Cruel Enchantment

by Bast, Anya

  She gave a small, unamused-sounding laugh. “Yeah, until the warding around Piefferburg is broken. Then I’ll have to go into the Fae Protection Program.” She frowned. “Except there isn’t one.”

  “If that happens and the fae know you played an important role, you’ll get a pass for all the things you did back in Ireland for the Summer Queen.”

  “Must suck that you’ve fallen into the job of helping your worst enemy keep her soul attached to her body, huh?”

  He took a careful sip of soup and set his spoon down. “You are no longer my enemy. I believe that you killed Aileen by accident and I forgive you.”

  She stared at him with her spoonful of soup raised halfway to her lips. Her face had gone white and her eyes were wide.

  “Eat your soup.” He sat back in his chair with a tired groan.

  “Sorry.” She blinked. “I think that drink is making me hear things.”

  “You heard right.”

  “I thought you’d never believe I killed Aileen by accident because you’d never accept that she was having an affair with O’Shaughnessy. I couldn’t even believe that, Aeric.”

  “There are things no one knew about Aileen.” He shifted in his seat and swallowed hard. “Things that might explain a pairing like that, between her and O’Shaughnessy. There might have been a good reason they were together.”

  Emmaline kept staring.

  “Stop that.”

  “I’m sorry.” She ate the mouthful of soup and laid her spoon aside. “I’m just surprised.”

  “Denial is a powerful thing.” He pushed a hand through his hair. “Fuck, I don’t want to talk about this.”

  “And so we won’t.” She looked at the empty, cold fireplace and shivered.

  Taking the hint, he went over to the basket of twigs beside it. In a couple of minutes a growing blaze was eating its way through the kindling he’d set up. He threw a log on and turned back to find Emmaline making her way slowly back to the bed. “The birch lady said the drink would make you drowsy.”

  “I think I’m drowsy from running from Kolbjorn. Well, and from bleeding. I did a lot of that.” She reached the bed, sat down, and glanced around the room. “Sleep in the bed with me tonight, Aeric. I promise I won’t jump you.” She yawned. “I’m too tired.”

  He glanced at the two chairs in the small sitting area in front of the fire and at the wood floor. There was no comfortable place to sleep besides the bed. Yes, he could sleep in the bed with her; it was big enough. The problem was that he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t jump her.

  He pulled out the key-in-progress, the paper with the schematics, and his carving knife from his pocket and sat down in one of the chairs near the fire. “I’ll think about it.”

  That seemed to satisfy her. As he started to work, she lay down, pulled the covers over her, and was fast asleep in only a few minutes.

  He stayed up to work on the key into the early morning hours. The gentle glow licked over the carpet in front of the hearth and bathed Emmaline’s sleeping form. Finally, when he couldn’t see the key well enough anymore to risk not messing up the close, careful carving, he stood and stretched. Leaving the key and knife on the table near the chair, he stepped over the small pile of metal shavings and decided not to sleep on the floor.

  The floor didn’t seem all that appealing when Emmaline was in the bed.

  He glanced at the door of the cottage. There was just one more thing he needed to do before he slept.

  SHE woke up tangled in him. In his scent. In the heat of his body. In the strength of his arms. For a moment, longing coursed through her so sweet and so strong that she almost melted against him. Then she remembered the vow she’d made and disentangled herself from him.

  Danu, she’d even managed to slide her uninjured leg between his thighs.

  She scooted as far from him as she could and turned over, coming face-to-face with a wooden crutch. Lifting her head from the pillow a little, she reached out and touched it. Apparently he’d hewn it sometime in the night from a piece of wood. Either that or the crutch faeries had visited her, which in Piefferburg was certainly possible, but unlikely.

  She tried to get out of bed, but a strong arm reached out, grabbed her, and pulled her back against him. She yelped and struggled, but once she hit his chest she melted in spite of herself. He was asleep and had no idea what he’d done.

