“Bravery can be quiet sometimes,” Jon said softly. “It ain’t always loud and brash.”
“I know…and Will always was always the quiet, sweet one anyway. I was the one who spoke out of turn. He used to keep me out of schoolyard fights when we were children.”
“You miss him.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Notthatway. But yes…I do miss my best friend.”
“Well, then we oughta swap,” Jon said, tipping his cup at Devil, who had created half a dozen fireballs with his magyk and was spinning them wildly through the air, coming dangerously close to several screaming and laughing fay children. “Keeping Rob outta trouble has aged me ten years, I swear. I could do with some sweetness and quiet.”
“Well, I say let him get into trouble,” I giggled. “Perhaps it will humble him.”
“No force in the damn world could humble that monster!” Jon roared. “But don’t you worry, I’ll keep an eye on your friend if you keep an eye on mine. Deal?”
We knocked our cups together, but then I shook my head and sighed without drinking. “Will ought to know better than to come back here. Perhaps I should go talk to him.”
“I’ll be your messenger, lady,” said Jon with a smile that revealed two long, sharp canine teeth. “You have the entire Arden to save. I can manage one little morsel like Will Scarlett.”
“If you eat him, I’ll be very angry,” I scolded, then gave him a wicked grin, “but if youmustuse your bear to frighten him away from the forest, then so be it.” Jon threw his head back, body shaking with laughter almost in time to the final refrain of the song. When the music finished on a high, happy note, Devil stumbled over and collapsed on the ground beside us, chest heaving. Myrtle and Vale tried to drag him back out, asking for more fire tricks, but they were quickly distracted by Jon, who offered to let them ride on his shoulders.
“So, this is all it takes to get you to stop talking?” I asked Devil after a full minute of silence between us. “Find some little children to wear you out?”
He opened his crystalline-blue eye and scowled. “I am recovering, and will be fit to speak again in a moment.”
“Spare me,” I chirped, rolling my eyes. “Well, it appears you’ve already lost Myrtle’s interest. You must be a terrible dance partner.”
“You danced with me a fortnight ago, Mayhem, and you did seem to be enjoying yourself.”
“That was the wine enjoying itself.”
“And how much wine will convince you to dance with me tonight?” he asked, propping himself up on an elbow.
“To dance with you, or to actually enjoy it?” I asked with a smirk.
Devil hopped to his feet, swiping up my wine cup and walking over to the cask. He refilled his and mine, then handed one to me and knocked them together with a wink. I put the cup to my lips, and when I peeked over the rim, our eyes met. Normally, I might have looked away, but this time I held his gaze, and he seemed to take it as a challenge. He finished his drink quickly and smacked his lips, while I had to stop with a gasp.
“What song would you have next?” Aliena asked the Fair Folk.
Several of them called out their requests, and Devil grinned at me before making his own. “A love song!”
Feeling lighter and braver than ever, I jeered at the suggestion. Aliena glanced between us and scoffed.
“Play on, Aliena!” Devil laughed, turning to fill his cup from the cask again, then facing me with a knowing smile. “Do not let the bitterness of the root taint the sweetness of the vine.”
“Ohhh,” I slurred, sitting up straighter and narrowing my eyes at him. “I may be as bitter as the day is long, Devil, but at least the nighttime brings outmysweetness. Unlike you—hateful no matter which planet hangs in the sky.” There was a chorus of tittering laughter from the faeries around us, and Aliena leaned back with a grin, plucking her lute lazily.
Devil fixed his glittering eyes on me and took a sip. “Youhave all the midnight sweetness of a nightshade berry, my dear.”
Egged on, I finally finished my wine and set the cup aside. “Better that than foul, tasteless fruit dropped from a rowan branch, which is of no use to anyone.” Another peel of laughter from the crowd and Devil leaned back against the trestle table, one hand draped in his pocket.
“Won’t you tell everyone how you havecometo know my taste, May?”
I hated the blush that crept up my neck just as much as I hated the smirk on his face. He was rewarded with a round of good-natured, albeit lewd, noises from his friends. I shoved myself up from the tree roots and swayed on the spot as I retorted.
“Such putrid arrogance leaves a foul taste in the mouth of anyone unfortunate enough to be in your vicinity.”
Devil flashed his fangs and took a few steps toward me. “You mistake arrogance for charm and skill, darling. An easy mistake to make, since you experienced neither at the hands of your precious Will Scarlett.” His poisoned arrow hit its mark, and I was suddenly overwhelmed by a vicious desire to strike him.
Keeping in mind that magyk was still affecting my emotions, I fought the urge down and moved toward him too. “Will is ten times the man you are, you insufferable brat.”
