It wasn’t a good feeling.
Felix’s head was still ducked. I couldn’t go into a lesson as dangerous as this one, without him understanding what had happened in my counseling session.
“Emerald’s my bond,” I explained. “And it’s the will of the forest that she chose me as her bond as well.”
Radley merely grunted like he’d been certain of it all along.
Felix’s head shot up, and he grinned. He bounced up and down, hyperactive in his joy. “Of course she loves you. How couldn’t she? Anybody with a brain would.”
I huffed. “Most of this school hates me.”
“I said a brain.” Felix brushed the wet strands of hair out of my eyes. “Now you’ll have Emerald, and we’ll be able to work on our plan.”
I didn’t miss the heartache in his tone, even though he tried to mask it. Did Felix think that he wasn’t included in the bond? Yet he’d still been happy for me.
That was love.
“Did Emerald offer you a chocolate?” I asked, carefully.
Felix’s eyes lit up. He gave a quiet laugh, scratching the back of his head. “Pancakes with lemon and sugar.”
Radley blinked. “What’s with your about to come face? Why are you making me jealous of a sweet?”
I glanced between them. Here goes… “Succubi have this interesting courting ritual with chocolates. Emerald offered Felix and me one. She’s also keen on you trying one, Rads.” If Felix’s grin became any wider, he’d hurt his mouth. Yet Radley’s look hadn’t changed. Did he want to bond together with us and Emerald? “In fact, she said that she’d bond with all my lovers and help us on…you know, the important thing.” I glanced across at the hut, which was halfway down the pitch, where the Countess huddled from the rain, watching the lesson. Emerald was right that we had to be careful. “Beltane Night on Friday could be our opportunity to talk more freely outside. Until then, we can plan and… This is our only chance to be truly together in a bond. Don’t you want that?”
Radley dragged me towards him by the collar of my coat, and my breath hitched. “We’ll see.” He kissed me hard enough to bruise. His hand clasped me around the neck. I melted into his claiming assault. When he broke away, his pupils were dilated, but his expression was hard. “I don’t trust Emerald yet. If she hurts you or Lix, then I’ll teach her why fae are feared as the most terrible enemy. If she tries to betray you, then I’ll cut out her lying tongue. And if she ever dares to break your heart, then I’ll rip hers still beating from her chest.”
That was the longest threat he’d ever made and it was for me.
How romantic.
“She won’t,” I promised. “Really, you’ll see.”
Radley cocked his head. “She is hot. I bet that she has the sweetest smile when she’s asleep.”
Felix shivered. “You know that you’re freaking me out right now…?”
“Don’t I always?” Radley raised his eyebrow.
This wasn’t the best time to bring up the glamor but…
“You know that I said you could trust her?” I licked my dry lips, and Radley’s flat stare didn’t leave mine. He wasn’t going to make this easy on me. “She might be…just a little bit…hiding her appearance.”
“Like you stuff socks down your pants?” Felix asked.
“That was one time,” I hissed, “and we were teenagers. I was feeling insecure because Rads just has to have a monster dick.”
Felix snickered.
“You mean that she’s wearing some kind of glamor?” Radley demanded. “Well, that just inspires me to place my life in her hands.”
“It slipped when she was, ironically I’ll admit, riding high on emotion. It’s only because of the strength of my own magic that I saw through.” I avoided Radley’s gaze.
“Belenus’ cock, I’ve been wanking to fantasies of a hag, haven’t I?” Felix gagged. “I knew that it was too perfect someone like that was interested in me. She’s probably actually a zombie called Frank.”
I rolled my eyes. “She’s still a succubus, only her hair is red. Why would she want to hide that?”
“You mean, who is she hiding from?” Radley slipped my coat off my shoulders, puddling it at my feet. “There’s crap going on that we don’t know about, and we have to discover it, before we can plan. I won’t let the woman you love be threatened….by anyone but me.”
