Freed: A Supernatural Prison Romance (Imprisoned by the Fae Book 3)
Page 19
Rys, on the other hand…
When Rys was preparing the portal for us to take to Veron’s palace, I noticed that he was wearing his sword at his hip. He’d been doing that lately, usually when he was going out to see Helix. I didn’t think anything of it, even though I did accuse him of being sword happy.
He is. He totally is. Because, after Veron insults me so boldly, Rys reacts by drawing his sword.
“Price? My Elle is priceless. And she’s clever enough not to leave any debt or bargain open to interpretation. All my years and I’ve managed to learn something from her.”
“Hired soldiers.” Veron scoffs. “Like the king, is decapitation your solution to everything?”
Well, duh. How else to kill an immortal creature? Not like I want Rys to kill Veron. I don’t. But, hey, I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.
So… maybe that whore comment did sting a little.
Sue me. I’m only human.
But Rys surprises both of us by using his sword to gesture toward Veron’s crotch. “There’s more than one way to end a life.”
“You threaten my manhood? In my home?”
“I don’t threaten, Veron. I promise.” He lunges, angling the point of his sword right at Veron’s junk. To my surprise, the prissy noble actually lets out a screech before dodging out of Rys’s reach. Rys chuckles darkly. “You won’t have any need for the cock in those trousers if you think to touch my human again.”
“You are a crude bastard.”
Rys shrugs. He still hasn’t lowered his sword. “I do what I must. Do we have a deal, my lord?”
I can tell that Veron wants to refuse. But how can he?
“Yes. Yes. I accept your terms.”
“Excellent.” Rys slips his sword back into its sheath. Once it’s holstered, he slashes his hand in the space in front of us, creating a portal. “I’m done here. Now let’s go home, Leannán.”
Home.
Together.
Forever.
“Yes, please.”
A warmly possessive hand on my shoulder guides me toward the portal. Rys presses on it, signaling for me to wait, before glancing over at Veron. I do the same thing.
“Remember what I said,” Rys warns. “I serve the Summer King, but my allegiance is to Elle. If you come after her again, I’ll make what happened to Dusk look like mercy. Find your own human. This one is mine.”
Veron’s lost most of his color. The cocky attitude faded as soon as Rys threatened his dick, but by the time Rys mentioned working for Oberon, Veron’s bronze skin paled notably.
Interesting. I wonder why he’s so afraid of the Summer King?
Hm. Maybe Helix needs to come talk to Veron and find out where his allegiance lies.
Just to check, I give him the biggest smile I can. “We’ll be visiting Oberon’s palace soon. Special invite from the king. Maybe we should tell him you said ‘hi’.”
Unlike me, most fae have an excellent poker face. But Veron is so arrogant, he never guessed I’d have any kind of parting shot. He should’ve known better. He couldn’t tame me when he first had me brought to him, and he couldn’t get me to give into him even when he threatened to let Dusk have me.
I’ve beat them both. And, as his perfect face twitches just enough to show how much he doesn’t like my idea, I know I’ve won this round, too.
“Ready, Elle?”
I wiggle my fingers at Veron in a mockery of a wave before running my hand up and down Rys’s bicep.
Veron makes a short, angry sound in the back of his throat at that blatant touch. But he still doesn’t say anything.
Ha!
As I turn my back on Veron for the last time, I know I have nothing but a very long, very happy life to look forward to with my Rysdan. No more worrying about the boyfriend I left behind, the vicious and mercenary faeries trying to put me up for sale, or the bounties hanging over my head. I have my freedom, my art, and my soul mate. And, sure, I’ll probably always miss my parents, my apartment, and, well, electricity, but I don’t think I could have asked for anything better than the future that’s ahead of me.
Plus, with Rys purposely taking the portal first, letting me show the Seelie noble that I have nothing to fear from him any longer, I have the perfect view of his tight ass.
And if that isn’t a win-win, I don’t know what is.
Good job, Hel.
For once, my luck has finally turned around. And I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Rys and me next.
A Note From Jessica
Thanks for reading!
I hope you enjoyed the final book in Elle & Rys’s trilogy. From the moment I introduced him as the “golden monster” in Asylum, I knew I wanted to give Rys a chance to be the hero of his own story and, well, I did!
Just because these two are done, though, that doesn’t mean that I’m done with the By the Fae universe that began with Nine and Riley. Up next, I plan on writing a duet that shows how Callie and Ash—Riley’s parents—met. While they’re very happy and in love during Riley’s trilogy, I thought about exploring their full story and it looks like I’m going to do that in the first part of 2021.
