by ERIN BEDFORD
“Aren’t you going to have a seat?” His lopsided grin only served to raise my hackles more. “There are plenty all around. Pick whichever you like.”
“No, thank you. I think I’ll stand.” I tried to be discrete as I looked around, searching for an exit.
“Sit down, Katherine. It is rude to stand while the rest are seated.” His eyes narrowed on me, a dark glint in his eyes.
“The rest—” I started, but the moment I questioned him, the other chairs at the table filled with dark figures. Each one a different shape and size. One of them vaguely looked rabbit shaped, and I dared not ask whom it was. Instead, taking the coward’s way out, I took the seat at the opposite end that he had conveniently left empty for me.
“There.” He clapped his hands together when I was where he wanted me. “Now, isn’t that better?”
“What do you want?”
Frowning at me, he dropped his legs from the table and leaned forward on his elbows. “We have much to discuss, you and I.”
“I don’t have anything to say to you.” I leaned forward on the table.
“Oh, we think you will want to know what we have to say.” The reference to himself as a we, warned me that I was pissing him off enough that the Shadows contained in his corporeal form were getting agitated.
“Fine,” I snapped. “But get rid of the freak show. You’re not scaring anyone here.”
I gestured to the shadowy forms that snapped their heads toward me.
“Now you’ve hurt their feelings.” The Shadow man pouted, his lip protruding in a way that would have been adorable on anyone else, but not him. “Don’t you want to see your friends? They so want to see you. They keep screaming it over and over again. It does give me a headache at times.” He rubbed his temples to demonstrate his point.
“Then why don’t you let them go?”
“Let them go? Why ever would I want to do that?” He stopped rubbing his head and leaned his cheek on one fist as his eyes lingered on the shadowy forms of those he had taken. “Besides, they came to me. I didn’t force them to become part of my army. I offered them the same as I offered you.”
“You mean you tricked them,” I countered.
Just because they agreed didn’t mean they knew what they were getting into. Who knew what it was like to be inside the Shadow man? Was it cold? Could they talk? Or were they squished together inside of that body, not able to move or breathe, just suspended there? Unable to die or break free. A shudder ran down my spine.
“No,” he barked out. “We offered them love, acceptance, and power. Now they will get all those things and more. Just as you will when you join us. As our queen.”
He held his hand out to me across the table, and I felt a new weight on my head and body.
Looking down, my dress from dinner with my mother had transformed into a spaghetti-strapped, silk dress the color of fresh blood. The neckline dipped down between my breasts, but somehow pressed my breast up, as if offering them to the viewer to have a taste. I reached my hand up to touch my head, bringing down a golden crown with enough jewels on it that even the richest man would envy.
While I was examining my new duds, the Shadow man found his way around the table and sat on bended knee next to my chair. He clasped my hand in his, bringing it to his chest so I could feel his beating heart. My skin revolted against me, trying to get away from the wretched feeling and leaving little pinpricks in their wake.
“Katherine, light of my life, freedom of my heart, I have loved you since the moment I saw you. Since you came back to our world. I couldn’t imagine my life, or any life without you. Please make me the happiest Fae in the Underground by being the queen to my king. And I will make sure all of your needs and desires come true.” As he spoke, his magic pressed down on me, drawing my gaze into his, and my body responded against my will. My heart beat faster and my mouth became dry. Neediness fell between my thighs, and they pressed together involuntarily.
I fought against the feeling of love he was forcing on my body and mind. I didn’t love him, and I certainly didn’t want him. I wasn’t even sure he was able to feel love himself. All they were was hatred and loneliness. Love was so far from the feeling I would expect them to feel.
My mouth opened up to scream at him to go to hell, but I found myself with my back flat on the table, and the Shadow man looming above me. My eyes widened as a state of paralysis weighed down my limbs. Why wasn’t my magic coming to my defense?
“I see you need convincing.” His breath was hot on my skin. “We can be so very convincing.”
