by Anya Bast
Elizabeth stopped pacing and looked off into the distance, in the direction of her mother’s house. “She’ll die, Niall. If the walls fall, she’ll suffocate without the sprae to give her breath.”
“Then I guess you’re in the same position as our queen. You have to sacrifice one to save many. It’s an awful decision to have to make, but—”
She lunged at him, grabbing his jacket and coming nose to nose with him. The scent of her flowery soap wafted around him. He tried not to inhale and be seduced. “You’re still under the influence of my mom’s cookies, so tell me, do you have magick that could help me?”
Fuck. “Yes, I do.”
“What is it?”
He clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes, fighting the magick that was compelling him to tell the truth.
“Tell me what magick you possess that can help me save the people I care about,” she asked again.
He sighed, unable to combat it any longer. “I can conceal them from anyone who looks, at least for a time.”
“You can…hide them?”
“Yes.”
She considered him for a moment. Her breath warmed his mouth and he fought a crazy impulse to lean forward and press his lips to hers. Fuck. He was in trouble. “You want to help me for some reason, don’t you?” she asked him in a mystified tone.
“No. I don’t want to help you hide the pieces. What you’re doing is wrong, but I do want to keep you and yours alive.”
She stared at him for a moment longer, and then turned away. When she spoke next, she sounded defeated, like she knew what his answer would be. “Do you have magick that could help my mom if the walls break?”
“I wish I did, but no. If I had magick like that, I would have already offered it to you.”
Her shoulders slumped. “Do you know anyone who does?”
He went silent, considering. The Piefferburg witch was the only one he could think of. “Maybe.”
She turned back toward him. “Really?”
He held up a hand. “I wouldn’t get your hopes up. This fae is expensive and capricious as hell. Sometimes she’ll hurt while seeming to help you. Sometimes she’ll help you while seeming to hurt. She loves to sow chaos, and she doesn’t give a shit about the walls coming down. Her time here in Piefferburg is like a blink of an eye to her, she’s so old. Everything’s a game to the Piefferburg witch.”
Elizabeth’s eyes glowed with hope in the small amount of moonlight. “Still, if there’s even a chance.”
“She could make it worse.”
“How could it get worse?”
Niall rubbed a hand over his face as he stared off into the tree line. Sprae danced and cavorted in the leaves and bushes. “Look, here’s the deal. I’ll do the concealment spell on your mom and your people, but only for the time it takes me to go talk to the Piefferburg witch. If she’s got some miracle solution for your mom, you’ll hand over the pieces, right?”
She squealed and launched herself into his arms. “Happily.”
He held her close, enjoying the way her body molded to his. Immediately he recalled the night on the floor in front of the fire, when he’d made her come over and over.… Fuck, his dick was getting hard.
He held her at arm’s distance, trying to control his impulse to lay her flat on this rock and make her come for real. “If the witch doesn’t have anything to help you, all bets are off. Got it?”
“I get it.”
“I know who you’re protecting now. I can use that against you. I would never hurt your mom physically, but there’s other ways I can make you do what I want.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Just when I started to think you were a good guy.”
“You’re making me work against my queen right now. It’s making me cranky.”
She raised an eyebrow and grinned. “I’m not making you do anything. You offered to do this. Why?”
“You’re really fucking taking advantage of those cookies, aren’t you?”
She shrugged. “All the nature fae around here know not to eat my mom’s food. Sometimes it makes you tell the truth. Sometimes it makes you do a dance. Sometimes, if you’ve been really naughty, it will kill you.”
“And your mom seemed so sweet.”
“She is sweet. She’s just not a sitting duck.”
“Your mom is Unseelie.”
“Technically. Answer the question.”
“I’m helping you because I want to get the pieces back with as little bloodshed as possible. Also, I like you.”
“You do?”
“Against my better judgment, yes.” Damn, and he’d even offered that bit of truth voluntarily.
