Page 38 of Blood of the Fairest

The gorgeous northerner looks like I've pulled him from a string of thought.

"I must request something of you, Verena."

His sexy voice saying my name is the stuff of wet dreams. Too bad he abducted and helped torture me—otherwise, I could've really gotten into the tough, taciturn warrior thing this guy has going on.

"Is your request for me to bathe?" I guess. I'm tempted to sniff myself, but I'm scared of what I'll discover. "You did say that I smell, and that was before you dragged me through puddles by my hair and made me sweat about whether or not I'd live. That probably made it worse, huh?"

He takes that pointed reminder on the chin, looking away.

"I only meant that you have a different scent. You smell nothing like the true queen."

Aha, I get it. Rhinestone probably smelled like roses and perfume and gratuitous sex. Meanwhile, I smell like someone who can't catch a fucking break.

I add figuring out how and where to bathe ASAP to my mental priorities list.

"What's your request, big guy?"

"For your own safety, do not leave the castle until I return with Snow White in two days."

"Two days of house arrest in a castle where the evil queen has already died once?" I point out. "I have a chamberlain to hire. And hopefully, a witch to find—or at least someone who can help me figure out how to get my soul back to the world that has iced caramel macchiatos and bubble baths."

Again, Wulf ignores the shit he doesn't understand in favor of getting to the point.

"I'll accompany you out of the castle when I return," he insists. "You need protection."

There's a stubborn set to his strong jaw that would make any woman weak in the knees.

Damn. If only you hadn't made me relive the worst days of my life.

How many times have I almost died since getting here, anyway? Something like three times in as many days?

I guess waiting around for extra protection doesn't sound too bad.

"Fine," I sigh. "I can wait two days."

10

Eris

Three days ago, I would have given anything to be able to roam the mirror realm as I pleased.

Thanks to the curse Reinhilde put on my mirror, I could only leave its frame when she gave her explicit permission—and she only ever sent me to spy on others and report back. She wanted to know tiresome things, like how her Favored talked about her in private or whether she was the most beautiful in all of Isenmere.

The only freedom I had was with my tongue. For the first month, that wretched woman believed anything I told her.

Your Favored adore you. Your praise is ever on their lips. They think only of you.

She bought it but couldn't understand why, in person, those men often acted as though they hated her.

In truth, each man would have split her skull with glee for keeping them as playthings to feed from. Just sources of blood whose attention she craved—and the only people alive who knew the truth of her particular diet.

Reinhilde spelled her Favored to the utmost secrecy. They could in no way reveal what she did with them, ever. Each time they were summoned, the queen fed. Invariably, it led to great, long bouts of sex.

I never bothered observing that. After all, even if the Favored enjoyed the effects of the queen feeding, they loathed her.

To spite the queen, I told her otherwise.

Reinhilde believed me completely…until she summoned one of her men and found him covered in love bites from a kitchen maid.