“But what?”he asked as Desmond turned to look at us.
“But perhaps people can change,” I said plainly.“You did.”
Bane looked at me with warmth in his eyes, a soft smile tugging his lips.
“Violet—”
“Now come, we can’t stay here in this hanger all day.We have errands to run.”
And with that, I left mygancanaghhot on my tail as I slipped inside the Dark Fae Prince’s sky chariot, headed for our quest.
* * *
Town was bustling.I’d only ever visited it once during the semester, what between my academics, falling in love with agancanagh, getting kidnapped, and discovering I was a long lost princess of a fabled kingdom and all.Still, there was something so refreshing and warm about all the shops lining the stone streets, all the folks walking about and dining on delicacies and shopping to their heart’s content.
Though I could have done without the dreaded heat.It seemed no matter where I went, in whatever realm I existed, the heat was unbearable in the summer.
I was not made for heat.Not like my fiancé.He thrived in it.
Delaney had magicked us all up sunglasses, to be “less conspicuous” as she said.I didn’t think it was difficult to ascertain who we were.Not even top tier glamours could hide my appearance for long.I was still quite terrible at those glamour spells.
“Oh, do you think we’ll have time to shop?”Delaney asked.
“We are here on a mission,” Bane said plainly.“Get the barrels, and get out.”
“Oh, come on, Bane.”Norman slithered a tentacle around his shoulders.
Bane swatted at it and I didn’t miss the laugh in Desmond’s voice.
“I would thinkyouof all people would want to let loose a little,” Norman said.
“So stuffy in that castle and all,” Wanda drawled, and dare I say there was a tinge of humor in her voice.“Perhaps it’s rotting your feeble little incubus brain.”
“Our brains are not feeble in the slightest, Wanda,” Desmond said.
Delaney giggled.
I didn’t miss Wanda’s apathetic glare directed at the prince.
“Well, perhaps they should study Bane’s then.Lord knows, the decision to bind oneself to a faerie had to have been a severe lapse in judgment.”
I smacked her in the arm.“I, for one, think it was a genius idea,” I taunted her.
She raised an eyebrow, smirking at me.“Yes, I’m sure you do.You are drinking his Kool-Aid, after all.”
Delaney laughed, and so did the rest of us.
“Yes, well, we can’t all be cold fishes, can we Wanda?Some of us have to live happily ever after.”
The words were simple and teasing, but the silence formed like a sudden storm.
Wanda stopped, and we all did, too.
“You think there is only one way to do that, Bane?News flash, some of us don’twanta happy ever after.”
“Who doesn’t want that?”Desmond asked, his voice strangely soft.
Wanda grit her teeth at him, then at Bane.“What, exactly?”she nipped.“What do you define as such?Finding some poor girl to swoon over your incubus charms?Placate your stupid fragile egos?”Her tone had gone from taunting to vicious.Bane had said something that she took to heart.
