“No!” she insisted, pushing back on his shoulders, sitting up so she could look him in the eye. “You already know I was there, so stop acting shocked that I’m not completely clueless now. You don’t get to do this alone anymore, Tate. We’re a family. Aren’t we?” She held up the hand on which she wore her ring, the ring he had put there just a month earlier. “What’s going to happen in two hundred years? What’s going to happen when I’m in my jubilee, and you still look like this? Are you going to leave me alone to run off on adventures on the other side?
He pushed her down slightly, falling forward with her, silencing her in a long kiss. “I already told you. I’m going to find a pocket, and that’s where we’ll vacation every year. Keep you asfresh as a rose. Otherwise, dove, I’m going to lie down and die beside you. You’re not leaving me alone in this world.”
His head found its way back to her breast, her hands sliding back into his hair.
“And you’re not leaving me alone now. Whatever has to be done, we do it together, or not at all.” When he didn’t immediately argue, Silva decided to consider it a win. “Why so far from home?”
“Silva, I’ve only just gotten back. Are you that eager for me to be gone again?”
She gasped in offense, pinching the back of his thigh from where he lay atop her. “I’m only asking a question!”
“We don’t want them close to us. For any reason.”
She considered the answer. The closer to danger, the farther from harm, she thought, sometimes. “There’s a shop in the city that sells keys,” she volunteered. “I mean, not like right there on the shelf, obviously, but the same kind of place where I bought mine. So I don’t know if there’s anywhere that’s completely safe. And I thought she was your friend?”
“Be that as it may.” His breath was hot, his nose rubbing against her skin. “I’ll feel better not having anyone from the other side in our backyard, even for an evening. And she is my friend. As much as you can have friends there, which is not at all. I don’t want any of them close to where our daughter sleeps. Don’t trustanyonefrom the other side, Silva. For any reason.”
Now they were here, sliding into a booth near the back of the establishment, sitting on the same side. Silva clutched his hand beneath the table. When the human server came around with a bright smile, Tate met it with his professional barman voice, musical and light, ordering for them both.
She was already there. Silva could see her. She was throwing darts, laughing and drinking, pocketing money, her eyes darting around, her smile slick.She took her time making her way backto them, and Silva realized she had likely clocked them the instant they stepped through the door. When the wisp slid into the booth, her ebony skin lustrous beneath the hanging pendant light, she gave them both a sharp-edged grin.
“Silva of Starlight. We meet again.”
They engaged in small talk, light and effervescent, touching on nothing of importance, until their drinks were delivered. As soon as the human server walked away, the wisp’s face changed, her smile flattening out, her eyes darkening.
“What did you do?”
Tate shrugged defiantly. “I got out, Astrid. Just as I said I would.”
The blue-eyed fae dropped her head back, exhaling. “I understand that, and I’m glad for you. But did you think about what would happen after? Did you consider the mess you were leaving behind?”
He shrugged again. “It’s not my mess.”
“Itis, Tate. I know he was a bastard. He was a fucking monster, but he was the monster who held things together. It’s chaos. In every realm, utter chaos.”
Tate remained unmoved as she glanced around quickly, scanning the room, seemingly for her own peace of mind.
“Your Lady. She wants your head.”
He leaned in, giving Astrid a sharp-toothed grin. “She’d have to find my head first, wouldn’t she? And I don’t intend on returning.”
“Whynot?!” Her voice rose precipitously, a ring of hysteria that made Silva wince. She understood now why they had chosen a noisy sports bar for this. It had gone unnoticed. “You’rethe one who needs to take his place! Or did you forget about that, Tate?You’rethe heir!”
Silva gritted her teeth.I knew he was a fucking prince.
“She’s going to make the whole realm bleed until he’s back at her side, or you’re there in his place. There’s no one to collect.”
“Then fucking hire someone to do the bleedin’ job. It’s not my problem. There are others in the realm who can keep control. You can’t make me believe there’s not.”
“Aye, but how do you think they’re going totakecontrol? There’s going to be another war, Tate. She can’t hold power alone. She never could. There’s going to be a war until someone new wears the crown. Do you know what that means for the rest of us? Do you know what happens when the harvest fails?”
It was Tate’s turn to blow out a hard breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Astrid, I understand what’s going to happen. I understand it’s going to be brutal and bloody, and a lot of innocent folks will die. But I can’t be fucked to care. It’s not my business. I got out.”
“The fuck it’s not your business. It’s your fault, Tate. Do you think war won’t find you on this side? She’s already seeking entrance to our borders.”
“Your Lady won’t allow it.”
“And what happens when she doesn’t have a choice? Can you think of why she wants to get into Winter? Can you think of what she might be seeking in the Hoar Fingers?”
