"You have a magical collar around your throat instead of a mate tattoo," she said without gesturing toward me. "The marking will darken if we ever decide to seal the bond. I don't have any say over the location, sorry."
"I have no problem with being chained to you this way." I turned back to the breakfast I was making.
"Did Callum give you a list of my favorite foods, too? Someone must've told you that I like chocolate chip pancakes."
"No, he didn't. Your family talks loudly. They mentioned dragging you to that diner near the Cabinet’s building after a meeting a couple months ago."
The look she flashed me was one of surprise. "You listened that closely?"
"Of course I did. I was obsessed with you." I poured batter into the pan. "We need to talk."
"Because that went so well for us yesterday?"
"I don't have time to play games anymore, Love. You've decided that we have irreconcilable differences, so I don't think you do either."
"These are good," she said, obviously trying to avoid a real conversation.
I was done beating around the bush. "Incubi and succubi are rare. Our magic is a pain in the ass, for us even more than for the people who feed us. None of us has ever made it as long as I have without taking a mate. If not for my connection with you, I would've been mated a century ago. I was engaged to Jazz. Neither of us wanted the mate bond, but the benefit outweighed the cost."
"The siren queen, Jazz?" Merrily's voice was suddenly low. "The one who’s in the penitentiary right now?"
"Yeah. The one I bargained with you to get another seat on the Cabinet for."
Merrily let out a slow breath. "You didn't mate with her."
"No. I wantedyou,after that bargain.Jazz didn't particularly want me anyway. We'd had an alliance for a century and a half before, and she wasn't offended when I ended our arrangement. Jazz, Dante, and I became close over the years that followed. Like family. Charity and Mia were already mated, so they weren't as involved, but they were part of it too."
"But you fucked her. Jazz.”
Merrily had known her somewhat well, because Jazz funneled her the names of people who were targeting, hurting, or taking advantage of sirens.
"Before I met you. Haven't been with anyone else since our bargain.”
Merrily was silent for a long, drawn-out moment. "So..."
"Jazz and Dante went to prison eleven years ago. They were my closest friends. Basically my family. There was a coup, as you know. We trusted the wrong people, and it cost us their freedom. The rebellion used the penitentiary as a weapon against us, and it worked. I haven't found a way to get them out yet. It's a miracle all four of us aren't locked up right now."
"Have you asked Ophelia for help?”
"Who’s Ophelia?"
"The fallen angel in the city."
"I didn't know there was a fallen angel in Rumor. Why would I ask her?"
"She's the one who built the prison," Merrily said quietly.
I looked at the fae queen as she silently cut her pancakes, pointedly keeping her gaze away from me.
"How do you know that? I've searched all over the city for answers about who built that thing."
"I helped Ophelia with something once, and learned a little about her magic."
"Would she help me get them out?"
"Probably. If she knew someone had weaponized the prison, she'd be furious. And personally, I would never want to be on that woman's bad side."
I would have to ask Merrily to set up a meeting with her, and give her whatever she wanted in exchange for her help.