With unexpected gentleness, Radley bent like he was performing a service and folded my coat, placing it next to his. Ever since we were kids, he’d never allowed me to pull rank. Yet he’d also never allowed me to forget that I was the Marquess of Spring.
Heat flooded me, and my skin prickled. I ached to kiss over every inch of Radley’s exposed skin in thanks.
I reached to run my hand down Radley’s back but then I caught sight of the Countess, who’d raised her binoculars to watch me. Self-conscious, I crossed my arms over my chest. The Countess had introduced the rule about No Coats. It meant that we could fly without the runes woven into the lapels stopping us, although those could’ve been adjusted for the lesson. She’d pretended that it was in order that the balls would hit our skin and leave sear marks. It was certainly thoughtful of her that if we were hollering in pain with burn marks, there could be no disputes that we’d been hit.
It was just as likely that she’d wanted to ogle me.
Three balls whizzed to spin in front of my mates and me, as if eager for the game to begin.
I searched the gangs of fae in desperate hope that I’d see Beau’s pale face amongst them. Yet he was still missing.
Why would the Duke of Wells take it so personally that a Court Fae lost a single game to us?
I hoped that Beau was okay. On the name of the forest, I’d never thought that I could care so much for a Court Fae.
I sighed. Exhaustion dragged at me. As Beltane approached, my magic was both growing and attacking itself inside me. I knew that my illness was progressing at a frightening speed. Doctors had examined me as a kid but had never been able to find the reason that I couldn’t transform into fae form, and now, even fly at normal size.
I always sensed that there was something truly wrong…different…with me. Yet it’d been years since I’d trusted anyone in authority enough to be honest about how I felt.
All I wanted was to drop into a deep sleep (sexy dreams of Emerald would be a bonus). Dodging iron balls in the rainy twilight was more of a nightmare.
Unless, I could add my own fun into the mix…
“Cover me,” I whispered to Felix.
Felix stretched out his wings to block me from the Countess’ view. I crouched next to my coat, slipping out my iPod and clipping it onto my belt.
I’d rather have a dance workout, than a battle against my own tribe. But maybe I could combine the two…?
“Get ready!” The Countess bellowed.
The rest of the fae rose into the air with a fluttering of golden wings. Their balls spun next to them like rabid war dogs.
I alone was abandoned on the pitch. I should’ve simply had target daubed on my forehead. Yet Radley and Felix hovered above me. We didn’t exactly follow the rules of the game. Instead, they remained as my bodyguards.
There’d never been a time when my mates hadn’t protected me.
“Three…two…one… Fae ball!” The Countess dropped a swan feather to start the game.
Instantly, iron balls shot through the air like they were fired out of cannons by thoughts alone. Fae hollered, crashing to the ground.
“Boom!” Radley yelled in victory, as he clipped a fae’s wing.
Seared fae sullenly limped to the side-lines to watch.
Yet I was too caught up in surviving to notice who was in or out. I hissed, as a ball grazed my wing, close enough for me to feel the sting but not to count as a hit.
Too close.
I dived over a fallen fae, spinning around balls that were directed at me and hurling my own one upwards in a sneak attack.
Then I turned on my iPod.
Prodigy’s “Warrior’s Dance” exploded out. I grinned, caught in its rhythmic wave of serious bass and synth rhythms. If the Countess wanted to make this into a dangerous fight to the burned, then I’d transform it into a rave, until I was burned.
Ah, the happy memories of the illegal raves that I’d held here over the years…
One thing that I’d admit about the dwarfs: they knew how to headbang.
I lost myself in the music, from my wings to my hips. I breakdanced, even as my lungs gasped for breath. The fae falling from the sky and the spinning balls were nothing but the strobe lighting of my own party. I danced to my own beat.
Radley’s ball slammed into a fae’s guts.
“Another one bites the dust!” Radley’s grin was devilish.
Felix’s ball spun faster than any of the other fae’s, shooting in accurate trajectories to pick off adversaries one by one, as they tried to sneak closer to me.
