“Nope, all perfectly above board,” Flynn lowered his arm and flipped his head so the lock of red hair over his eye stuck up at an odd angle. “You fae are perfectly capable of swimming down toyour doorway, but I don’t like your chances of getting that baby through without drowning it, and you know how much your monarch is going tolovea dead baby.”
“You will be sorry!” The fae spluttered, holding the baby to his chest. It wailed and flailed its tiny arms, annoyed at being held under the cold shower.
“It’s not so nice when your own tricks come back to bite you, is it?” Flynn smiled back.
The fae looked like he was going to attack, but then he leaned back on its heels and an evil smile played across its lips. I glanced behind Flynn, where the fae’s eyes rested, and saw something that turned my blood cold.
A face emerged from the water flooding the sidhe, followed by a pair of broad shoulders clad in a black cloak that didn’t seem to register the fact it was submerged. The fae gasped in a couple of lungfuls of air.
“Is this what passes for an English summer?” he called out in a deep, singsong voice, like a tenor warming up before a concert. He rose out of the water, shaking himself off like a wet dog.
Even through the driving rain, I could see he was hot. All the fae I’d seen so far were beautiful – with that perfect skin and those crystalline eyes – but even by their standards this guy was out-of-this-world. Wavy hair framed his face and streamed down his back, thick and black and shimmering with streaks of silver. His cheekbones stood in high relief – two razors slicing across his face, drawing the gaze down his aquiline nose to those pouty, sexy lips and strong jaw. A drop of water collected on the tip of his chin. His coat pulled in all the right places, and a gleaming white sword on his belt declared him a warrior. Emerald eyes blazed, their depths unfathomable.
An aura of raw power radiated from his body, slivers of that power plunging into my chest and pounding between my legs.
At that moment, I believed in magic, because this guy was definitely a fairy.
Stop thinking like that. If he is a fairy, he’s an Unseelie, and he’s dangerous. In fact, Flynn’s probably in trouble. I should go and find the others.
But without Flynn, I’d barely remember the way back to the castle. If the fae decided to attack, by the time I got back, it would be too late. I hadn’t brought my phone down with me, and I didn’t have any of the guys’ numbers anyway.The best thing to do is to wait here and hope the element of surprise will give us an advantage.
The Seelie fae bowed to the new arrival. “Welcome, your Highness.”
My teeth chattered. I crawled closer on my elbows, heart pounding. This wasn’t good. This was three fae against Flynn.
Flynn whirled around, his eyes bugging out of his head as he registered the black-clad figure. The grey clouds parted and slid away, revealing the clear blue sky and pounding heat of the sun beyond. “I’ve never seen you before, Prince.”
Why is that Unseelie here with the Seelie? I didn’t think they got along.
Listen to me, all knowledgeable about the fae.
“We’ve never had the pleasure.” The dark fae extended his hand to Flynn. “I am Blake, Commander of theAes Sidhe. What seems to be the problem here?” he asked in a bored voice when Flynn refused to shake his hand.
“This witch has blocked the entrance.”
The fae named Blake grinned. “It’s only water.” He kicked a spray at Flynn. “And it is amightyhot day. I think you’ll find a solution to this problem presents itself.”
The two fae glanced at each other, then they both dropped to their knees and started to slurp at the puddle, gulping down the water. Flynn summoned another raincloud, but the fae whocame out of the water raised his own hand to the sky, and suddenly Flynn was on the ground, clutching his head and howling with pain.
“Flynn!” I cried, leaping to my feet and vaulting the wall in one go.
I took off down the hill toward them, aware that I had no weapon and the twig Rowan gave me was still sitting conveniently under my pillow back at the castle.
The two fae didn’t even look up from their thirsty work, but Blake met my eyes with his – two emerald lakes, clear and bright as crystal.
I fell into them, my steps grinding to a halt as his gaze stunned me into inaction. I swung my arms but found I couldn’t move. It was as though I was trying to claw my way through an invisible wall.
What the hell is this?
“Well, well,” the dark fae said, smoothing down the seam of his coat. “What have we here?”
“Get away from him!” I yelled, balling my hands into fists. My words came out shrill, panicked. I tried to push my way toward them, but that invisible wall held me back.
Blake grabbed Flynn by the neck and jerked his body like a puppet. Flynn’s eyes rolled back and his mouth hung open. “I hear your request,” Blake said to me, his voice like syrup. “But I don’t see how you will follow it up should I decide not to obey.”
“I’ve got powers the likes of which you never encountered before, pal.” I shot back. “If you don’t want to feel the wrath of the Arizona state under-21 competitive chess champion, you’d better back the fuck off.”
“Such language, and in one so young and beautiful,” Blake tsked, flopping Flynn’s head from side to side. I pounded against that invisible wall, but it didn’t do anything except send shootingpain up my arms. “And that accent… they really don’t teach you to speak properly in America.”