  It couldn’t hurt just to enjoy it for a few moments, could it? Anyway, he was holding her so tight, it wasn’t like she had a choice.

  Groaning low in his sleep, he nuzzled the nape of her neck. Her body flared to exquisite, almost painful, arousal. Oh, hell, she couldn’t do this. If it was any other man, she could resist, but not Aeric. This man was her kryptonite.

  She tried to move his massive arm off her, with no results at all. It was like trying to move a boulder. “Aeric?” she whispered. Then a little louder, “Hey, Aeric?”

  His deep and even breathing arrested and his body tensed. Awake. But he still didn’t release her.

  “Uh, Aeric? You grabbed me and pulled me against you like this. I didn’t—”

  He moved so he was hovering over her, looking down into her face. Now he had her almost pinned beneath him . . . on the bed.

  Oh, no.

  She shimmied out from under him as fast as she could and slid off the bed, using the crutch for support. “I need to, uh—” She jerked her head toward the bathroom and then headed there at a fast limp.

  Once inside she leaned the crutch against the wall and rested her palms on the bathroom counter, taking a moment to catch her breath.

  Strong, she chastised herself. She needed to stay strong.

  Aeric was the one man who possessed the ability to completely demolish her heart. Under other circumstances she would allow herself to give in to . . . well, whatever it was that was happening between them—mutual lust, she guessed. But she had deeper feelings for Aeric and she couldn’t let her body lead her into a relationship with him—no matter how temporary—because she knew her heart would get involved, too. Then her heart would break and it would take a hundred years for her to put all the shattered pieces back together again.

  It was just better not to walk down that path in the first place.

  Turning on the tap—how was it there was working plumbing way out here?—she splashed her face with cold water. Raising her head, she looked at her reflection in the mirror.

  “Oh, my goddess,” she muttered. “I look like hell.”

  Taking her time because of her wounded leg, she took a bath. After she’d brushed her hair and teeth, she exited. By then the scent of coffee filled the cottage, a fire roared in the hearth, chasing away the morning chill, and Aeric sat in a chair whittling away at the key. The scene was sort of cozy and domestic. It made her heart hurt a little, watching him sit there and work, knowing she could look but not touch.

  He would never be hers.

  Her heart squeezed. She’d known it back then and she knew it now. Delusion wasn’t something she engaged in much, but the truth really sucked sometimes.

  “Thanks for the crutch,” she said.

  He looked up from his work. “No problem. You won’t need it long. The healing the birch lady did on you, along with your own natural ability, will speed things up.”

  “My leg feels better already.” Ah, this was nice; they were both pretending that superawkward moment in the bed had never happened. Just like they’d pretended that whole thing in the forge with the nakedness and the multiple orgasms had never happened. Good.

  “I should have the key finished within a couple days.” He turned back to his work. “Then you can get the hell out of this place and not have to worry about Unseelie with scores to settle.”

  The news should have cheered her, but it didn’t. “Great.” She moved to get herself some coffee.

  “I want to know everything about you.” Kiya leaned toward David and smiled, her dark hair shadowing half her face. They sat under a tree at a local park, watchin
g the kids play on a swing set. “I want to know where you were born and how you grew up. I want to know your favorite color, your favorite movies, and what kind of music you listen to. Everything.”

  He laughed. “I want to know all that about you, too.”

  “Okay, then let’s make it a game. I’ll ask you a question, then you ask me a question. We can switch off and learn more about each other.”

  “Sounds like fun.” He caught her nape and pulled her toward him for a kiss. Their lips meshed and he drank in the delicious soft flavor of her before she backed away, smiling.

  David was in love.

  God, how did a man fall in love this fast?

  Wait, that was a dumb thing to wonder. He’d fallen in love this fast with Emmaline. In just a little over twenty-four hours of being in her company he’d been head over heels and ready to propose marriage, which he’d done only a scant three months later.

