“No, you said Irdion would be my boyfriend, and he remains dead after I shot him.”
She shrugged. “Close enough.”
“You should go to sleep soon. Tomorrow you’re back to London, and then you need to catch up on all your school stuff.”
She spun in a circle on her skates. “I don’t think I need school anymore. I’m going to become a knight like these guys.”
“That’s not even possible. You’re human.”
“I can become fae. There’s a spell for everything.” She popped the lollipop back in her mouth. “You just need to get reading.”
“Go to sleep, Gina.”
She nodded at the silky cloak I wore, the color of moss. “But look at you. Dressed like them. You like it here, too.”
I looked down at the cloak and long gown I wore. This wasn’t quite me, although the silk did feel nice.
Gina skated off again, and I headed down the long corridor. Was it only a few days ago that Lyr had dragged me out of the dungeon here? That seemed insane.
A hollow ache in my chest darkened my mood. I’d desperately wanted my mother to come back, and I’d found myself so close to her—only to find that death had corrupted her.
But maybe she’d always been a bit… off? Since the day she killed my father, she’d worn her wedding dress every day, stained with his blood.
I thought of Salem laughing at me when I said I wasn’t an abomination.
What makes you think you’re not?
Nobody feels evil.
I figured out what had bothered me the most about Lyr’s story about his mother.
His mother was publicly executed, and even if no one spoke about it openly afterward—my mother would have known about it. But she’d agreed to marry my dad anyway. She’d jumped at the chance to marry a king who’d slaughtered his last fiancée that way.
My entire body felt cold as I crossed down the old, dank stairs to the dungeons.
It was hard to reconcile this calculating version of my mother—the warped, slightly psychotic one—with the same woman who’d combed my hair and held me in her lap when I’d skinned my knees.
I’d had well over a century to get used to the idea of her being dead. So I don’t know why I felt so sad. I was close to two centuries old, and it was absurd to think I needed someone to comfort me at this stage. I was Aenor, Flayer of Skins, for crying out loud.
For some reason, tears pricked my eyes as I crossed into the dark dungeon hallway.
I glanced into Debbie’s cell as I passed. Her delicate frame lay curled up in the corner, her pink hair draped over thin shoulders. I pulled my cloak off, then slid it between the bars for Debbie.
Still clutching my dandelion wine, I crossed a few more cell doors down.
Melisande sat slumped in the corner of her cell, dirt smudged on her body. Her wing stumps and throat were bandaged, though dark blood stained the bandages.
When she saw me, she didn’t even muster up enough energy for an enraged scowl. She just looked… defeated.
“Aenor,” she said in a dull tone, her eyes on the stone. “You cut my wings off. You little bitch,” she said listlessly.
“On the plus side, I did leave you alive.”
“That’s not a plus side. That was an additional cruelty.”
I stared at her. “I don’t understand why you’d betray everyone here for the crown of an island you’ve never even been to. What’s the point?”
Now, for the first time, her eyes sharpened, and she was staring at me like a bird of prey. “What’s the point? Have you not noticed how they operate here? They eat before us, the council of three. Three males, making all the decisions. I follow orders. I’m good enough to fuck—not good enough to consult on decisions. Not good enough to trust with all the secrets they keep among themselves. Once, women ruled the fae world. We were treated like goddesses. Your mother brought all that back. A true fae queen, just like the old days. And I was going to be her successor, reviving the old House of Marc’h, ruled by women centuries ago. All I wanted was the power I deserved.”
I felt strangely sad for her. “It didn’t really work out, did it?”
Her gaze went unfocused again. “I can smell Lyr on you. Don’t think for a second he’ll treat you as an equal. When you’re drinking that dandelion wine up there in his room, don’t think you’ll be any different.”
Her lips looked completely parched, and I handed her my glass of dandelion wine through the bars. “Here.”
She leaned closer, eying me suspiciously. Then, she snatched the wine and drank it down thirstily.
“Just so you know,” I said, “my mother was never going to make you queen. She wanted it for herself. She was just using you to get the fuath closer to Lyr.”
Melisande wiped a hand across her mouth, glaring at me. But it seemed she was done talking.
I turned and started crossing out of the cells, but as I passed Debbie’s cell, she called to me.
“Hey, you bang the meaty hands guy yet?”
“Sure did, Debbie.”
“Nice one, Tennessee. Thanks for the cloak.” Her large eyes blinked up at me.
I hugged myself as I reached the stairs again. Melisande had been a force of nature before I’d cut her down. Imagine how powerful we would have been if we’d joined forces, instead of trying to destroy each other?
When I reached the top of the stairs, I headed for Lyr’s room.
I pushed through the door, and I found him sitting perfectly still on his bed. The breeze whispered through the window, toying with his pale hair. His powerful body beamed with gold.
He was sitting too still, like a predatory animal. He’d shifted again, eyes glowing gold, and his crown strained into the air above his head, reaching for the heavens…
When the door closed behind me, his head whipped toward me, and his eyes faded to blue.
“Aenor.” The way he said my name sometimes raised goosebumps on my skin.
I flashed him a smile, and he rose. He crossed to me, then scooped me up in his powerful arms. Then, he dropped me on the bed. He was shirtless—again—and I let my hands linger over his muscled chest. Already, my pulse was racing.
He moved between my legs, my dress riding all the way up to the top of my thighs. I hooked my legs around him, and he kissed my neck. His mouth felt so good on me, and he was stroking the top of my lace panties—
But there was something I needed to tell him, and it couldn’t wait anymore.
I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Lyr,” I whispered into his ear.
“Mmmm?”
I pulled back a little, and I looked into his deep blue eyes. “I have to tell you something important.”
“Is it about how much you want me?”
I had to tell him about Salem. “When I was looking for the athame, the Nameless One captured me. Salem. He chained me up, and he wouldn’t let me go until I did something for him.”
I felt Lyr’s entire body go rigid, and rage burned in his gold eyes. “What?’
“He wanted me to eat a piece of fruit. It was enchanted, somehow. And he said it meant he’d always be able to find me.”
A heavy silence fell over Lyr, and he seemed to be struggling to stay in control, to not let the Ankou take over. He looked as if he were vibrating with fury.