said, the worst people thrived in this place, and there could be more monsters.”
His powerful magic rolled off him like a warning.
I turned away from him, marching through the forest toward the castle. What I needed, before I healed him, was a way to get my message to the Merrow. Send me the godsdamn sea glass. If I could hear the Merrow’s magic through the sea, I could communicate through water. I’d try a different, more direct message this time.
Hadn’t Salem said that rivers and streams ran through the island?
I closed my eyes, trying to tune in to the feel of water, listening for its burbling sound. After a few moments, I felt a tug on my middle, pulling me east. I opened my eyes again, catching sight of a stream in the distance.
There we go.
I turned back to Salem, who was staring at me closely. “Do I need to force you to heal me?”
I ignored him for a moment. He’d said the water system ran into a moat, hadn’t he? And the moat sometimes flooded the dungeon. That was my way to get a message to the Merrow.
“Let’s not lose track of the Merrow. I want to run to the stream over there to see if I can still hear his music before we move on. And I have to pee.”
“Aren’t you eager to help?”
“I want to end this as fast as I can, so I can move on and never see you again.” Lie.
“Oh, but I was thinking of keeping you around.” An amused smile curled his sensual lips. “Where else can I find such delicious, naked loathing?”
He prowled closer, his gait languid. “You know, I love nothing more than seducing a woman who hates me. There is no greater pleasure than the moans of a woman who has given in to temptat
ion despite her better judgment.” He winced. His mangled wings were apparently ruining his seduction ability.
Still, against my own better judgment, I felt heat tingling over my skin. “Like I said. You have weird hobbies.”
He moved closer to me, his magic whispering over my body, and his eyes twinkled. “Perhaps, Aenor, I’ll keep you with me, under my control for a while longer. I know you’ve imagined it already—me stripping your clothes off, teasing your beautiful body and making you come until you forget your own name.”
My mind flashed back to that insane fantasy I’d had on the boat, the one where I was bending over before him, wild with desire. Heat rose in my body, making my chest flush, and I clenched my jaw. “I’ll have you know I’ve thought of no such thing.”
And all of a sudden I was talking like a Victorian duchess.
His lips quirked. “Your nostrils flare when you lie. Did you know that?”
With the intensity of his eyes, I felt completely exposed before him. He had a magnetic pull I couldn’t ignore. In fact, I had taken a step closer, compelled by the urge to press myself against him.
He reached for my waist, and I didn’t pull away. Slowly, he stroked the back of his fingertips down my side. His touch left a trail of hot tingles in its wake, and my breath hitched.
He leaned down, his breath warming the curve of my throat. “I’d lick every inch of you until all that hatred dissolved from your mind, and the whole world would fall away. Everything except for the feel of my tongue on your body.” His deep voice reverberated over my body, making my pulse race. “I’ll make you shudder with pleasure, Aenor.”
My breath was coming fast, and his heat warmed my body. His abs and chest muscles had gone taut, like he wanted satiation also.
Focus, Aenor. Focus. I gritted my teeth and forced myself to step away from him. I started to catch my breath. I knew my skin had flushed, and that Salem could tell what effect he was having on me.
“But you revolt me,” I said.
He cocked his head. “Nostrils flaring, again.”
As I took another step back from him, my blood started to cool a little. I forced those heated visions out of my mind. “Just tell me the layout so I can find the Merrow. We don’t know he’s in the castle.” Lie. “How do the waterways connect?”
He crossed his arms, his gaze wary. “There’s a moat around the base of the rocky hill, and a portcullis that leads directly into a watery tunnel, and then into the prison. Unless the Merrow is in the dungeon, he’s unlikely to be connected to the water, I suppose. In any case, it will be guarded, and I have a better route in through the tower.”
Okay. I just needed a little privacy.
“I have to pee,” I declared again.
“And is that so important that you’re unwilling to heal me and my broken wing?”
I swallowed. “My magic is all burned out. I can’t heal you until I recharge.”
It was the first lie that came to my mind. He cocked his eyebrow. He knew I was lying, but also didn’t seem too concerned about it, his stance at ease. That unnerved me. He had a quiet confidence that no matter what happened, no matter what I did, he’d be in control.
And the strange thing was that he had every ability to force the truth out of me. He could invade my mind again. He could get me to fall to my knees and confess everything and kiss his feet while I was at it. He didn’t.
“I’ll just be a minute.” I turned away from him, heading toward the stream.
As I walked, it occurred to me that he’d stopped invading my mind. Almost like he’d started to respect boundaries.
Gods, everything that had happened since I first met him was making this harder.
I didn’t need to know about his beloved sister, or his damn cat, or that he’d comply with my boundaries when asked. I’d once vowed to rip him to pieces, and now the thought filled me with cold dread. In fact, an empty chasm was opening in my chest, sharp and cold.
Why had this task fallen to me, of all people?
A distant music beat through the forest as I approached the stream. It was relaxing, really. And slowly, the music started to burn away my sense of dread, growing louder.
