The ring sears the flesh above my palm, and I hiss out a curse as I try to pry the damned thing off. It’s stuck.
In my struggle, my back slams into a wooden door and I fall ass-backwards into a forest of colossal oaks. Their twisted roots, trunks and branches are coated with luminescent moss, and a wending trail of golden light clings to the ground like sparkling fog.
I have no earthly idea where I am. Am I stillonearth?
Clomping footsteps echo through the fog, and I lurch for a thicket. Again, I attempt to slip the ring from my finger; it hascooled somewhat since I exited the tomb. I tug and tug, growing increasingly desperate while hooves crunch toward me.
Oh god, what if it’s some kind of devil or demon? This place seems far too gilded to be hell, but it’s never wise to make assumptions.
I give up on the ring, then poke my head from behind the tree as a massive creature materializes from the golden mist. It’shuge. At least twice my height and, oh hell, it’s walking on all fours, and?—
It’s just a knight on a horse.
On second thought, is that any less odd? He’s appeared out of thin air.
The knight dismounts, then runs a hand down the horse’s nose, its ears flicking as it nickers softly. The beast is not small—at least eighteen hands high, if I were to guess—and the knight’s shoulders are level with the saddle. He leads it to a patch of grass, then turns toward me.
Goodness.
Handsome is far too delicate a word to describe him. Striking might work. Wild. Majestic, even.
Eyes the deep blue of midnight seas peer out beneath two dark slashes of brow. His nose is long and straight, his lips broad and plush—crafted for bedrooms, not battlefields. There’s a tiny silver hoop pierced through his right brow, and another nestled at the corner of his mouth. Auburn hair threaded with glistening amber falls nearly to his armpits, the upper half braided away from his face.
God, thatface.It’s at once beautiful and terrifying. And that’s before I notice his ears.
Lined with more silver hoops, the tips extend far longer than a human’s, ending in sharp points that poke a word into my spongy brain.
Faerie.
When I was little, Granny Maggie read to me from two very different books of faerie tales.
The first contained gentle stories of handsome knights storming castles, slaying dragons, and waking drowsy princesses with kisses of true love.
The second—the one I preferred—held stories of immortal monsters from another world tucked right beside our own but always out of sight. Stories of teeth and claws and blood and darkness. Stories of pretty youths lured into mist-veiled woods, lost forever after. Stories of beauty so violently addictive, it drove mortals to madness.
This man—this faerie knight, I should say—belongs to the second book.
Clarity jolts me from my reverie. What’s happening is so obvious, I almost laugh at myself.
When I step out from behind the tree, the knight halts.
His eyes flare, flicking down to my bare legs for an instant before returning to my face. He looks surprised. And disappointed. “You’rethe Favourite?”
His voice is deep and lush, soft and chilling. Far too alluring to be anything other than a ruse to lower my guard.
And his question was very rude. Though I suppose his incredulity is not entirely unfounded.
I hold up a hand. “You can drop the pretense. I know I’m dreaming.”
The barest hint of amusement curves his mouth. “Are you?”
I nod. “You, dear figment of my overactive imagination, have been crafted from scotch whiskey, heartbreak, and faerie stories. Though I must say, I’m impressed by the vivid detail.”
There’s a swirling gold pattern embossed on the white armour that clings to his muscular form. His thick biceps are wrapped in pale gold chain mail, and a large sword with a seven-pointed star on the pommel crests his shoulder.
He tilts his head, moonlight glinting off his piercings, and crosses his arms. “Vivid detail?”
I step toward him, then reach up to drag my thumbs across the soft, pliable flesh of his mouth, pulling top and bottom in opposite directions. Look at that—he’s got fangs. “Your lips are outrageous.”