Lying on top of the table with my hands limp at my sides, I couldn’t do anything but watch when he slid his hand down the column of my neck. My insides screamed as his hand trailed from my neck and dipped down into the front of the dress he had put me in. I felt for my magic, commanding it to do something, anything, to get him away from me. But there was nothing. It was like it was never there to begin with, as if I wasn’t there to begin with. That was when I remembered.
Of course, it wasn’t here, because I wasn’t really here. I was dreaming. He couldn’t reach me in the human world, no matter whose magic he piggybacked onto. He didn’t have the power to break through the wards separating the worlds. Not yet, anyway.
While I tried to keep from vomiting at the feel of his lips sucking on my collarbone, I did the only thing I could think of to get myself out of the dream. My hands wrapped around a fork on the table and stabbed it into the softest part of my thigh. My eyes pricked with tears, but the room and the Shadow man began to fade away. The anger on his face lingered in my mind, letting me know things between us weren’t over.
Chapter 13
Dangerous
I JERKED AWAKE, my hand reached out beside me to find a cold, empty space next to me. Glancing down at the spot on the bed where Chess had been, I frowned. There wasn’t a note or any indication of him ever being there. I placed my head in my hands to urge the Marti Gras parade jumping around in there to keep it down. It was worse than a hangover, and I wouldn’t wish a power drain on my worst enemy.
At that thought, my eyes drifted to the mirror still hidden by the dark sheet. Goose bumps covered my arms just from thinking about what I had just been through. What was with people hijacking my dreams? It was bad enough I couldn’t get away from the Fae in real life, now they had to make it their business to invade my quiet time too? I hadn’t even received any of the answers I needed.
And the Shadow man. What was with that proposal? As if a few pretty words and clothing would make me join them. If anyone could use a good dose of power hangover, it was the Shadow man. A big whopping bucket of hangover with a marching band stomping around to scramble his—their—brains.
I shook my head to clear out the weird spiral of crazy that I had launched into and slipped out of bed. I would have to be more careful with my thoughts. Maybe start taking some sleep inducers so I wouldn’t dream at all.
Stretching out my aching limbs, I glanced at the alarm clock by my bed. Six thirty. I had plenty of time before I had to be at work. I kept a wide berth between the mirror and myself as I made my way around the bed. My eyes couldn’t help but trail back to the empty spot on the mattress.
It was typical, really. What did I expect from a cat? They never followed directions, and they did whatever the hell they wanted to do, regardless of what others thought. I had let my expectations for Chess elevate to that of a normal human and, while he was becoming a good friend, I was finding it hard to trust him at times.
I walked into my bathroom and bypassed the mirror, knowing I probably looked like a crack whore who was in dire need of a fix and turned on the shower. I made sure the water made the bathroom nice and steamy before I stripped off last night’s clothes and hopped into the almost scalding water.
The hot liquid soothed away my sore and aching muscles. While I had never experienced a power drain before, I hadn’t imagined it would feel like this. Every inch of me
felt like it had been run over by a Mac truck. My aches had aches, and though I didn’t have any visible injuries, my insides had to be vibrant purple.
Just lifting my arms to wash my hair was a chore, and I thought about forgoing it all together, but every time I feel crappy, I always feel better when I look better. So clean, bouncy hair was a must.
Stepping out of the shower, I toweled my hair off before checking my face in the mirror. Not my normal fabulous complexion, but better than I hoped. I blinked once, and my eyes transformed to the glamoured green. I pursed my lips and had a sudden thought. My drab washed out skin faded into a healthy glow.
“Much better.” I nodded to myself in the mirror and walked with a bit of pep in my step to my room.
I threw on a pair of jeans and one of my few nice tops, a pale lavender peasant top that tied at the base of my collarbone and flowed nicely over my hips. I slipped on my go-to, plain black flats and made my way to the kitchen.
