No.I lower my hands to my thighs.Where are you?
I was on my way to try and coax my fellow Serpent out of the Amkhuti with some very delicious treats which I snatched off the lunch table—Asha mentioned food might motivate Enzo to shift—but I can be wherever you need me to be.
She’s back to sounding almost giddy.
I may have drunk a little too much date wine at lunch because a certain Crow came to see how I was faring and his face pissed me off.
Reid?
Right. You mustn’t remember what happened between us. So, he’s the male I was madly in lust with. We had a thing until he told me, point-blank, that he could never be with a Faerie long-term because our bodies weren’t compatible for baby-making. Babies…She shudders.As though I had any desire to make babies… Anyway, I’ve doubled back and am standing outside your door, trying to negotiate with Abrax to let me in.
“Asha, can you go open my door, please?” I call out, finally standing. “Abrax won’t let Agrippina in.”
My guard shuffles down the long hallway. As the door hinges groan, I pad out to greet her. For a moment, Agrippina just stands there, balancing a glazed bowl heaped with food intended for Enzo. She shoves it into Asha’s chest and traipses near.
“Look at that hair color,” she comments with a smile. “Is Enzo’s green?”
“Yes.”
“Did he have green eyes?”
“I don’t—I don’t know. Why?”
“Just a theory I have about why my hair turned blue. I mean, your eyes were hot-pink, and…” She gestures to my hair. “Anyway. Can I hug you?”
“You want to hug me?”
“Yes. I want to hug the woman who brought me back—” Her breathy voice catches. “To fucking life.”
Before I can answer, she winds her arms around me.
“Is the swearing new?” I ask, embracing her in return.
She laughs. “Years of hanging out with Lucin soldiers will do that to a woman’s vocabulary. It aggrieves Mamma to no end.” She presses her damp cheek to my shoulder.An illusion. Agrippina Rossi never weeps.
But she does, and although I cannot remember our friendship, I understand why I transferred my most precious possession inside this woman’s womb.I’m sorry I broke your mind.
I gave birth to the Curse-breaker.She pulls away, knuckling her lash line.Entirely worth it. Besides, after my expedited history lesson on the past two decades, I believe the Mahananda impaired me to keep me from interfering, for I would—knowing my character—have revolted or donesomethingthat would’ve compromised Fallon and jeopardized her destiny.
Could that have been the reason or is she merely trying to alleviate my guilt?
“Should we go try to find the male Cathal refers to as the Green One?” Her lips flip up. “I don’t think your mate likes him much.”
Her comment flicks my heart out of alignment.Cathal isn’t my mate, Agrippina.
“Of course he is.”
“Not in this lifetime.”
“How’s that possible? Not only did the two of you create the Curse-breaker, but your passion was explosive, and Iknowexplosive romance. Well, knew. Fucking Reid…and fucking romance books that set your expectations unrealistically high.”
“Romance books?” I ask.
“Forget I mentioned those.”
Asha snorts just as a voice I haven’t heard in too many days rings through my hallway.
Chapter 41
