“In the-the-the Great Hall,” Rowan stuttered. “But Maeve, I wouldn’t go in there?—”
“Why not? It’s where we keep the fainting couch!” I shoved open the heavy wooden door. “Kelly, I want to talk to you?—”
I stopped in my tracks.
Connor sat in his bouncer on the rug, squealing as he sucked on a rattling giraffe. But it wasn’t the giraffe that had metransfixed. Kelly and Jane sat on the couch, their bodies turned toward each other, their hands raised as they caressed each other’s faces.
Their lips were locked in a passionate kiss.
CHAPTER NINE
TEN: MAEVE
Istood, frozen, unable to turn away as I watched my kid sister swap saliva with my only female friend in England.
But…I don’t…how?
Have I fallen into an alternative universe? Have the fae somehow penetrated the castle and cast a glamour to disorient me?
Is this…how can this be real?
Neither of them noticed me. It was no surprise – what they were doing looked pretty intense, the kind of kiss that stole your breath and left you panting and wet. A kiss that said a hundred things you couldn’t say yourself.
Do I say something? Do I back away quietly and let them have their moment?
This is insane. It’s not happening. No way is my pentecostal sister swapping saliva with another women. It’s just not possible.
I rubbed my eyes, but the sight in front of me didn’t change. It was no hallucination.
Theystillhadn’t noticed me.Okay, maybe if I just leave and pretend I never saw anything.I backed toward the door, stillunable to tear my eyes away.That’s it. I’ll back out and let them finish and I’ll have it out with Kelly later?—
My leg brushed the side of the coffee table, knocking off one of the game controllers. I winced as it clattered across the flagstones.
Jane’s eyelids fluttered open. They met mine across the room. She jerked back.
“Ow,” Kelly complained, pressing her hand against her mouth. “Yah bit mah lip. Wha?—”
Her gaze followed Jane’s across the room until she fixed on me. I expected her to give me that disgusted look she’d had on her face every time she saw some new part of my life she didn’t approve of, but instead, her eyes widened and her cheeks paled.
“Maeve, it’s…It’s not what it looks like,” she blurted out.
“It looks like the two of you were kissing,” I said. “Is that not what happened?”
Kelly glanced at Jane. Neither of them replied.
“Did you trip and fall into each other’s lips? Did Jane get stung by some kind of poisonous airborne jellyfish and you had to suck the poison out before she went into anaphylactic shock? Did a fae possess you and force you to act against you will?” I tried to smirk to cover up the fact that was a very real fear right now.
How else could I explain this insane behaviour?
Jane looked at Kelly, as if to say, “you’re handling this one like we agreed, right?”
As if they had a plan.
Of course they have a plan,my rational mind screamed.They’ve been sneaking around in a relationship behind your back all this time, and they’ve been talking about you, about how they would handle you, like you’re some wild beast who has to be tamed.
“Maeve, don’t be angry,” Kelly said, her voice wavering.
“A bit late for that. How long has this been going on?” I said tersely.