  A couple of his buddies in the HFF had said it was because he was fae-struck. They meant he was one of the humans who were instantly enamored of anything fae just because it was fae. Admittedly, there were two types of person drawn to the HFF. Those who were staunchly behind fae rights and the fae-struck.

  He was firmly in the first camp.

  He’d fallen in love with Emmaline for many different reasons, none of them her looks, since he’d never known what she truly looked like. He’d loved her intelligence and her self-deprecating sense of humor. He’d found her interesting, charming, and easy to talk to. He’d also been drawn to her vulnerability, how even though she’d had so many years to figure it out, she still didn’t know who she was. That bothered Emmaline and made her a touch insecure. He’d even loved her insecurity.

  David knew that the identity problem had been caused by the fact that she’d had to leave her people when she was still young. She’d spent the vast majority of her life as a freak among humans.

  It was all the Blacksmith’s fault. Every bit of it.

  The Blacksmith was the reason she’d run and had been forced to give up all ties to her heritage. Unfortunately, David had always believed that it was the Blacksmith who had possessed a part of her heart all these years, too. He was the reason Emmaline had never been able to give herself to him completely while they were married.

  And now Emmaline was with that dick. Guised or not, it was risky. David worried about her more every day that passed without word.

  Though Kiya was doing her best to keep him distracted. That was good, since there was nothing David could do for Emmaline.

  “David?”

  He jerked in surprise and looked at Kiya.

  She frowned, her lovely, perfect brow creasing. “You were a million miles away. What are you thinking about?”

  The sound of the children playing on the swing set seemed to grow louder for a moment as he sought an answer that wouldn’t hurt her feelings. He guessed I was thinking of my ex-wife wasn’t something most women wanted to hear when on a date. He didn’t want Kiya to think he was still hung up on Emmaline romantically, because he wasn’t. Not really.

  Maybe just a little.

  “I’m worried about a friend, that’s all.” He flashed a smile. “Someone back in the States.”

  “Oh. Anything I can do to help?”

  He shook his head. “No. This friend is in a tight spot, I think, but she’s all alone on this one.”

  She stared at the children for a few moments. “If you want to talk about it, I’m here.”

  No. He didn’t want to talk about Emmaline. He didn’t want her ruling his head anymore and especially not his heart. He didn’t want to be worried about her and he didn’t want her coming between him and a beautiful, caring woman he could easily bring home to his mother . . . if his mother didn’t live all the way in Kansas.

  David turned to Kiya and eased the plastic cup filled with tea that she was drinking out of her hands and set it on the grass. She looked a little surprised as he leaned into her and cupped her cheek, gently laying his lips on hers.

  She sighed against his mouth and kissed him back.

  Emmaline had broken his heart and ruined him for other women for a long time. He couldn’t allow her that kind of power over him anymore. It was time he embraced the possibilities of his future.

  Kiya was such a possibility.

  She was vibrant, intelligent, and beautiful. He could spend hours just talking to her. Her hand fit really well in his, and she had a huge heart that he wanted to spend decades exploring the depths of.

  If this went further than just a brief affair, they would make it work somehow. If it was meant to be, it would be. But no longer would he allow the ghost of Emmaline’s love to dictate his future, just as Emmaline should never have allowed the ghost of her love for Aeric Killian Riordan O’Malley to rule her marriage to another man.

  He would not make the same mistakes she had. He would not remain emotionally committed to a woman he could never be with . . . one who didn’t want to be with him.

  Kiya set her forehead to his and smiled so beautifully his breath caught. “I’ll go first. What was your childhood like?”

  EMMALINE stood watching Aeric whittle at the key and sighed. The tails of his black linen shirt were untucked from his jeans and his feet were bare. Damn, he was beautiful. She was so stupid to carry such strong emotional ties to a man she could never have. A man who didn’t want her in any way but a sexual one.

