I shake the small, frightened voices from my mind, seeking my anger instead. Anger at whatever shitshow is going on outside the building. Anger over her covers being canceled. My inner fire rises, and I don’t shy away from it. I let it burn me up from the inside, turning those dark thoughts to cinders. My anger joins hands with my passion, my fiery love for Daphne, my burning resolve to fight for what I want for once.
A spark I’ve seldom felt lights my chest. This is normally when I’d breathe in my calming herbal remedy and soothe my rage, but I don’t this time. This time I encourage it to grow, to spread through my limbs, simmer in my blood. Violet covers my vision, something I’ve only seen once. It’s the color of fae magic, linked to the spiritual realm that powers one’s ability to shift. My body radiates with it. It’s strange and new and slightly terrifying, but I turn myself over to it. A shiver crawls up my spine, and as it radiates back down, I feel myself shrinking.
Then I drop onto four paws and dart back in the direction I came.
Araminta’s squeal is the last thing I hear before I reach the stairwell. “Ohmygod, you’re sooo cute!”
Her squeals aren’t the only ones I encounter. More erupt from the women crowding the sidewalk, but I dart past them, between legs and under skirts, maneuvering much easier and faster than I could on two legs with so much commotion blocking my way. And thank fuck too. I have a train to catch.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
DAPHNE
My heart is a strange blend of heavy and light. I’m crushed by the news I got today, but it’s only a partial crushing. On the other side, there’s hope. So much hope. And love too.
Yet there’s something I can’t put off any longer. It may not be Lughnasadh yet, but I’m not willing to wait until then. To wonder. I have an engagement to end.
I settle onto the hard bench in the public passenger car. These aren’t the velvet-lined seats on most of the other trains I’ve been on, but those are for longer travel. This train only makes a few stops in the Earthen Court, the last of which is just outside the unseelie forest on the northern end of the court. In a matter of hours, I’ll reach Cypress Hollow. By the time I return in the morning, it won’t be my hometown anymore.
I bring a nail between my teeth, nibbling it. Even though I know what must be done, it doesn’t make it any easier. But I’m ready to move on. Monty has given me the motivation. He’s faced the part of himself that struggled to let his past go. Based on hints he gave me over the weekend, I think he’s planning on talking to his father this week. By the time we see each other next, we might both have good news.
“Get back here! Do you have a ticket?”
Startled gasps erupt from the front of the car as a porter rushes onboard as if chasing someone. But I don’t see?—
“Yes, I have a fucking ticket. You can see it once I find her.”
My heart stutters at the familiar voice, yet I don’t see Monty anywhere. All I see is the porter rushing down the aisle. Then a tiny creature with fawn fur, a short slender muzzle, and enormous ears scampers onto the back of one of the wooden benches. For the love of the All of All…that’s a fennec fox. That’s Monty. And he’s so cute I could die.
The porter turns this way and that, having lost sight of the creature he was chasing.
What the hell is Monty doing here? And in unseelie form! Am I dreaming?
Monty’s large vulpine eyes find mine, and he leaps from seat to seat, even onto one man’s shoulder in his attempt to scramble over to me. The porter finally spots him and chases him down the aisle. Monty reaches my bench, landing on four paws in the empty space beside me. He loses his footing, but as soon as the porter stops beside my seat, Monty’s humanoid form appears in a flash. His hair is mussed, his cravat crooked, and I realize he’s dressed in a full suit. With his body swiveled toward me, gaze still locked on mine, he reaches into his jacket pocket and flourishes a ticket at the porter.
The man takes it from him. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t evict you from this train for causing such a scene.”
Monty ignores him, facing me more fully.
My eyes volley between his. “Monty, what’s going on?”
He loosens his cravat and collar, then gathers my hands in his. “Daphne, please get off the train and marry me.”
My eyes nearly fall out of their sockets. “What are you…”
“Let’s go. Get off this train and we’ll elope right now. There’s no reason to risk it. No reason to return to your hometown pleading that Clyde will sympathize with your needs. We’ll give him no option. Be my wife.”
His words launch butterflies in my stomach, and I can’t help but be moved by them.
And yet…
I shake my head. “I don’t want to get married out of convenience. Matrimony means too much to me now that I know what it’s like to love and desire someone. Maybe I’ve grown selfish, but I want what Briony and Thorne have.”
“We can have that. I want to marry you, Daffy Dear, and now I can. Father freed me from my bargains. He’s going to pay off my debt and leave me alone for good. There’s nothing holding us back now. Don’t you understand? I’ll do anything for you. I’ll move heaven and earth to make you mine, and I’ll destroy anyone and anything who stands in our way.”
Happy tears spring to my eyes. I remember when he used thatheaven and earthline to describe how fervently a man would pursue a woman he was interested in. The part about destroying people is a new twist, but the violent flair suits him.
The porter clears his throat, but when neither of us gives him our attention, he marches back down the aisle, muttering, “This is above my pay grade.”