Following the events of this book, I’ve left the universe open for a few other couples. I definitely want to follow up with Morgan and Jim, plus Branwen and her hero. And, eventually, I want to get to Saxon because there’s a longer story to be told about what happened to him when he went to get Jim and bring him to Faerie, as well as the favor he owed to Rys to begin with ;)
Until then, keep reading for a sneak peek at the next By the Fae series, Wanted by the Fae, featuring Callie and Ash.
xoxo,
Jessica
Coming Soon
Glamour Eyes (Wanted by the Fae #1)
Before Riley met Nine, Callie met Ash.
Callie Brooks has a gift, though that’s not exactly what she would call it. She sees things—has been able to since she was a little girl—and it’s more of a nuisance than anything else. So long as she pretends that she can’t, she’s safe. The strange creatures won’t bother her if she keeps herself from staring.
After more than twenty years, she’s gotten pretty good at it, too. Nothing surprises her any more.
Until she sees him.
Aislinn is a Light Fae. One of the Seelie, and a member of the Fae Queen’s guard. After a foolish mistake inadvertently offends Melisandre, the queen punishes Ash by moving is guard post to the Iron. He’s responsible for watching over the veil, making sure the humans stay in their realm.
It’s an insult, but he excepts the post because it’s better to be bored than to be another statue in Melisandre’s garden—or worse. What’s a decade or two of human watching so long as he gets to keep his head?
Cloaked in glamour, no one is supposed to know he’s crossed over. Which is why he’s so… so interested by the curious human who seems to watch him back.
The fae trick humans. They use them. They touch them, and then discard them. Ash always thought he was like the rest of his kind.
Now? He’s a fae who wants a human, and will stop at nothing to figure out what it is about Callie that makes him different than the others.
Hopefully before the Fae Queen realizes that his attention has wavered, otherwise it won’t be Ash who gets punished this time.
It’ll be Callie.
**Glamour Eyes is part one of a duet featuring the very human Callie and the Light Fae male who will give up everything to have her…
Coming soon!
Glamour Eyes
A sneak peek at Callie and Ash’s story
“You live in an iron cage.”
“Oh. Um. Well, I guess I do.” She darted around the room, clearing up garbage, putting away the laundry she meant to fold earlier. “It’s kind all I can afford. City prices, you know? And I even have to share it with my roomie.”
“Someone else lives here?”
Callie nodded. “Mitch. He should be home soon if you want to meet him. Not that I’m
asking you to. I mean, we just met. But… just so you know. He usually gets home by eight.”
“I’ll be gone by then.”
“Sure. Yeah. Of course.”
“Tell me about this Mitch.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Is he your ffrindau?” Ash asked, emphasizing the last word.
“My friend?” she clarified. “Yeah. We grew up in the same neighborhood together. When neither of us could afford to move out on our own, we decided to split this place. It’s alright. Small,” she admitted, thinking about the way he called her space a cage, “but it’s better than nothing. And we get along pretty well.”
Ash took a step into her, cocking his head slightly as he studied her closely. His long, tawny hair shifted, settling over his lean shoulder. He frowned for a heartbeat before his expression settled into that haughty glare she was beginning to think of as his default.
“Is he your mate?”
“Mate?” she echoed. “Yeah. I told you. He’s my friend.”
“Not friend,” corrected Ash. “Mate. The one you allow to touch you. The one you take into your bed. A lover?”
Callie nearly choked. “God, no. Why would you ask that?”
He didn’t answer her.
“He’s just my roommate. He has his room. I have mine. We share the kitchen and the living room. That’s all.”
“Tell him not to return.”
“What? I’m confused.”
“The other male. If I’ll be visiting to this place, I want him gone. The iron is bad enough. The hum of the human world… I can barely tolerate it. But another male? I won’t stand for it.”
Callie blinked. “I’m sorry, but… you’re fae, right?”
“Yes. I am one of the Blessed Ones. A Light Fae who serves the Seelie Court.”
“Like I said. Fae. Okay. Are all fae nuts? You’re the first I ever talked to—the first who actually treated me like a person instead of a curiosity—so I’m not sure. But… and I’m not trying to offend you or anything… but that’s nuts. I can’t kick Mitch out for a faerie creature I just met.”
Though Ash’s golden eyes seemed to blaze with some fierce emotion when she called him a “faerie creature”, he didn’t erupt like she almost expected him to. Instead, he quirked his lips in a mockery of a charming smile. “You can, Callie,” he said cajolingly. “You will.”
“Um. No.”
Something happened. She couldn’t understand it—didn’t know how to explain it—but she felt it. A pulse of electricity, a sudden surge, and instead of just one light humming over her head, every single bulb in the room simply exploded.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
Callie shrieked, covering her head at the first pop-ping sound. Her first thought was gunshots and she desperately tried to shield herself as she threw herself to the ground. Glass shattered, hitting the hardwood floor beneath her.
After a moment, she dared a peek up. Ash was standing in front of her, twinkling dust glittering in his long hair. He gave it a royal shake, knocking some of the shards to the floor.