Felix was so smart that he’d worked out the best angles to hit as many as possible like potting pool.
“Sound trumpets! Let our bloody colors wave! And either victory, or else the grave.” Felix looked dangerous as he spun his ball above his palm like he was a warlock.
Felix did realize that this wasn’t a true battle, right? Although, caught up in his Shakespearean blood-lust, he was hot.
I glanced around the pitch. At least half of the fae were now defeated on the side-lines.
Why had it gone quiet all of a sudden?
Shocked, I realized that now I was breakdancing all by myself in the center of the pitch.
Flushing, I switched off the iPod and shuffled back underneath the shelter of Radley and Felix.
Why were the other fae huddled together at the other side like they were discussing team tactics and this was football, rather than Fae Ball?
The fae with the sour face, who’d taken his long swig of coffee in front of me, when I’d been in the Kneel of Shame this morning, glanced over his shoulder. His eyes narrowed.
I understood the look. It spoke of anger and hate. It was the look of bullies everywhere who didn’t understand someone who was different. It was also the look of someone who was scared and going to die…and in his mind, it was my fault.
He wasn’t wrong.
“I won’t just drench him in coffee, I’ll force him to drink so much of it that his stomach bursts,” Radley hissed.
“He’s stirring up the others against you.” Felix was cool again; he cocked his head, assessing the situation like he always did. “Rads and I will spread our wings and take the hits.”
“Oh, really? Because what’s actually going to happen is that we’ll all stand side by side and take them.” Why would they think that I wanted them to sacrifice themselves for me? The Hostage Lords suffered together. “Brothers in wings,” I murmured, unable to hide how raspy my voice was.
Radley landed next to me. “Brothers in wings.”
His wings stretched to touch mine. They meant love, home, and protection.
Felix landed on my other side. “Brothers in wings.”
Felix’s feathers brushing mine tugged my mouth into a wicked grin, despite the fact that the other fae had spread themselves out opposite us like a firing squad.
The Countess stood up in shock. “What’s going on? Stop at once…”
“Three…” Radley counted.
“Two…” Felix continued.
“One…” I finished.
My mates and I hurled our iron balls at the collected fae, at the same time as they let off their barrage directly at us.
“We live for our brothers,” I roared.
Then the wall of balls hit.
I screamed, as I was seared by iron, over and over. My sensitive wings and chest were burned. Next to me, I felt Felix go down.
Breathe…come on…in and out, in and out…
I dropped to my knees.
Radley attempted to drag me back up, but the opposing fae were hurling balls at us again, even though we were out of the game.
There was a sudden flurry of white feathers and hissing, as a swan landed in front of me, shielding me with his wings.
Not Apollo…they’d break his wings again…he’d be killed…
“Stop,” I gasped.
Then Apollo was lost underneath a sea of iron.
I choked on a wail, trying to struggle onto my feet.
When a ball hit me square in the back, my skin scorched. I gritted my teeth, but it shoved me face first onto the muddy grass.
I was going to die today.
Emerald…somehow…hear me…know that I love you…
All of a sudden, my lips heated and I tasted fiery ginger. I tugged back on the bond in desperation.
“Emerald…?” I murmured.
Finally, my vision faded, and the battlefield went black.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Wicked Reform School, House of Fae, Dungeon
Tuesday 27th April
I awoke from the black into the black.
I gasped like I’d been brought back from the dead (and having witnessed how kinky the Necromancers were, I didn’t want to think about having been under their control). I cupped my balls just to check that they hadn’t been sliced off to become bauble trophies on another Houses’ wall.
Then I slid my hand along my prick to be certain that it hadn’t been claimed by the fae who’d defeated me as a battlefield trophy.
Thank Belenus, I was still alive and hadn’t been castrated, which really showed how a decade spent in the Wicked Reform School lowered your expectations.
I was, however, naked, cold, and in the dark.
In the name of the forest, where was I?