When I entered, I stopped short at the sight of a teapot and cup sitting on the little table with a note leaning against it. Taking a cautious step forward, I glanced around the kitchen for any other changes but found none. Who could have left it? Chess?
Standing before the table, I picked up the note. ‘Drink me’ was all that was written on it in sharp but curvy handwriting that summed up Chess perfectly. Wonderful to look at, but might bite you if you try to pet him.
I sat down at the table and picked up the cooled cup. Bringing it up to my nose, I took a small sniff. A pungent aroma came from the liquid inside.
I jerked back and rubbed my nose to get rid of the smell from my nostrils. I didn’t know much about medicines, especially not much of the herbal variety. Whatever was in the tea could be harmful to me, or it could be exactly what I needed, but I had no way of knowing for sure.
Moving from the table with the tea in hand, I made my way over to the sink. I stared down into the pit of the drain and contemplated pouring the tea out. On the one hand, Chess hadn’t done anything that could be constituted as harmful. Perverted and slightly grabby, but certainly nothing on the lethal scale. Then again, everyone had been telling me not to trust him. Unfortunately, since none of them were willing to tell me why, I couldn’t really count that as a viable reason. There was the chance that the tea might not even be from Chess in the first place, and then that meant I had a whole other set of problems with someone else being in my house.
As I fought back and forth in my mind on whether I should or shouldn’t, my back door cracked opened. I really needed to start locking my house.
I tensed for what may lay behind the door. My shoulders sagged with relief seeing it was only Jewels. Then my relief was replaced with irritation.
“You know, it’s called knocking. You should try it sometime,” I growled, bringing the cup up to my mouth to take a sip of the most disgusting thing I had ever tasted in my life. My face must have portrayed how disgusted I was, because Jewels cocked his head, completely ignoring my complaint.
“What is that?” His nose wrinkled as if he could smell it from there, and for all I knew, he probably could. Even with my newly enhanced senses, my nose still probably wasn’t as strong as a full-blooded Fae. A blessing in this situation.
“I think it’s a hangover remedy.” I looked down at the remaining tea in the cup, before setting it down. Not worth it.
Jewels moved across the room in that way only the Fae seemed to be able to do, as if their feet never touch the ground. I could see through his mesh shirt. The barbells in his nipples had been replaced with hoops with large, blood red gems. When I realized I was staring, I turned away from him and back to the sink.
“What does a princess need with a hangover remedy?”
I could feel his body heat as he stopped uncomfortably close to me, his voice just behind my ear.
I shrugged and turned back around to try to push him away a bit. “Not that it’s any of your business, but it isn’t really a hangover as much as a power outage.”
Understanding filled his eyes. “Ah. Yes, they said that might be something that could happen.”
I narrowed my eyes at his cryptic reply. “What could happen?”
He gave a nonchalant shrug, letting his blond hair curtain his face like he did when we were younger and he was hiding something. But then he peeked out from behind it with a sneaky smile on his face. For some reason, my skin crawled.
“Do you really want to know?” He tried to sound seductive, but it didn’t work as well as it had in the ballroom. Not now that I remembered what he looked like in diapers, and I couldn’t forget the little incident from our one and only date.
“Just tell me.” I gave him a combination of my ‘I’m a librarian and take none of your shit’ and my recently recovered ‘I can have your head in three seconds flat’ glare.
He blew out an irritated breath. “Geez, you’re no fun. I think I liked it better when you were just a silly little human.”
“Well, I’m not just a silly little human. I’m your princess, and you will do as you are asked. What are they saying about me?”
“Hey, don’t get your panties in a twist.” He held his hands up in defense. “And it’s kind of hypocritical to say you don’t want to be our princess, and then try to throw it in my face like that, don’t you think?”
“Jewels,” I ground out.
“Fine.” The word snapped like a rubber band. I leaned back as he placed one hand on each side of the counter, effectively blocking me in. “You want to know what all the little Faelings are saying behind your back? You want to know what everyone is keeping from you?”