What the—
She looked higher. And that’s when she noticed that the four light bulbs screwed into the ceiling fan over Ash’s head had blown out.
Scrambling to her knees, she snapped, “What the hell just happened?”
“Don’t worry about that. Now come here.”
She was right. She was so, so right. The fae was nuts and she invited him into her home.
When she stayed where she was, Ash held out his hand. “Callie. Come.”
Seriously? Slowly, Callie stood, knowing better than to touch him but barely resisting the urge to shove him back out of her apartment. “Do you think I’m a dog? Because I’m not just going to come when I’m called.”
There was that frown again. If she didn’t know better—if she thought a fae male could be vulnerable enough to let her see any kind of weakness—she would’ve thought he looked confused.
Or maybe he forgot that he was dealing with—what did he call it? Someone with the sight.
She could see him as his eyebrows drew in; if he wasn’t such an ethereal beauty, she was sure his forehead would’ve wrinkled, too. His lush lips parted before his eyes widened in sudden understanding.
“Callie is not your true name.”
“You’re talking about my real name? No. It’s not. It’s a nickname.”
“Did you mean to deceive me on purpose?”
“By telling you that I’m Callie?” She shook her head. “It’s my name. You didn’t need to know what’s on my birth certificate.”
“Tell me.”
“No.”
Ash was quick. With a glide so graceful it belonged on a stage, he crossed the space between them, his hands hovering over her upper arms. She could sense him, but he didn’t quite make contact with her skin, and she wasn’t so sure why that was an overwhelming relief.
“You will tell me,” he cooed.
Pre-Order Now
Angel Wings (Curse of the Othersiders #1)
Halo or horns?
Ants—the humans who roam the planet, afraid of Paranormals—look at Camiel and think that he’s an angel… until his black wings unfurl and it’s all, “Oh, no! Demon!”
Yeah. Not quite.
Cam is an Othersider. Which, okay, just means that he’ll eventually be one of the two… just not yet. Formally known as the Fallen, Othersiders walk—and, yes, sometimes fly—among the humans, knowing that their every step, their every move, their every thought adds to their tally. If he’s good, he’ll finally earn his halo.
If he’s bad…
He’s working damn hard to resist his urges to be bad.
It’s a good thing he has his auditor at his side. Dina might look like a neighborhood stray, but it’s the cat’s job to help Cam get the points he needs to go from Fallen to Angel. And it’s working… until Cam meets Avery.
Avery is human, she’s in trouble, and Cam decides that she needs her very own guardian angel. If he can help her save her sister from the feral shifter that ran off with her, then maybe he’ll finally prove that he’s a good guy.
If only it was that easy. Because Othersiders? There’s a reason why they’re stuck on Earth, working hard to prove where they belong: they’re cursed.
So when it comes to falling in love? There’s one rule.
Don’t.
Now Cam is losing his feathers at an alarming rate. In the middle of his mission, Dina disappears. Avery is a temptation he can’t ignore, and when he doesn’t, that’s when all hell breaks loose.
Literally.
**Angel Wings is the first in a new series by the author of the Claws Clause. Think The Good Place but set on Earth, where every action means our hero is one step closer to earning his halo or his horns. And when he meets his fated mate, he realizes that he’d take either if it meant that he could have her by his side for all eternity.
Coming January 12, 2021
Pre-order now!
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About the Author
Jessica lives in New Jersey with her family, including enough pets to cement her status as the neighborhood’s future Cat Lady. After writing for fun for more than a decade, she has finally decided to take some of the stories out of her head and put them out there for others who might also enjoy them! She loves Broadway and the Mets, as well as reading in her free time.
JessicaLynchWrites.com
cursetheflame@gmail.com
Also by Jessica Lynch
Welcome to Hamlet
Don’t Trust Me
You Were Made For Me*
Ophelia
Let Nothing You Dismay
I’ll Never Stop
Wherever You Go
Here Comes the Bride
Gloria
Tesoro
Holly
That Girl Will Never Be Mine
Welcome to Hamlet: I-III**
No Outsiders Allowed: IV-VI**
Mirrorside
Tame the Spark*
Stalk the Moon
Hunt the Stars
The Witch in the Woods
Hide from the Heart
Chase the Beauty
The Other Duet**
The Claws Clause
Mates*
Hungry Like a Wolf
Of Mistletoe and Mating
No Way
Season of the Witch
Rogue
Sunglasses at Night
Ghost of Jealousy
Broken Wings
The Curse of the Othersiders
Angel Wings
White Wings
Black Wings
Touched by the Fae
Favor*
Asylum
Shadow
Touch
Zella
The Shadow Prophecy**
Imprisoned by the Fae
Tricked*
Trapped
Escaped
Freed
Wanted by the Fae
Glamour Eyes
* prequel story
** boxed set collection