I’m surprised when Murdo Macpherson speaks. ‘I was out in the far reaches of the forest yesterday. The Blight has choked up several streams to the north and large areas of woodland are dying. I can understand why Cernunnos’s Kin are worried.’
‘Humans have polluted that area with a smelting factory,’ Vincenzo points out. ‘What can we hope to do to prevent the destruction the humans wreak?’
But I blame Vincenzo, if not for the Blight itself, then certainly for his failing to stop its spread. I know he has shares in that smelting plant and considers his profits more important than the Underworld. It wasn’t until four years ago that I began to research exactly how Vincenzo wasprofitingfrom the Blight. Matt warned me then, and I’ve watched Vincenzo carefully ever since. He simply brushes off all reports of the Blight’s destruction and refuses to act. And it’s spreading from the trees and the land to the Kinfolk themselves– while he grows rich.
Only last week, two foresters were found, their bodies twisted in agony, riddled with sores that oozed a black, tar-like substance. But he refuses to allow any investigation, quietly disposing of the corpses and fencing off the land now destroyed by the creeping black mould. Given that he’s not even willing to break with tradition enough for his daughter to inherit in her own right, his inaction should come as no surprise, and it’s time I ensure his reign comes to an end, soon. The future of the Underworld might depend on it.
I meet my fiancée’s gaze– it’s been two weeks since we announced our engagement. For four years I’ve tried to find another way, but on the night of my sister’s graduation party, I realised there was none and proposed. Or, my decision was made when I set eyes on Niamh Whyte again. I’ve avoided my sister’s best friend as much as possible over the years. The woman is a temptation I can’t afford to give into. Until I marry Vittoria, Niamh will always be there, tempting me to relinquish my quest to become king. I’ve worked too hard, waited too patiently, to give it all up for a human but seeing Niamh at that party, I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist her for much longer.
With Vittoria’s eyes on me, I push my phone into my pocket and turn to face her. She glances pointedly at mypocket and rolls her eyes. I lean forward, my hand snaking around the back of her neck and draw her towards me to kiss her. Her blood-red lips are ice cold as our tongues tangle, fighting for control. I refuse to allow her to win even this small battle, just as she will never let me win if she can help it. She pulls back, pressing a red-tipped finger to my lips and smiles seductively.
‘Later,’ she whispers, running the finger down over my lips and chin before pulling it away with a flourish, smirking at the others around the table like the dark queen she aspires to be.
Conversation flows as freely as the champagne, but for the most part, I allow my mind to wander. I deal with the other Kennards when I have to, but as my job is to administer the Court’s justice, I’ve found it easier to keep my distance. I can’t avoid the Rialis, though. They own a wide range of hospitality-related businesses around the city. The seat they occupy at The Unseelie Court is that of the great sea god Llyr, and with the sea as their element, it was only natural that they gravitated towards providing the humans with its fruits. Sustenance, and the promise of pleasure, have always been the simplest ways to entice humans, which offers endless ways for us to control them. It may just be coincidence, but as the Riali empire has expanded, the Blight has spread.
My phone vibrates with a text from Rose’s bodyguard, Sean. I open it despite Vittoria’s frown. It’s a photo and it’s not just of Rose. She’s on a dancefloor, with Niamh, and it takes me a moment to tear my gaze away from the young woman who has tormented me for the past four years.
Niamh attracts me in a way I’m not sure I fully understand. She’s wholesome and good– the opposite of the women I’m usually drawn to– but at the same time, something about her calls to the darkest parts of me. Whenever I’m in the same room as her, the hunter within me rises to the surface, hyper-aware of her, watching her, stalking her like prey– even if it’s only with my gaze. More than once I’ve had to leave her presence to stop me killing every other man in the room and claiming her as mine.
But that’s a desire I can’t afford to indulge, not least because if she saw me killing anyone, she would go to the authorities faster than my sister moves between men. She’s human and knows nothing of my world. Plus, she has an overdeveloped sense of justice that has motivated her since the moment we met. She’s determined to fight for fairness, a concept at odds with the ever-changing vagaries of The Unseelie Court, where justice is determined by Vincenzo’s latest whim or the strange unpredictable power that lies within the Court chamber itself.