“Yes.” I didn’t yell at him to move back, afraid it would make him clam up when I was finally going to get some answers.
He leaned into me, close enough for me to see the pale lashes surrounding his eyes, and then without warning, I was drowning. My knees became weak, and my breath caught as his Fae mojo pressed down on me. I had only been on the receiving end of his and Dorian’s pheromones a couple of times, and both times they hadn’t been trying to do more than intimidate me. Jewels’ had been more involuntary than Dorian’s. But now that Jewels knew he could use it against me, he pushed it full force onto my human senses until I was a wobbly mess of hormones and need.
“You're dangerous,” he whispered in my ear. A whimper leaked from my mouth. “A half-breed with full-blood power. No rules. No limitations.” His lips ghosted across my cheek, and he cupped my face in his hand, his full gaze pulsing into me. “Any moment, you could lose control. But if you had someone to answer to, someone that could control you…” He pulled my body flush against his, and then slid his hands down to my butt, slightly lifting me against him. My insides quivered at the feel of him while my mind screamed at me to break his hold. “Why, they’d be the most powerful being in this world and the next.”
His mouth grazed mine, and my hands groped his shirt, twisting the fabric with my fists. His hand found the back of my head, and he angled my mouth to claim it, but just as his lips engulfed mine, my body caught up with my mind. I sent my knee straight up into his not so fun bags.
“Is it just me then?” a deep and bitter voice asked.
I tore my eyes away from the bent over bastard clutching his bruised manhood to find Dorian looming in the doorway. Did nobody knock anymore?
Chapter 14
Jealousy Becomes Him
I JUST COULDN’T catch a break. I looked back at Jewels and then to Dorian, my mouth gaping like a fish.
“This isn't what it looks like,” I said. “He was—I was—”
“I do not wish to hear your excuses.” Dorian’s piercing eyes beat down on me, before turning to Jewels who had recovered from his injury. “You. What do you think you are doing here? Do you dare defy your queen’s orders?”
Jewels stiffened, and with courage I didn’t think the spineless asshole had, glowered in return, “I am doing as our queen instructed.”
“I
hardly believe molesting her daughter in broad daylight is what she had in mind when she—” He cut off mid-sentence as if remembering I was in the room.
“When she what?” I was over trying to defend myself to him. He, like everyone else, was hiding things from me. Important things.
“Nothing,” he snapped, glaring at the smirking bastard next to me.
“Oh, I assure you, Lady, it is not nothing,” Jewels goaded as if he hadn’t just been on the receiving end of my knee. I owed him more than a swift kick in the junk and planned to pay up in full the next chance I got.
I turned on him. “Then you tell me.”
Jewels opened his mouth, but before he could get a word out, he was clutching his own throat, an invisible hand lifting him off the ground to hover in the air.
“Tell her and lose your head, boy.” The dark, threatening tone filled Dorian’s voice, his hand tightened in the air, causing Jewels to make a gurgling noise.
“That’s enough,” I said. While the asshole deserved many things, strangulation and beheading being two of them, I didn’t have the time or the patience to clean up a mess that big.
“You would defend this boy?” Dorian’s eyes locked onto me, his anger bearing down on me. “Are your affections so easily tossed from one man to another, or does your human part simply open its legs to anyone?”
He did not just say that. I couldn’t believe my ears or my eyes for that matter. He had not only walked in on me kneeing Jewels, which he didn’t bother letting me explain, but he thought my human feelings were flighty?
I could sense my magic begin to wake beneath my skin. All feelings of weakness from last night’s overload were gone in an instant. In its place were the telltale signs of my anger building itself into a fit of epic proportions. If he thought my destroying the kitchen was bad before, the things I could do now that I knew what I was doing—well, sort of knew what I was doing—I could wipe him off the face of the Earth with little more than a flick of my finger.