“My magic is done maturing.”
“Is it?” His gaze roams over me like a lazy lover’s. “You used it tonight to make the drinks. I can scent it on your body as clearly as that oil.”
“Oh, I…” Heat creeps along my chest.It reeks!Kassandra would say, but the half-lidded look Maxian gives me is anything but disgust. Smoke curls from his mouth.
“You’ve never worn oil before.”
What the planes is going on?
“Well…” I stop. “I purchased a small vial at the last Full Moon Festival.”
When he smiles, I know I have blundered. Reign fae—like the old fae of bedtime stories—can detect a lie.
“Who’s it for?” he murmurs.
For Dominik,Kassandra said from bruised lips. My heart thuds, my tongue thick with fear. Hector once asked which oath my body would submit to if forced: Reign or Illusion? I do not want to test it.
“Don’t be nervous, Avery, dear.”
“I’m not nervous.”
His grin grows. He’s condescending, sheltered, conceited. He is everything wrong with my world. The reason my best friend is dead. Yet I can’t tear my attention away as he wraps full lips around the spark, his broad chest expanding on an inhale, his corded forearms flexing where he’s rolled up the sleeves.
“I like both on you,” Maxian says, smoke streaming. His gaze dips to my abdomen. “That oil. And the smell of your magic. Like spring rain.”
He’s drunk. He’s bored, as Lila warned he would become, and he wanted Kassandra here tonight. Something in me curdles.
“My magic is nothing compared to my mistress’s,” I say. “Lady Kassandra’s magic is like wind and crystals.”
The crooked grin melts away, and Maxian nods, swallowing. “Go to my friends. But come back to me afterward. I want to talk.”
When I reach Eli, he peers into the box of sparks I offer.
“I shouldn’t.” He sighs.
“You could, my lord.”
“Not all desires should be indulged.” He looks at me in that quiet way of his.
The king snaps a flame to life, then extinguishes it. Over and over.
I hope the king hurts you,Benji said.I wish for it.
But I see Benji, too, holding up a golden coin, his face splitting into a grin as part of his body returned to him once more.It tickles.There is no length I will not go to for my little brother.
So much has happened in such a short time. Yet only now do I realize that the game is just beginning.
“Perhaps just for tonight.” Eli grabs a thick, short spark and cuts it. He snaps his own flame, and in a moment, smoke coils up from his tobacco. His gaze falls to Lila across the room at the bar cart, and his expression softens.
“Where’s my spark?” Dominik snarls from his chair.
I jump. Eli blinks and the look is gone, replaced by wariness.
“Dom.” The king’s voice slices the air. “What did I say about speaking to my faerie like that?”
I stiffen.
“Your faerie?” the Illusion lord sneers, eyes bloodshot. Silver hair falls limp over his face like overcooked noodles. “She played for Illusion today.”