My own ambition is as much of an obstacle. Marrying Vittoria is my chance to become king and take a different path, not only giving our people the chance to survive but also thrive. I refuse to let the Blight destroy us.
Normally, Niamh is the exact opposite of my sister– she dresses modestly, doesn’t drink too much and is careful not to give any man foolish enough to wander into her vicinity the wrong idea. Except that tonight, she looks anything but innocent. My cock hardens at the sight of her slender, toned body barely covered by a sequinned bodycon dress, her breasts pushed up into an impressive cleavage. The dress leaves little to the imagination and it would be so easy to slide a hand up her skirt, to part her thighs and slip her underwear to the side, to see just how turned on she would be. An ache inside me wishes I could be there.
The more I stare at the photo, however, the more I see beyond my lust. They’re both smiling, but I can see the strain on Niamh’s features, the way she’s looking to the side, tension in her body as if poised ready for an attack. Because deep down, despite all the human laws we choose to abide by on the surface, and all the security that’s in place around her in the club to theoretically keep her safe, she still understands what she truly is.
Prey.
Or I could bind her to me forever by promising to fulfil her heart’s desire if she accepted. I’ve heard stories of humans being granted the most amazing voices, exceptional dancing talent, the ability to play a musical instrument with more skill than any other living being– but there’s always a catch. One woman could only ever sing and lost the ability to speak. Another danced herself to death. And yet another played the fiddle with such skill that everyone who heard her was instantly entranced, but as soon as the music stopped all memory of the music and the musician was gone.
What am I tempted to offer Niamh? Is there anything out there that she would be unable to resist? I doubt it. She’s not so easily tempted. It doesn’t stop me wanting her, though. Over the years, my thoughts have strayed to her with a disturbing regularity, and in those fantasies, my sister’s best friend is far less sweet and innocent than she is in reality. Most of the things I want to do with her–do to her– I’m sure have never crossed her mind.
I refused to allow Rose to bring Niamh tonight. It’s bad enough being around her the times we’ve met in the human world, but downright dangerous to bring her here, toVincenzo’srestaurant in the Underworld. Like most humans, Niamh isn’t aware of the presence of the Kinfolk around her all day, every day, but if she was and if she witnessed the way we operate, the things my family does to manipulate humans, her moral code would send her straight to the authorities. And they might actually believe her. It’s a quality that will make her a fantastic lawyer– and utterly wrong for me. Her friendship with my sister is just another way in which Rose tries to rile me up every single day.
‘Looks like your sister is enjoying herself,’ Vittoria says, looking at my phone over my shoulder. ‘And at Sussurri. Really?’ She shakes her head and exchanges a look with her father.
My phone vibrates again with a text from Sean:
She’s insistent on staying. Want me to risk causing a scene?
‘News of your sister’s whereabouts?’ Vincenzo asks.
‘Yes, her bodyguard.’
‘Such a simple task,’ he says. ‘I hope you’re going to punish him severely for his failure.’
‘He has many other useful qualities,’ I say, taking a sip of my whisky as I consider Vincenzo’s lack of empathy for the Kinfolk he employs. I know my sister, and she doesn’t make Sean’s life easy. Given that he’s the only man who has been even remotely able to keep an eye on Rose, while also managing to keep his hands off her and his dick out of her, I’m not willing to dispose of him yet. But his coat is on a very shoogly peg after tonight and if anything happens to her, he won’t be breathing for long. I text him back.
Time to take Rosebud and her friend back to their flat.
Rose detests the nickname, insisting that it demeans her. But if she’s going to act out like a child, I feel justified in using it.
On it.
‘No!’ Vittoria, looking at the messages says suddenly, her expression cold, jaw set. ‘Leave her be. I’m sure she has a good reason not to make the effort.’
‘Very well,’ I say, although dressed like that in a place like Sussurri, Rose and Niamh are really fucking far from being safe in the way I’d like them to be. But I’m not ready to push things yet.
