Arach spoke to him again in Fey. Then he yanked the door shut.
“What the hell!”
I ran to the door and swung it open. Or tried to. It wouldn't budge. But I knew the door only locked from the inside. I pushed it again and put my true strength into it. Fearghal, who'd been standing in front of the door, went stumbling. Arach, who'd been walking away, turned to stare at me in horror.
“Hello! I'm a Dragon-Sidhe, a Goddess, a witch, and the motherfucking Trinity Star! You can't stop me with a Red Cap.” I paused to say to Fearghal, “No offense, Fearghal.”
“I be takin' none, milady,” Fearghal said as his eyes went wide.
“Very well,” Arach hissed. “Come with me.”
I followed Arach into his office.
He went to his desk and sat down. “Shut the door, if you please.”
I shut the door and went to stand before the desk. “Just get me to the High King, and I can get out of here.”
“That stripe in your hair,” he murmured. “It's beautiful.”
“Starlight. Thanks to the Trinity Star inside me.”
He got up and casually strode around the desk. “What is the Trinity Star?”
“It's a combination of my three souls, three magics, and three beasts. It allows me to touch the Nine Great Magics of Faerie.”
Arach went still. “No one can do that.”
“I can.”
“Then this is for the best.” Moving with the speed and cunning of a snake, my husband snapped a manacle on my wrist.
As soon as it was in place, the magic went dark inside me.
I jerked back, but he held me in place easily and got the other one on my bare wrist.
“You motherfucker!” Oh, yeah. I was pissed enough to use that word. But my eyes were doubtless still brown since my fucking husband had just suppressed my magic. “Magic dampening manacles, Arach? Really?”
“You've invaded my home with an unknown power. I need you, Vervain. Our race needsusto procreate. So, I won't hurt you, but you will stay bound until I can figure out exactly who you are.”
“I told you who I am!”
“We'll see if it's the truth.” Arach scooped me up, tossed me over his shoulder, and carried me back to the sitting room.
My idiot, asshole husband set me gently on the couch and then strode out. This time, I didn't bother with the door. Cut off from my magic, I wouldn't be a match for Fearghal. I was as weak as a human.
I slumped against the couch. “Well, fuck.”
Chapter Seven
I should have had more faith in my husband. If nothing else, he wanted me for making babies, and he wasn't a rapist. Which meant he had to woo me. He left me sitting there in chains for a few hours, then came back to escort me to his bedroom where he made me promise to not attack anyone if he unchained me. I did, he unchained me, and I used the bathroom while some servants set the little table for dinner.
When I came out of the bathroom, Arach was sitting at the table alone, in candlelit glory. I grimaced at my husband. Yup, this was where Rian got that playa nonsense.
I sat down across from Arach and instantly helped myself to the food, ignoring the other dish he was offering.
He grimaced at my complete lack of response to his loose hair and gaping tunic, then said, “No one knows who you are.”
“Of course, they don't. What did you think? That I've been hiding somewhere in Faerie all these years, letting everyone think you're the only Dragon-Sidhe left? I'm not from this time, Arach. And—big surprise—I'm not insane.” I took a gulp of wine and sighed. “Not as good as the wine from the Water Kingdom.”
