“Don’t cry, my sweet Lilly,” he said tenderly. “Every tear is like a stab to my heart.”
“I’m sorry,” she sputtered around the tears. “I just want this to be real.”
“It is real. It’s just not forever. Not yet,” he reminded her.
“It’s for now,” she said, repeating what they’d both said the nights before.
“Yes, beloved. It’s for now.” He held her tightly to him as she laid her head against his chest. Lilly felt her eyes drift close even though she didn’t want to sleep. When she woke in the morning, he would be gone, and she would have to wait the entire day to get to be in his arms again.
“You need rest, Lilly,” Cypher’s voice rumbled. “Sleep.”
“Still so bossy,” she murmured as she snuggled in and let herself give into exhaustion.
Chapter 12
“I’m annoyed. I’m pissed. Annoyed and pissed are a very bad combination for me.”
~Perizada
“Queenie,” Peri’s voice sang out, and Lilly heard it through the bathroom door.
Lilly had not slept well the night before, knowing the high fae would be here today. The queen had spent the day pacing her room, which wasn’t anything new. This time, however, she didn’t pace because she was agonizing over her lost mate, though that pain was ever present. Instead, Lilly had been restless because she knew Peri was going to flip her lid when she found out about Myanin and Tenia. The queen was not looking forward to explaining her previous days unexpected.
Now she was hiding out in the bathroom. If she was lucky, which she wasn’t, Peri would get bored and leave. Lilly had no hope that would happen. Peri never gave up. When she got bored, the fae wouldn’t leave. She’d simply blow down the door.
“I know you’re in there,” Peri’s voice came from just outside the bathroom door.
“Not such a hard deduction, Peri. The door is closed and locked. Where else would I be?”
“Hmm, that sounds a little more like the sassy sprite I know and love.” Suspicion laced her voice. “What have you been up to, queenie?”
“Why do you insist on calling me that ridiculous nickname?” Lilly asked, purposely ignoring the high fae’s question.
“Because I like you. People I like get nicknames.”
“And those you don’t like?”
“Become inanimate objects such as rugs so they can be stepped on like the cockroaches they are. Stop avoiding the question.”
“I’m just having a good day,” Lilly answered. “Woke up on the right side of the bed and all that jazz.”
“I have no idea what ‘all that jazz’ means. I do, however, feel the magic of another fae in this room, one I haven’t seen in a very long time. And the magic of an unknown djinn. Care to enlighten me?”
“Ummm, no. Not really.” Lilly continued to stare at the door, wondering if at any moment it was going to crumble under the weight of the fae’s irritation, which Lilly swore she could feel coming through it.
“Do you know what I had to do this morning before I came to see you?” Peri asked.
“Why no, Peri. I don’t. Please tell me.” Lilly kept her voice light and curious. Maybe if she got Peri talking on her favorite subject, which was anything Peri could gripe about, Lilly could put off the conversation she was dreading.
“You didn’t have to ask,” Peri assured her. “I was going to tell you whether you wanted me to or not.”
“Perfect. I’m all ears.”
“You’re all something,” Peri muttered. “I had to break up five fights at the Romania pack mansion.Five. Five stupid males who thought they have a chance at taking Fane on to claim the alpha position. Do you know how much I like dealing with stupid maleCanis lupus?”
“About as much as you like dealing with headstrong healers?”
“Exactly,” Peri agreed. “My patience is officially gone. Fane didn’t let me so much as zap their asses, so I’m feeling a little zappy.”