  Hells, even if Aeric wanted her in more than a sexual way, it wasn’t like she was staying here. She shuddered. No way was she getting trapped in Piefferburg if she could help it. Just the thought made her feel claustrophobic.

  He set the key and the knife aside. Pushing both his hands through his hair, he groaned.

  “Are you all right?”

  He glanced at her. “It takes all my concentration to carve this thing. The ones who designed the key and the box never meant for it to be easy. My magick is tapped for now, so I’ll have to continue tomorrow. This may take longer than I thought.”

  Doom clouded her stomach black for a moment. She worried about David over in Israel, but she knew Aeric could only work as fast as he was able.

  “It was us, the fae,” she answered. “That’s who we think hid the parts of the bosca fadbh. Long ago.” She levered herself down into the chair opposite him. Her injury was much better, but not yet totally healed. “After the fae and the Phaendir had their falling-out.”

  Once upon a time the fae and the Phaendir had been friends and allies. Something had happened to cause a rift and eventually make them become enemies. Most thought it had been the rise of Labrai and the Phaendir religion that had caused the wedge.

  In order to deny the Phaendir the power of the Book of Bindings, the fae had hidden the book and the pieces of the bosca fadbh, the key that opened the back of the book, where the strongest spells were kept, all over the planet. That was what was thought, anyway. Most of the records from that time were destroyed and not even fae lived for a millennium.

  There were some fae who could delve deep into the line of maternal and paternal memory, traveling back in time and viewing the memories of an individual’s ancestors. All the information the fae had about this subject came from those with that ability, but it was tricky to find the fae with the right memories to search.

  Aeric leaned back in his chair, looking exhausted. “You look worried.”

  She chewed her lip. “I am.”

  “About David, huh?”

  She nodded.

  “Tell me about him.”

  She looked up at him. “David? Why do you want to know about him?”

  “He’s your ex-husband, right? The only man you ever married? You said that before.”

  “Yes. We were married for just a few years. We weren’t right for each other, but he’s still a close friend of mine. I care very much about him. He’s a good man, intelligent, and very into doing the right thing. He’s dedicated his life to the goal of fae rights.”

  “Even the goblin
s? Even the Unseelie? Even Will the Smith, the boggarts, and the alps? The fae aren’t all the shining Seelie or the harmless troop, after all. A lot of us are monsters.”

  “David would point out that the fae and the humans lived side by side for eons without incident before Piefferburg, so why not now?”

  Aeric bared his teeth for a moment. “Because the fae never had an ax to grind with the humans before Piefferburg. We’re a proud people with a long memory. Humans shouldn’t assume we won’t hurt them if we get out of here.”

  Anger surged through her veins in a hot white flash. “It’s the Phaendir who deserve the ire of the fae, not humanity.”

  “Tell that to the goblins.”

  “We will, if we’re ever able to break the warding.”

  “It’s naïve of you to think they’ll listen. I never pegged you, of all people, for naïve.”

  “Look, do you want out of Piefferburg or not?”

  He gave her a withering look. “I wouldn’t be breaking my magick against this key if I didn’t.”

  “Then what’s your problem?”

  “Woman.” He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth for a moment. “You always mix everything up in my head. From day one you did that. I want out of Piefferburg, but the humans can expect repercussions if we get free.” His expression turned savage. “The Phaendir can expect death.”

  “The fae were here before the humans. They have just as much right to live free as everyone else.”

  “At least we can agree on that.”

  “Once those walls break, it will be open season on Phaendir. The fae will go after them, not the regular joes. I feel confident the goblins and other Unseelie races won’t hurt the humans if they’re reasoned with.”

  He snorted. “Good luck with that.” He stared hard at her. “Why do you talk about the fae in terms of them instead of us? Why do you identify with the humans?”

  She shifted in her seat and looked away from him. “Because I don’t really remember what it is to be fae, Aeric, if you really must know.”

  He nodded. “How does it feel to finally get that mask off?”