It wasn’t the music of a magical creature. No, the intense, wild music sizzled over my body and curled in my mind, making me feel a little delirious—like a cloud of warm euphoria was blossoming in my skull.
Truly, a kingdom of hedonism here.
Rowan boughs arched over the stream. Here, the air was warmer—humid, almost.
I stole a glance back at Salem and found that he had turned away from me, giving me privacy. I had to act fast. At any moment, he could come up behind me and discover what I was doing.
I dipped my fingertips into the water and started to swirl it around until it sparkled. Silver phosphorescence glimmered on the surface of the water. Just as I had before, I began to write a message.
God of the rivers, send my words to the Merrow through the water. I skimmed my fingertip over the river surface. I wrote, Merrow, in sparkly letters.
I bit my lip, trying to think clearly through the pleasurable beat of the music.
Another glance behind me told me that Salem was still facing the other direction.
Kneeling over the stream, I wrote, I need the enchanted sea glass.
I rested there, crouching. Would he have any idea what I was talking about?
I wrote, The sea glass that can kill Salem. He’s here. He’s coming for you.
I stared as the luminescent words simmered over the water’s surface, then danced their way over the ripples. This seemed like my one chance to get a message to him, and I really wanted to get it right.
One more message before I returned to Salem. I dipped my fingertip in the water, inscribing the words in the stream.
I’m here. Looking for the weapon. We must stop Salem before the world burns. The final word blazed like an exploding star.
My heart raced. I was completely on my own here—an army of one.
With my breath coming fast and heavy, I waited to see if the Merrow could reply. By now, I was beyond stretching the credulity of how long it took to pee, but it was my only chance.
To my shock and delight, I caught an answer snaking and glittering along the surface of the water. I waited with bated breath until it reached me.
Kill him, or the world incinerates.
Frustration rose. Yes, I knew that. I needed the freaking weapon.
I waited to see if another explanation would arrive. The nearby music hummed along my skin, making me feel delirious.
After another minute, the explanation arrived in the form of a single word:
Anamfel.
Oh, for crying out loud. What the crap did that mean?
Come on, Merrow. Write something clear. Tell me how to get the weapon, how to kill him.
Frustrated, I rose and loosed a long sigh, still staring at the river. Waiting for another explanation. But no more words floated down the water. “Anamfel,” I blurted. “Where do I find Anamfel? What is Anamfel?”
It was the tendrils of hot, smoky magic that told me Salem was near. When I turned around, my heart kicked up a beat. Salem leaned against a tree, his arms crossed. He was watching me.
“Who are you talking to?” His eyes twinkled with malice.
I cleared my throat. “Myself.”
“And where did you hear the word Anamfel?”
My heart thundered. “It just… drifted on the wind. A distant voice.”
“It’s a mating festival. Do you have plans to meet someone there? You do keep me on my toes, Aenor. With whom would you like to mate?”
I stared at him, breath coming fast. I was waiting for him to invade my mind again, to force me to tell him whatever he wanted. “I don’t even know what Anamfel means.” For once, I was telling the truth.
“It’s the mating festival in the forest. You can hear the music now.” His deep voice reverberated over my skin.
Okay. So perhaps I’d get t
he sea glass there. It was the only clue I had, anyway.
That easy smile slipped from Salem’s lips, and the air darkened around him. “Who are you meeting there?”
Somehow, he’d read this situation wrong. Did he think I was meeting a lover? Jealousy was blinding him. He wanted me to himself, didn’t he?
What if I could use that? I could get him to let down his guard while I found the sea glass at the festival.
Desire could make him vulnerable. He wanted to have no attachments, and he didn’t want to care for anything. He didn’t want to love a cat, or his old house in the tree. He didn’t want to love anything. Not when it was all going to burn.
And he definitely didn’t want to care for me.
“I have no intention of meeting anyone there,” I said. Lie. “I just wanted to know about the island.” I bit my lip, swinging my hips a little as I moved closer to him.
His eyes burned as he watched me walk.
“But now that you’ve mentioned the festival, maybe we should see it.” I pressed up against him, my heart beating against his bare skin. “While my magic recharges.”
Nearly imperceptible, a low growl reverberated from his throat.
“You’re wasting my time, Aenor,” he purred.
But I’d distracted him, hadn’t I? His warm magic pulsed around me, protective and sensual.
“What’s the rush?” I looked up at him, burying dread with the most seductive smile I could muster—the smile of a morgen luring her prey to his death. “You said you’d make me moan, didn’t you?”
With my eyes locked on his, I grabbed his hand and started to lead him toward the music. “I think the music is calling to me.”
The truth mixed with lies, until I found it hard to remember what was real anymore. The only thing clear to me was that I felt like my heart was splintering.
Aenor
We were coming up to the edge of a clearing, and half-naked dancers flitted between the trees. The music was luring me with a primal desire to dance.
In the center of a clearing, a fire roared, dark tendrils of smoke curling into the air. The music pulsed through my blood, beckoning me closer. As we approached, the sky seemed to change, darkening to ashy rose and indigo. Twilight was falling over us…
Sea Fae Trilogy Page 40