She stepped toward him. “What about during that time you had me tricked, that night…in front of the fire…” Her voice had gone a little husky and it made his cock go hard. “Did you want to do that? Was it personal…or was it just part of the show?”
His mouth went dry, remembering the soft silk of her skin, the little sounds of pleasure she’d made. “That was intensely personal, Elizabeth, and I’m dying to make it real. Officially, you’ve still never come. At least, not—”
She held up a hand. “Yes, got it. Right.” He couldn’t tell for certain in the low light, but it looked like she was blushing.
His voice came out low, husky with lust. “I still want to watch you do it yourself, as well as do it for you.”
“Do you now?” She tilted her head to the side and gave him a flirty little smile.
“Oh, yeah, in the worst way. I like the sounds you make. I love the way you look when you’re experiencing that kind of pleasure, the flush of your skin…” Reaching out, he caught her wrist and pulled her up against his body. Cupping her cheek, he murmured, “I like you a lot, Elizabeth. I hate that we’re on opposite sides of this.”
“Yeah,” she murmured, staring at his mouth. “I do, too. Can we take a time-out, maybe?”
That was the best idea he’d ever heard.
He moved his head at the same time she moved hers, and their lips met for the first time in real life. She tasted wild and sweet, like the cool, running water of a Boundary Lands river. He made a hungry sound in the back of his throat and plunged his hands into her thick fall of hair, angling her head to the side to better part her lips and ease his tongue within her mouth.
Her hands closed around his shoulders and slid slowly down his back. He enjoyed the feel of her warm body against his and wanted all this fabric between them to disappear. He wanted her bare breasts against his chest, wanted her pretty thighs parted, wanted to feel all that smooth skin brushing against his body.
He just wanted her, no matter the cost.
His tongue rubbed up against hers, tasting every little part of her that she would allow. His hands found the hem of her sweater and pushed up, searching out the small of her back. He rubbed his fingers over her smooth skin, back and forth, wanting to delve below the waistband of her pants for more tender parts of her anatomy.
When he was in a person’s head, creating a fantasy world for them, it was pretty authentic. But this? There was nothing better than this—having her in his arms for real.
She broke the kiss, breathing heavily. “We shouldn’t do this. This is not right.”
“Feels pretty right to me. I thought we were taking a break.”
“I want to, but we both know better.” She stared at him for a moment in the half light, breathing heavily, lips parted and a little reddened from his kisses. “There are no breaks for us. No time-outs. We’re enemies, remember?”
He shook his head, gaze on her mouth. “Nope, can’t really remember that part.” He pulled her close and nipped her lower lip.
She melted against him, her fingers going to the button of his jeans while she pressed her lips more firmly against his. “You taste really good,” she whispered against his mouth. “Better than I remember.”
“You, too.” He nipped at her lip. “I want more.”
He couldn’t wait to get her clothes off and have her
pressed up against this boulder behind them. His only regret was that she deserved better for her first time. She deserved a bed, at least, but this might be their only shot before this whole mess engulfed them in chaos once more.
His hand slid down the front of her pants, skating along the silken smooth skin of her abdomen to between her thighs. He cupped her sex, finding her clit, such a delectable little berry. He wanted it between his lips, pressed under his tongue. It would taste so sweet.
She moaned into his mouth, shuddering against him with pleasure. He pressed and rotated his finger on her clit, remembering the way she looked back at the cabin when she’d come. He wanted to make her do that again, right now.
Elizabeth shuddered again, her body suddenly going tense. Then, abruptly, she pushed away from him. “This is wrong. You keep making me forget that.”
He pulled her back. “Not wrong. Nothing that feels this right can be wrong.”
She shook her head. “It is.”
He curled a tendril of her hair around his index finger. “Just let go, Elizabeth.”
She looked up at him with clear eyes, the lust-filled haze fast disappearing, and he knew he was losing her. “Make sure you do what you promised.”
“Elizabeth.” His voice came out in a bark of warning because he knew what she was about to do.
