“She followed us here with the intention of separating the pair of you,” he said. He could read her misguided, dark intentions even while she was unconscious. That was discomfiting. “She wishes to make her offering to the gods with Garrick.”
Fae bitch.
“Can you make her forget?” I asked my Lifebind.Mine.
“The halfling is difficult to forget,” Syleris interjected before Garrick could answer.
Garrick rolled his gaze upward. I did not think he used the same counting methods to calm himself that I did, but he was doing something to meter his temper. Syleris enjoyed torturing both of us.
“That is not how compulsion works,” he said. “I can compel her to think of other things, but the distraction is temporary. Eventually, she will remember coming down after us. Whether she remembers anything else… depends on how hard she hit her head.”
“Then let’s ensure we are not here when she wakes up.” I threaded my arm through Garrick’s. Syleris took up his place at my shoulder—but not before I saw him give Cala another not-so-gentle nudge with his foot.
It seemed I was not the only one who did not appreciate the woman’s sexual designs on Garrick the Red.
CHAPTER 45
KORYN
The rhythmof the masquerade had changed while we were away. There were just as many people, but almost all of them were on the dance floor now. Only a handful remained around the edges, pressed against the walls. Most of those who did were quite literally pressed against the walls while a partner—or multiple—attended to them. I saw a woman sink to her knees and then disappear beneath another’s skirt. A pair of men pinned a third against the wall, hands over head, but by the sounds he was making, it was more than consensual.
Garrick had not been thorough enough in his explanation of how the fae celebrated the Winter Tithe.
“We are drawing too many eyes,” I managed to say through the thickness of my own throat. My cheeks burned, too. I was not a prude by any measure. But the surprise of it turned my own thoughts and fantasies against me. Thank the Dark God we’d already accomplished what we needed to in the treasury.
“You’re welcome.”
I stomped on Syleris’ foot. He pressed closer, so that I could feel the press of his cock against my backside through his finely made trousers.
“We need to join the crush,” Garrick said. He was right, of course. If we were going to remain, we had to dance. Or take advantage of the walls. No glamour or disguise would be enough if we were the only ones standing and staring.
Syleris rubbed himself against me, pressing into the curve of my bottom. I shivered, leaning back against him, only to find nothing.
He slid one hand around my waist and offered the other to Garrick.
“Dance with me,” Syleris said for the second time that evening.
“What if someone recognizes you? We are hardly inconspicuous?” I shivered again. Garrick was on my other side. He threaded his fingers through mine. He’d leave the decision up to me, but he was not hiding what he wanted. I recognized the heavy catch in his breath.
I’d been with each of them, but never together, and never where others could see. To have them each on an arm felt like exposing a secret to the world. A precious, beautiful secret. It felt right, and that felt dangerous.
Loving too much meant I had too much to lose.
“I think we are past that, sweetling,”Syleris crooned in my mind.
And then added aloud, “You think the fae are the only ones capable of disguising themselves? I am a god.”
A low, irritated growl sounded from Garrick’s throat. “Say that louder.”
“I am your god,” Syleris said, staring right at Garrick as he did. “And I want you to be the one to say it.”
The intensity between them made my knees shake. They both towered over me, caged me in, surrounded me. I was right in the middle. Right where I wanted to be.
“Let’s dance,” I said.
Otherwise, I was going to melt into a puddle of need on the spot.
For a moment, I thought they were going to ignore me. Or at least, my request to dance. I had no worries that if something happened between the three of us, I would be well cared for. But Garrick broke away from Syleris’ gaze, lifting our joined hands in the direction of the dance floor.
