“You’re a prince of Amethyst,” she said, showing him the empty goblet.
With a satisfied nod, he took it from her and set it aside.“ThePrince of Amethyst,” he clarified.
She should have known, but that was extraordinary enough information that she forgave herself for assuming otherwise.
“I was in your human realm to get married,” he said drily, “to Lenorae, as you already know.”
“And who the hell is she thatthePrince of Amethyst was marrying her?”
“That I cannot answer, but you asked earlier who can put a geas on a prince of Amethyst and I can only suggest you remember what little you ever learned about the order of power of the fae realms.”
“ThePrince of Amethyst,” she corrected, just to poke at him.“Only Cinnabar and Ruby are higher than Amethyst.”
He smiled slightly, tapping her nose.It could have been any gesture of random affection, but she knew it was a yes to her assumption.For such a casual touch, it also lit her up inside.Okay, lit her up even more.“Do I have to call you ‘Your Highness’?”she asked, wrinkling her nose to banish the tingle.
“Why start now?”he returned drily.“If you began according me the respect of my rank, I might not know who you are.”
“Excellent point.We wouldn’t want that.”
“How do you feel now?”he asked.
“Much better.In fact…” Oh, seven hells, what was she thinking, lolling around and having heavy-lidded, pussy-sparkling thoughts about the Prince of Amethyst?“Dy!Where is she?Did she make it back?”
Azul shook his head, the ambient lavender haze deepening the blue of his curls as they bounced.“I don’t know.It’s you I sense, not her.”
“I have to go find her.”She tried to scoot off the bed, but he restrained her.Gently, but with that implacable fae strength.“Let me go, Azul,” she growled.“You might be King of all you survey here, but you’re not the boss of me.”
“Prince,” he corrected, then had the audacity to smile at her glare.“It matters.My father, the actual King of Amethyst, would take it very much amiss were he to learn that I allowed anyone to apply his title to me.”
The King of Amethyst was Azul’s father.No wonder the Moonstone fae had been so agog.This just got more and more surreal.Azul’s smile deepened at her obvious consternation.“While I have you temporarily speechless, let me explain two things.The first is that it is daylight outside and your human eyes can’t take the brilliance of the light.You’d go blind in minutes and be no help to Dymphna at all.”
“I don’t need to see to ride the ley lines,” she insisted stubbornly.“I don’t have a lot of magic, but what I do have works without sight.”
“And everything else you need to see?”he asked, holding her gaze, and she had to drop hers in acknowledgment.“Second,” he continued, “though you’re clearly feeling much better, you’re still injured and need to be healed.I can take care of that and we can leave at nightfall.Non-negotiable,” he added with a lift of his brows, making it clear he’d learned that little phrase from her.
Though she hated to give up without a fight, he’d made excellent points.Then what he’d said struck her.“We—you’re coming with me?”
“Well, I need to get back to Granite and I thought I’d see if you’re willing to be my ride.”He grinned.“I can pay.”
~36~
A Nice Afternoon
He smiled hopefullyat her, looking nothing like the guy who’d moped nonstop on the way there.
“I thought you hated my driving,” she said.
“Only the terrifying parts.”
“You’re immortal.”
“And yet, not impervious to pain or fear of losing body parts.”
“Ha ha.Yeah, of course you can ride along.I’d be glad of the company.”Maybe a littletooglad, but she was only human, as the fae loved to mention on a constant basis.“Should I ask why you’re going back when you were so het up to get back into the fae realms?”
“I needed to get back to Moonstone, specifically to this place.”He waved a long-fingered hand at the palace.
“To regain your power.”