Then he was standing there alone, her clothes in a pile at his feet, and one long red strand of hair still wrapped around his finger.
ELEVEN
NIALL was a man of his word, even if he had to bend the rules a bit. He’d promised to recover the lost pieces of the bosca fadbh for the Shadow Queen, and he intended to honor that commitment even if the Shadow Queen had told him to relent.
He’d also promised to cast a concealment spell over Elizabeth’s loved ones and go to the Piefferburg witch on her behalf—essentially, he’d promised to protect her.
At first glance, Niall knew these two promises seemed to conflict, but if honoring both got him to his goal—the missing pieces of the bosca fadbh—he didn’t see where the harm lay.
Another man probably would have felt a duty to inform the Shadow Queen that Ragnar had been killed, along with all the goblins she’d sent, but he figured that could wait awhile. It bought him time.
He parked his SUV on an empty side street in Goblin Town, which was not very far from the Black Tower. It was his goal to stay clear of the Unseelie Court, if he could. The Piefferburg witch’s shop resided in an alley that curled around the base of the Black Tower, so he needed to be stealthy.
Stepping out onto the street in front of a clothing store, he nodded at the gaping goblins that passed him by. Humanoid fae weren’t common in Goblin Town, though they were welcome. When they did come, they were almost always Unseelie.
The main street was cluttered with storefronts and bits of refuse blowing about in the gutters. Goblins tended to procreate much better than any of the other fae races. The goddess Danu seemed to grant children to them and no one else for some reason. As a result, the goblins were outgrowing the area that had been allotted to them at a great rate. They had the choice to move out of the city to the rural parts of Piefferburg, but most of them refused.
In the distance, above the tall, narrow buildings of the commercial area, he glimpsed the shiny golden dome of the Temple of Orna. To his right he could see the tall onyx tower of the Unseelie Court. Taking a right, he headed toward the massive gleaming black building.
The alley where the Piefferburg witch could be found was flanked on one side by the smooth quartz of the Black Tower. The other side was a brick wall, the back of the storefronts on the next street over. Halfway down the alley he could see a shaft of light illuminating the dark of early morning. Apparently the witch already knew he was coming. Typical.
Priss had taken the guise of maiden and stood framed in the doorway of her shop. “Well, hello, kindred fae.” She gave him a slow head-to-toe sweep. “What brings you to my door so late at night? Or early in the morning, I should say.” She winked and turned into her shop, crooking a finger for him to follow.
She always called him and his brother kindred. Of all the fae in Piefferburg, the three of them had magick that was closest alike. No one knew much about the Piefferburg witch other than she was very old and kind of a bitch. His magick and that of his brother was strong and versatile and so was Priss’s. But Priss’s magick came from mixing potions and combining herbs—that’s how she came by the moniker of witch, even though she was technically fae, or so it was assumed. His and Ronan’s magick was inborn, internal, and had nothing to do with combining ingredients outside of themselves.
“So you knew I was coming. Do you know why I’m here?” He stood just inside the doorway.
Each side of the room was lined with tables and shelves filled with jars, vials, and different shaped containers. It smelled of some acrid herb he couldn’t place. Her shop was in a pocket of reality that also existed in the Boundary Lands and had exit and entrance points in various locations of Piefferburg City.
She turned, twirling a tendril of her reddish blond hair around her finger. It reminded him of his recent encounter with Elizabeth. “I thought you came for me,” she replied, all innocence.
He gave her a slow perusal. “As lovely as you look…right now, no. I have other business.”
It was better to flatter than offend this woman. In actuality, he would never find himself interested in the Piefferburg witch, for reasons other than the fact she spent most of her time guised as a stooped, cackling old woman. No one really knew what her natural form was—maiden, mother, or crone—and he didn’t care. She was repulsive in any shape she took.
These days he was far more attracted to an impulsive, trouble-making redheaded water fae who had a penchant for protecting others and tended to land in trouble a lot.
