The room we’ve chosen for tonight’s much-needed catch-up is as blue as the sky outside the balcony doors. Kerris claims the view is one of the best in the castle, but I’m not brave enough to venture out there myself for fear of tumbling to my death.
An irrational fear, I know. That doesn’t make the possibility any less real in my mind.
I’m content right where I am, admiring the vaulted ceiling and ornate plaster coving cast in the shape of tulips. The space is lush and opulent—everything a castle bedroom should be.
Why Kerris prefers to sleep in a tiny wagon instead is beyond me. She and her husband must hardly have room to breathe.
Speaking of her husband. “Where did you say Everett was tonight?”
Kerris settles back against the plush throw pillows, swinging her stockinged feet back and forth as she raises the glass to her wine-stained lips. “Some meeting about the bridge. There’s been another delay, and now the foreman is saying it might not be finished before Samhain.”
That’s no good at all. Last I heard, it was meant to be finished by the end of August. “What will the Unseelie do about collecting water from the well?” With no immortal water on their side of The Divide, they’re forced to draw from ours.
“Continue to carry it on their backs, I suppose. The temporary bridge is too dangerous for their carts. Maddox’s nearly toppled over the side when he brought it across.”
Heavens, she never told me that. The poor man must’ve been so frightened. I’m not sure I’d ever recover from a shock like that. Not that I need to worry, since I’ve no plans to venture over that deathtrap.
At least the Unseelie can cross any day of the week, unlike a few months ago when they were only allowed on our side of The Divide on Wednesdays.
I take a slow sip to keep from spilling red wine on the white duvet. Wouldn’t want the pristine space to resemble a massacre in the morning.
Kerris sits up with a start, her glass knocking against mine. “Oh! I almost forgot! I’m meeting my brother and his wife in Applewood tomorrow. If you’d like to escape your cottage for a day or two, you’re more than welcome to come along.”
I haven’t seen Theo and Cora in ages. The last time they were here wasn’t exactly relaxing, either. Unfortunately . . . “I can’t tomorrow. I’m meeting Maddox.”
The look she gives me is exactly what I was expecting. Shock. Confusion. Excitement. They’re all there in the arch of her brows and gaping jaw.
“There’s no point getting your hopes up.” She has this mad idea that the two of us should fall in love so she and Everett aren’t the only Seelie-Unseelie couple in Rosehill. “I’m merely helping him with a problem he’s been having.”
“Oh really?” she drawls with a waggle of her brows.
“Stop. It’s not what you’re thinking.” Thank goodness for that. Imagine if I were silly enough to catch feelings for Maddox when he has no more interest in me than he does a knife to the chest.
“It’s not my opinion you should be worried about. What will Nolan say when he learns you’re out on a date with a handsome Unseelie warrior?”
Nolan can suck an egg. More importantly: “Maddox isn’t handsome.”
Her grin grows. “Is that so? Because I distinctly remember you saying that he looked yummy enough to eat.”
“That was once—and I was far from sober.” What I actually said was that he was objectively attractivefor an Unseelieand that if I were single and into the whole “giant green man” thing, I would eat him up. But that is neither here nor there.
“Also, it’s not a date.” Even if it were, it’s no longer any of Nolan’s business with whom I spend my time. He has made it clear where he and I stand, which is nowhere. Since that day at the quarry, he hasn’t once tried to contact me.
Helping Maddox is the perfect distraction from my own misery. If my former lover learns I’ve been out with an Unseelie fae and becomes insanely jealous, who am I to complain?
Nolan Graham knows where I live.
He can take all complaints up with me.
Kerris pokes a finger between my ribs. “What is it, then? Hmmm? Why are you blushing, Nia?”
Blushing? Me? Hardly. “It’s the wine.”
“Is it the wine, or is it the thought of ‘helping’ Maddox take off his clothes?”
“Who are you and what have you done with my innocent cousin?” I’m supposed to be the incorrigible one. “This should go without saying, but I’m not going to help Maddox take off his bloomin’ clothes.” If anything, I’m trying to help someone else do that.
Best not to think too long or hard about why that thought makes my stomach churn.
