“It’s actually not,” Corbin leaned forward. Maeve’s eyes darted towards him, and her whole body shifted when he started to speak; a slight shudder echoing through her at the sound of his voice. My mind – still collecting the residue of her deepest thoughts – flooded with happiness that he was alive.
So they have a thing.
Again, not a surprise, given that Maeve’s powers – like my own – were stimulated by sexual encounters. Corbin was the one all the fae knew, the one who had collected the other witches, who had kept up the rituals that held the gateway closed for so many years after his parents abandoned the castle, the one who’d dedicated his life to the study of magic. It made perfect sense that they would fall into bed with each other.
That was okay. I wasn’t worried. If I knew one thing about spirit magic (and I knew a lot of things) it was that one person –even if they were another powerful magic user – was never going to be enough to satisfy Maeve’s hunger.
Buttwospirit users…that would be even more delicious than a curry.
That Corbin was still talking. He liked the sound of his own voice. I had a feeling I’d have to get used to that. “—know that any child of the Becketts would be a spirit user. Remember the damage on Flynn’s face? Rowan said that was a spirit attack. There’s the same pattern on Maeve’s cheek now. And the fact that he’s inside this castle, of course. He couldn’t be here if he was fae. But just because he’s a witch doesn’t mean he’s on our side.”
“He did help us find the babies and escape the fae realm,” Maeve said, her voice like liquid honey.
No.I shook my head.Not honey.I didn’t want to see or smell or taste honey or nectar again as long as I lived.
Maeve’s voice was a warm, rich curry on a cold day. Or at least, in my imagination.
“He did that by hurting you!” Arthur yelled. “You were screaming, Maeve. You were terrified. It was the most awful thing I’ve ever heard, andhedid that to you.”
“I was dreaming, and he turned the dream into a nightmare so I’d wake myself up. That’s actually quite clever.”
“I am very clever,” I added helpfully. “It’s one of my many talents. I also have sharp aim with a bow, can play a dastardly tune on the fiddle, and I’m a fantastic lover, should any of you need a little help in that area?—”
“Absolutely none of those things are useful to us,” Arthur said.
“I beg to differ.” Maeve looked up at me as she wet her bottom lip. Her eyes flashed with hunger, and liquid magic flowed straight into my dick.Merry me, we’re going to burn this whole bloody castle down when we get together.
“What I don’t get,” Corbin said. “Is how?—”
“So much hot air blowing around this room.” I flopped down on the saggy oversized chair in the middle of the room, kicking up a spray of salt granules. I sank right into the chair, the fabric consuming me. How odd – a chair not made of twig and branches. It was quite comfortable. I’d missed out on so much. “We can deal with the hows and whys and what-the-fucks later. Right now, there’s still the little matter of what our dear Unseelie king said to Maeve.”
I focused on Maeve’s face – which had turned from horny back to serious – once again taking in the beauty of it. She was the very definition of breathtaking with her heart-shaped face and those haunting eyes. I found myself struggling for air as Daigh’s lineage leapt out to me from her features – the high forehead, the perfect symmetry of her face, the shimmering quality of her skin. But those hazel eyes were nothing like her father’s – there was no cruelty there, no cutting crystal, no malignant joy. Right now they were wide and bright with intelligence and curiosity.
Anddesire.
I could sense it from all the way across the room – it flickered against my skin like the heat of a bonfire or the prickle of fear that preceded the ride of the Slaugh. Even though she had her air witch lover, Maeve Crawford – half fae, half witch, all goddess – saw me, and she liked what she saw.
Things were looking up for Blake Beckett.
I washere. In the human world. In an actual room that wasn’t made of bloodyearth.
And…I sniffed the air…was that the scent of actual food cooking?
Actual hot human food I could eat without dying?
The food smell was coming from down the hallway I could see leading out of the room. My feet carried me across the roomwithout any instruction from my head. Corbin said something behind me, but I didn’t hear a word of it. I sniffed the air, trying to discern where the remarkable smell originated.
My coven hadn’t seemed to have noticed the glorious scent invading the room. They were still discussing their adventures in the fae realm. “What did the Unseelie king say to you?” Corbin asked Maeve.
I tore my eyes from the hallway to look at Maeve again. She continued to study me, of course, because I was much more interesting than the others. “All sorts of things. He killed my parents, but he wasn’t trying to kill me. All these years, I was never in any danger from him. He was biding his time until I came of age, until I gained my powers, and then he planned to kidnap me to the fae realm and have me rule as his successor.”
Corbin’s voice dripped with incredulity. “Why has he chosen you for this dubious honor? And how is he making decisions for all the fae? What about the Seelie Court?”
“Oh right,” Arthur said. “You weren’t there for that bit. The Unseelie king is ruling over all the fae. And he says he’s Maeve’s father.”
“What?” Corbin yelled.
“According to Daigh,” Maeve spat. “He could just be lying. Fae tend to do that.”