Priss pouted. “Then why have you come?”
“I’m here on behalf of a friend. Her mother is dependent on the sprae to survive. She’s worried that if the walls break, the sprae will disperse and her mother will die. Do you know any magick that could help?”
The Piefferburg witch turned, and as she did so, her form shifted to crone. Mumbling to herself, she moved around the room, checking the labels on canisters and jars. “Perhaps something to capture the sprae.”
“I thought you couldn’t capture them.”
She shrugged. “Normally you can’t.” She gave him a sly look over her shoulder. “But there are ways to capture all sorts of creatures that are supposed to be uncatchable if you’re clever enough, aren’t there?”
So the minx did know about Elizabeth.
Niall shifted and grinned at her, narrowing his eyes. “Right, sure there are.”
She moved glass containers around on a shelf, making them clink. “I’ll need time.” She paused, then cackled. “And money. Lots of that. But I know you’re good for it, aren’t you, Niall?”
He gritted his teeth for a moment before replying. “Of course.”
He’d pay whatever needed to be paid in order to see Elizabeth protected. The thought came so fast, hard, and unexpected that it rocked him back a step. Was that really why he was doing this? To protect Elizabeth?
Damn, he really was in trouble.
She waved a hand in his general direction. “Then if that’s all you need, you can go. I’ll need time to explore whether this is possible or not. Check back later.”
“Later, when?”
Dismissive hand wave again. “Later, later. Go now.”
Niall had no idea if he was getting played or not. Sometimes the witch acted like she could help and really couldn’t. Sometimes she tricked everyone involved, as she had with Kieran Aindréas Cairbre Aimhrea.
Kieran had had a curse laid on him that meant death to him and any woman he fell in love with. Then Kieran had gone and fallen in love with Charlotte Bennett. The witch had directed Kieran to kill himself before the curse took him in order to save Charlotte, without telling him that by sacrificing himself he
was breaking the curse. Her intervention had saved both Kieran’s and Charlotte’s lives. That didn’t automatically make Niall believe she was doing him a good turn now, though.
Tricky witch was Priss.
ELIZABETH sat on a cliff at the edge of the ocean, looking down at the waves crashing against the rocks. The place was desolate. She hadn’t seen even one fae since she’d arrived.
Not far from where she sat, she’d found an abandoned cottage and was currently squatting there. She didn’t have much, since she’d been forced to leave everything she’d packed back at her house, but there was a bed, now covered in freshly purchased bedding, a fireplace, and a place to cook food. The roof leaked, but, hey, it wasn’t like she was going to live there forever.
She hoped.
Hugging herself, she stared out past the hazy warding that made up the far eastern part of the Piefferburg warding. Humans couldn’t see it. Fae couldn’t cross it. It made her sick that she was fighting to keep it up, but the thought of her mother suffocating to death made her sicker.
“Elizabeth Cely Saintjohn?”
She jumped up and whirled around, ready to dissolve into her water self. Crap, she hadn’t even heard a footstep. A tall black-haired man in the rose and gold garb of the Imperial Guard stood ten feet away from her. “How the hell did you find me, and what do you want?”
“You’ve chosen to set up a residence less than a mile from where Her Majesty, Queen of the Seelie, the Summer Royal, Caoilainn Elspeth Muirgheal, is currently residing.”
Oh, fantastic. She hugged herself. It figured she’d picked the one place that was near the queen’s hideaway. Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Does she want to borrow a cup of sugar or something?”
He didn’t crack a smile. “She wishes to meet with you.”
“Right now?” If she ever saw the Seelie queen again, it would be too soon. “I’m sort of busy today.”
“Right now.” The guard turned and started down the path that led away from the cliff.
Of course, now. And the Summer Queen was used to getting her way.
Relenting, Elizabeth picked her way past a clump of brambles and followed the guard. He led her down a tangled mess of pathways, looking odd as he tromped through the woods in his shiny rose and gold hauberk and with a sword sheathed at his side.