I should’ve been in agony. Yet when I ran my hand along my skin, I couldn’t feel a single burn. I flapped my wings experimentally.
No pain.
Sure, I should’ve been happy that I’d been healed. But mysterious luck was only good if it came from Felix’s Fortune Magic, and he wouldn’t have cured me and then abandoned me alone in a secret dungeon.
I clasped my wings around myself. I’d bet that this hidden room was based on the cells beneath the Queen’s Court. I had to give Wells kudos for how dedicated he was in his recreation of Court life.
I didn’t know if it freaked me out more that I didn’t know that this room existed or that I’d finally broken Wells’ composure enough to send me here now.
I shivered in the dank air, as my nose wrinkled at the stuffiness. I blinked up at the shadows. Then I ran my hand over the smooth metallic wall, before pushing myself to my feet.
Where were my mates and Apollo? Were they even alive?
I gritted my teeth.
Don’t think it…mustn’t think it.
“We live for our brothers,” I whispered, but it sounded more like a plea.
My words were swallowed by the black.
I was alone, and I was trapped.
My pulse pounding in my temples, I clawed at the wall.
What if Wells kept me down here until Saturday…when it was too late?
“Emerald!” I yelled.
I knew that she couldn’t hear me. Yet her name and the bond lit hope through me, making the dark less oppressive because there’d always be my love for her.
I edged along the sides of the room, testing out every surface that I could feel.
Yeah, this fae wouldn’t be escaping through solid gold.
In frustration, I kicked the wall. Then I howled, clutching my toes. Kicking walls hurt so much more without my boots on.
“Can’t you control your emotions at all? Calm down, it doesn’t do any good,” Beau’s cool drawl wound from the shadows behind me.
I jumped and then twisted around with a grin so wide that my mouth ached.
A light flared, hovering above Beau and casting the cell in a soft glow like moonlight.
He had some serious magical skills.
I’d been right: I was shut in a dungeon. The circular room must be be
low even the dormitories, and there was nothing in it, except Beau.
Had he been imprisoned in here ever since he lost the Apple Game?
Beau was a pale beauty. He sprawled on top of a pile of rags with an affected nonchalance, as if I’d invaded his bedroom. Wait, what if Wells shut him up here so often at night that it was? I’d barely noticed where he slept before.
Was that another reason why Beau was so touch starved?
I ached to massage his shoulders and wings to stop their twitching. He must be in pain.
“Fancy meeting you in a place like this.” I leaned against the wall. “And I’ll get right on that calming down. I mean, it’s not like I’ve been worrying about you for days now after you disappeared.”
Beau’s haughty mask dropped, and a blush spread across his cheeks. “You worried about…me? But I’m a Court Fae.”
“I’d noticed.”
Beau swallowed. “I’m surprised that Your Lordship would even note the absence of a peasant like me.”
I frowned “You don’t have to keep calling me that. Quince will do.”
Beau arched his brow to hide the way that he’d mouthed Quince like it was something precious that he was frightened to dirty. “Your friends may disagree. They were forceful in their insistence that I show the proper deference. I know how harsh Lord Brooke is to those who don’t respect you.”
Radley’s justice against those who hadn’t respected me flashed through my mind, including hiding shrimp all around the House of Demons, so that it’d smelled like a corpse for months, chucking an elf into the Fountain of Woe, and my personal favorite, making a Nephilim kiss my ass, after he’d mooned me with his.
Good times.
“I can’t spin that Radley’s hot on creating a fierce image for us because it’s what we’ve needed to survive, but you’re,” …special… “my mate now as well. Look, you deliberately failed the game to save my shifter, and you’ve been suffering for it since. Only someone…” Why couldn’t I get myself to say special? “just as loyal and brave as Radley or Felix would do that for me. Perhaps, we should call ourselves the Fae Four now…?”
Beau’s intake of breath was sharp. His wide gaze was both broken and hopeful in a way that tore at me. He pulled the rags around himself in jerky motions.
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