I smile, and her eyes go to my fangs.
“I have an offer for you.” I slide my finger down her throat, past her collarbones, and to the neckline of her dress.
She holds her breath as I draw my finger to my lips and taste her. Does the night have a taste? Because if it does, this is it. Rich and strong, bold and fierce, she is the heart of the darkness that destroys every trace of light with a caress of inky blackness.
“What’s the offer?” Her tongue wets her bottom lip.
She probably doesn’t notice it. I do. I can feel her heart beating faster, sense the tension in her body. I’m not the only one here struck by lust.
“If you agree to come with me as my consort, I’ll forego taking any others from the night realm.” I lean closer to her, my voice low enough only for her to hear. “I also won’t have my guards chase down the one you helped over the wall, drag her back here, then carry her off to the Daylands.”
Her breath catches, anger replacing the attraction she was steeped in only moments ago. “You bast—”
“Changeling!” Brock booms, his voice making the horses nicker and the changelings cower. “I warned you not to speak to my king in such a fashion.”
I smile down at her. She scowls up at me.
“Do you consent, nightling?”
She chews her bottom lip, her gaze going to her mother.
“I’ll come with you, my lord.” Lysetta steps forward, her bosom thrust out so precipitously her nipples are one breath away from making an appearance.
“Well?” I keep my gaze on Emma.
She closes her eyes, and I can almost feel her take the next step in her mind. I don’t need to hear her answer. I can already feel it teasing the edges of her plump lips.
Give in to me. I stroke my finger down her throat again, slowly, teasingly.
She warms, her body heating at my touch.
“Come with me to the day, dark changeling. Give me your answer.”
As if remembering herself, she opens her eyes and smacks my hand away with nothing short of a sneer. “Fine.”
5
Emma
“Why would you do such a foolish thing as this?” Mama tears around our tiny cottage, her hands on her hips one moment, yanking at her hair the next. “Why?”
“Didn’t you want me to be a consort? Remember all that ‘bloom of my youth’ talk?” I gather what few things I have into a bundle.
The Dayland guards wait outside. I don’t know why. It’s not like I can run from them.
“Yes, but …” She trails off and sits hard on our little kitchen chair. “Wear your good shoes.” She points.
“They’re slick on the bottoms. I don’t like them.”
“You can’t go with a king while wearing shoes filled with holes and held together with gum paste.”
“Ugh. Fine.” I kick off my usual flats and pull on the blue ones with the slick soles.
“Better.” She rubs her face. “I just wish …” She trails off again.
“You wish what?” I tie a string around my meager belongings.
“I wish you could stay. I can’t do all the mending myself.” She plucks at the end of her apron, her eyes downcast. “I’ll never get through it all without you.”
