‘I twist your panties in a bunch that bad?’
I cracked my knuckles, looking deep into his stormy eyes. ‘You’re like an annoying splinter stuck in my finger. The more I try to dig you out, the deeper you bury yourself until I finally rip you out and crush you.’
‘Was that an invitation to embed myself in you, Miriam? I like how forward you are.’ His arms crossed over the back of his head. ‘I know some species of spiders tend to tear off their mate’s heads after the deed. I’d rather keep mine, if you don’t mind.’
‘Ava said there is a third brother,’ I whined, crossing my arms. ‘I think I would rather work with him.’
‘The third brother is probably doing to his mate what you’re dreaming I would do to you,’ Michael said, finally tearing his eyes away and focusing on the map. ‘Let’s go there,’ he said, pointing to a spot in the south.
I analysed his stance some more, in case I needed to teach him a lesson. It was difficult to assess how strong a fae really was without combat, but I thought I had a general idea.
‘Anything I need to be aware of?’ I asked analysing the place.
‘Just don’t land us in lava. Takes a while to recover from burns that deep,’ he complained, quickly tapping his foot, and I winced.
Jumping to unknown places was dangerous on the best of terms, and this sounded like a disaster waiting to happen. ‘Lava? How am I to know where the lava is? It’s not like I have a magic ball to see—’
‘Relax yourself, darling,’ he said surprisingly calm. ‘We can take a portal to the nearest town and take a car from there. It won’t be that long of a drive anyway.’
Did he just grow a brain? ‘Okay.’
‘Okay.’ Michael tore himself off the wall. ‘Move those pretty legs and follow me then.’
There was something uniquely wrong with him. And I’ve never craved bloodshed this strongly before. ‘I will murder you in your sleep.’
Turning back, he stared into my eyes with his head shifting to the side. ‘I hope that’s a metaphor for a good time.’
My lips curved up as I tried to look as menacing as possible. ‘Oh, it will be for me.’
‘I aim to please, grey.’
My watch showed just after twelve a.m., which meant we had been driving for four hours now. At some point, it had to stop. Didn’t these things run out of fuel?
I sat in the warm seat, shifting nervously. There weren’t many vehicles on the Isles. Sitting in one felt like being trapped in a metal coffin.
Every now and again we passed an oncoming vehicle, and every single time panic froze my eyes shut. How easily they could crush into us. And the road on the edge of the cliff nearly gave me a heart attack. Thank Gods I could jump back home if things went south. Whether I saved him with me remained to be seen.
Michael stopped his humming to look over me. ‘Do you have worms?’
My mouth slackened. ‘I beg you pardon?’
‘Last time my niece was this restless, she had some form of butt worms she caught in school. The whole court needed to medicate. Keep these away from me,’ he mocked an outrage and I stared at him in utter disbelief.
Butt worms.
Did I hear him right, or did I hallucinate this?
‘I’m sorry—what did you just say to me?’
His eyebrow rose. ‘At least if I catch your parasites, let it be through… a fun way.’
‘Oh, I’ll show you fun when we get out of this tin,’ I seethed, staring him down.
Face distorted in a serious scowl, Michael’s hand shot out against his chest as he wheezed, ‘Don’t insult Betty. She has feelings.’
I stared him down. ‘Your car has a name?’
‘And my heart too so watch it, princess of dark and fury.’
