I arched an eyebrow. “Is that a threat?”
Her piercing laugh tabbed the air. “Not at all. I only wanted to let you know—girl to girl—that you shouldn’t get your hopes up. You see, Severn has been stressed recently, and when he’s under a lot of pressure, he tends to act erratically. We’ve observed it happen for decades. One time, he disappeared to the Swiss Alps for a month. Another time, he became obsessed with cars—had to collect the most expensive ones in the world. That lasted about six weeks.”
I rested a hand on my hip. “Look, I really don’t care—”
“Another time,” she continued over me, “he ran off to his Italian villa with a witch, screwing her every night, claiming he was in love. A month later, he abandoned her in Europe, returned to the city, and never mentioned her again. My point, human, is that you are nothing special. Severn is simply under pressure and acting out in his usual pattern. This time, he’s decided to take advantage of his little human nanny. To play house with Henry and May, test out being a family, and fuck the hired help as a bonus.” She adjusted her hair in the mirror. “Don’t you see that’s what’s happening? Because I promise you, everyone else does.”
As much as I wanted to tell her off, I found myself oddly frozen. Severn had dated a human before? Taken her to the same Italian villa he was sending me to? Told her he was in love?
He never told me about any other human.
Seeing that she’d shaken me, Briar gave a slow, cruel smile. “You’re just a distraction, dear. He wants to get his mind off his enemies, and you’re the flavor of the week. His whims never last long—a few months at most. Now, remind me, how long have you officially been ‘dating’?”
I swallowed down a lump and said hoarsely, “Six weeks.”
Briar made a pitying noise in the back of her throat. “Yes, that’s about when he starts to lose interest. Mark my words, soon he’ll be shipping you off somewhere if he doesn’t simply fire you outright. If he starts talking about sending you somewhere alone, you should be worried.”
A chill ran up my spine. Did Briar know about the plan to go to Italy? That hewasshipping me off? As far as I knew, he hadn’t told anyone but Kell, and I couldn’t imagine Kell would tell Briar and Bramble. The werewolf seemed to loathe Severn’s assistants as much as I did.
“Severn really dated a human before?” I asked.
“The witch? Yes, she was an actress.Gorgeouswoman.” Briar’s eyes washed over my body as though I made a poor comparison. “And not even she could hold his attention for long.”
I told myself to ignore Briar—she was obviously trying to rattle me—but unfortunately, it was working. I started to reapply my lipstick to feign indifference, but my hands were shaking too badly.
“It will never work between you,” Briar added lazily, admiring her own reflection in the mirror. “It’s cruel of him to let you believe otherwise, but I suppose he’s caught up in the fantasy, too, for the time being. No one recognizes their own patterns—but that’s why he has assistants, to see the things he can’t.”
I shook my head hard, finally summoning my courage. “I won’t scare off that easily.”
“Oh, little human. You think I’m jealous? Trust me, I’ve had my time with Severn.Plentyof times. And I will again once you’re kicked to the curb. You see, Severn is a powerful man. He can have any woman he wants. Right now, he finds you enthralling precisely because you don’t have to answer to him like his court does; he likes that you can say no. But now you’ve saidyes. And that changes everything. How long do you think his interest will continue now that the thrill of the pursuit is over?”
Don’t listen to her. A voice in my head pushed me to tell Briar exactly where she and her sister could shove off to, but another, deeper voice whispered that I should pay attention to what she said. The truth was, I had only known Severn since the beginning of the summer, and Briar had known him for centuries. I didn’t think she would just make up details of Severn’s erratic behavior that I could easily verify by asking around—besides, fae couldn’t lie. She had to be tellingsomeversion of the truth.
“Ask him about the witch,” Briar said. “There’s a reason he never told you about her. Because you’re exactly like her—and you’ll end up the same.”
Blinking back tears, I shoved my lipstick in my bag and pushed my way out of the bathroom past a smirking Briar.
I felt deeply shaken as I passed through the ballroom toward the courtyard. Away from Briar, I tried to tell myself she was fae, and fae were devious. Even if what she said wasn’t a lie, it didn’t mean she wasn’t twisting the truth. Severn had publicly announced our relationship and brought me here as a further declaration of his affection. There was no way he’d do that on a whim. I was more than just a passing fancy like the girl before me.
Right?
ChapterTwenty-Six
After I stumbled out of the hotel bathroom, I found Severn in the courtyard speaking with the Scottish businessman, a glass of Scotch in hand. There was no sign of Bramble, which was a small relief. I had to assume that she and her sister had set this up; one of them would get Severn alone so the other could corner me in the restroom and ply me with troubling information to try to weaken our relationship.
The worst part was their plan might be working.
When I approached his table, I was visibly shaking. The conversation between the two men halted immediately. Severn started to introduce me to his associate out of politeness, but I interrupted him.
“Severn, can we talk? Somewhere private?”
He took in my trembling hands and my red-rimmed eyes, and I knew I couldn’t hide how upset Briar’s revelations had left me. There was no point in hiding it, anyway. I had to ask him about what she’d said.
He turned to the gray-haired Scotsman. “If you’ll excuse me, Alistair.”
“Of course.” The man raised his glass, looking at me with concern.
Severn took my hand and led me back inside the hotel, away from the crowds in the courtyard. I was breathing hard, hyperaware of all the prying eyes on me. Everyone we passed gave me a curious double take. I hated to think of what I must look like to them.Splotched face. Damp eyes on the verge of tears.
