My eyes widen. “But Aurelius said to trust him and that this plan would save us.”
“Do youtrustthat he has a plan to pull us out after we betray the most powerful Shadow Vampire in the realms? When you tear out the heart of an unhinged bloody monster, do you think that he won’t return the favor?” Daire’s laugh is bitter. “Aurelius likes to do this: Ruin me first and then pretend to be the white knight. But he isn’t. He’s the destroyer. And the worst of it is that the arsehole dragon played me. He’s smarter than I guessed. How did I let myself forget that we were enemies? How did I allow myself to think that he respected, liked, andsawme? I’m an idiot. The moment that he hands me over to Sin, he has signed my death warrant. He’s feeding me to the one person in the entire Shadow Realms who hates me more than Aurelius does himself. Here, clean my wings for me, aye?”
“Okay.” I roughly grab Daire’s wing and then regret it, when he winces.
“Oi, I’m firing you as my masseuse.”
“I won’t clean your wings, until you tell me what you mean.”
“Only,” Daire answers with a fake casualness that I am getting better at reading, “that until the dragons betrayed thevampires, they fought against the fae for years. Remember how I once told you that in one of those battles, I killed Lanlin’s ma, the Alpha Queen KalaKant? I’m the infamous Shadow Queen Slayer.”
Terror races through me.
I collapse forward onto Daire’s wings, taking desperate breaths of his bedraggled feathers that smell of frost in a sacred grove.
Daire’s shadows flutter out, caressing my cheeks. “This is meant to be a purifying ritual. I’m not feeling very pure right now.”
I mouth at his feathers, kissing and licking, as I try to think of a way out of this, or at least, a cunning plot to save Daire.
“Don’t come,” I mumble around his plumage.
“Merciless.” Daire shivers. His cheeks flush. “When did I become an Omega chew toy?”
He struggles to remain still, however, as I suck on his feathers in thought.
His black feathers…
I sit back in shock, and he whines.
His feathers are as sensitive as his cock. I love making him come untouched just by brushing them.
“All your featherglass don’t have raven wings, right?” I demand.
“If you’re suggesting that I hack my wings off,” Daire’s voice becomes frosty but also, horrifyingly as if he’s been considering doing just that, “then the answer is that you may as well suggest that I hack off my knot. And no, most of the featherglass aren’t lucky enough to have as impressive wings as me, but many have wings of some sort in all colors of the rainbow.”
“If Lanlin has spies in the Shadow Court, then he may know that Aurelius brought back King Daire in a lavish parade, renamed as a pet called Kit. But he’d also know that thefeatherglass were also captured. What if we rename you and pretend that you’re only a member of the featherglass who was made into a pet and trained as a courtesan?”
Daire turns with uncanny speed to face me.
His expression is unreadable, but a storm is raging in his eyes. “First, I lost my crown and kingdom. Then I lost my name. Now, I am losing my own identity. I was a god, worshiped and revered, but I am to be reduced to courtesan and vampiresnack…?”
I arch my brow. “But a snack who is still breathing.”
“I’m pretty distinctive looking, love.”
My shoulders slump. “I’ll find a dye for your hair and wings. Or maybe…”
“Rune magic.” Daire’s eyes light with mischief.
My expression brightens.
I have always been obsessed with ancient fae rune magic.
When I was an orphan on my knees scrubbing the floors of the Great Hall, I would watch Bard, the wolf prince, reading forbidden books on rune magic and wish that I could ask him about it.
Now, I am bonded to the fae King himself, and he is offering to show me his sacred magic.
It may be a matter of life or death, but who says that an Omega can’t enjoy their treats where they find them?
