“Which you are.”
She stabbed a finger at the path-box, giving him the same arch look he’d given her.“No, we are not.Big Betty is running empty until we get to the depot.Then we’re bringing back a perfectly legal shipment.”
Letting his head fall back against the seat, he sighed.He sure looked edible like that, with his throat arched, the fluid lines of his collarbones framed by the winged, lacy collar of his white shirt.Cha allowed herself to savor the pussy sparkle he evoked.Even if she couldn’t do anything about it, she could enjoy the sights.
“You lead a complicated life,” he observed.
“Says the mysterious guy running from fell wolves, an iron demon, and a vengeful, potentially psychotic bride.”
“Incorrect.”He held up a finger.“A vengefulfiancée.An important distinction,” he insisted when she snorted, “or I would be married and not hurtling on this wild ride through Obsidian with you.”
“I guess it is your wedding night, huh?Not how you imagined spending it, I’ll bet.”
“No.Nor whom I imagined spending it with.”
She very nearly apologized, but hauled the words back and jammed them down her throat.Sure, she wasn’t some noble with sparkly fresh fae blood running through her veins.But she wasn’t ashamed of who she was.Seven hells, she was the Bandit!Thousands cheered her name and emulated her style.And that was her authentic self.She wasn’t some noble wannabe pretending to be something everyone figured was better than being human in stinking, mortal flesh.Fae weren’t any better, just because they had magic.They wore meat suits, too, even if they did have a fancier variety that smelled like flowers or pastries and that lasted centuries longer.As Azul had pointed out, the fae could still be killed—it just took more work.
“What’s she like?”Cha asked.“Besides psychotic.”Yeah.She’d noticed that he’d left that part out of the descriptor.
He gave her a distracted, maybe confused look.
“The vengeful fiancée,” Cha clarified.“We can call her VF, if you prefer.If you can talk about that part.”
“Lenorae,” he said, sounding faintly surprised.“It seems I can talk about at least her.And I wouldn’t call her psychotic.At least, she never seemed so to me, or I wouldn’t have agreed to marry her.”
“You had a choice?”
“I had…a series of options and so, yes, chose her.I doubt she’s behind sending the fell wolves after me.That would be her family and Lenorae might be as much a victim of their scheming as anyone.”
Cha wasn’t feeling charitable.Dy would be, but she had that soft heart while Cha’s was hard as stone—and she didn’t want to feel sorry for the woman.“So,” she prompted, “what is this Lenorae like then?”
“She is…strikingly beautiful, naturally.”
“Naturally,” Cha echoed, restraining the urge to roll her eyes.If this Lenorae hadn’t started out pretty, her family would’ve thrown money and magic at the problem until she emerged from their fabricated cocoon as the butterfly they figured they deserved—and could leverage to win them a mostly fae prince.That part almost might make her feel sorry for Lenorae, except for the hating her on principle.Cha would like to say she wasn’t the jealous type—and typically she wasn’t, generally happy to share the love—but what made this chick so special that Azul chose her out of a lineup when he clearly disdained all Cha had to offer?Yeah, she definitely hated this Lenorae.
“She’s elegant, of course,” Azul went on in a musing tone.“Perfect manners.Intelligent, very well educated.Witty, excellent conversationalist.Impeccable breeding.And she is…sweet.She has a gentle quality.Accommodating and graceful.”
Let’s just box her up and put on the shelf with a label saying “Perfect Woman,”Cha thought viciously.But she managed to keep the snarky words from erupting from her big mouth.“She sounds like a yummy, candy-coated delight,” she said instead, fully aware she wasn’t being much less snarky—but thenshewas no perfect goddess—and wondering anew what happened to make Azul run from Miss Ideal Woman.
“Yes,” Azul agreed absently, deep in thought.Or in delicious memories of his perfect fiancée.“I certainly thought so or, as I said, I’d never have chosen her, regardless of how my family—ah, there, I can’t say more.”
“Well, I’m sorry for your broken heart,” Cha said, putting all her will into sounding sincere.
Azul glanced at her.“My broken—ah, no.No such thing, but…” He gave her a longer look.“You can’t be jealous.”
“No, I can’t,” she replied firmly.“Shows me for trying to be sympathetic.”
“Arantxa,” he began, “I—”
“Aha!An ambrosia station right over there.”
Saved by the ambrosia station, in more ways than one.
~26~
True Lust’s Kiss
Fortuitously, Cha spotteda roadside ambrosia station and pulled in, the place mostly deserted except for a couple of haulers.Evening had progressed enough that the tourists and joyriders had cleared out, leaving only the pros on the lines.She didn’t recognize either of the male cargo jockeys, but she waved back companionably as Katu rolled onto the slow black and came to a halt.
