“We need something from Sherry,” I blurted out, not in the mood for formality.
The coven queen studied me for a moment, then nodded and gestured toward the humble home. I wondered if we’d all fit inside, but when she pushed the front door wide, I saw that, once again, magic was at play. What should have been a modest, Victorian-era home was in fact an open-concept picture of modernity. Sleek lines, high ceilings, and white as far as the eye could see came into view, complete with a coven full of witches clustered in the middle of the space.
“I’m afraid time is of the essence, so I will be brief. We need Sherry to make us something,” Merc added, scanning the women.
One in the front row cocked an eyebrow at the vampire king, then turned her attention to Knox and smiled. Her sleek auburn hair hung all the way to her waist, and her large eyes, nearly the same color, were filled with mischief and lust and a whole bunch of shit I didn’t want to unpack at the moment. In a word, Sherry was trouble.
I started to rethink the plan.
“How can I be of service to the vampire king?” she asked, bowing low, though her eyes never left Knox.
“Follow me,” the coven queen said, then led us to a small room off the kitchen. Merc, Knox, Reinhardt, and I followed the witches into the tight space, leaving the others in the living room. She closed the door behind her. “Sherry, the vampire king has a particular request for you.”
Her gaze flicked to him and she bit her lip. “What is it?”
“There is a being in Faerie that has requested something that seems quite impossible, but it is necessary for us to deliver it to secure his allegiance against the fey royals.”
“And you think I can help you do this?” she asked, eyes raking over Merc.
“I have been told that you are capable of strong magic. You provided Knox with a talisman that helped them remain undetected in Faerie once before, and you crafted one that glamoured Kingston enough to keep his identity hidden. We are in need of something similar again.”
“What is the impossible request you cannot fulfill?” she asked, edging toward Merc. “So few things are truly impossible if you are willing to try.”
“Sherry,” the coven queen called, her tone sharp.
Reinhardt stepped in front of the twenty-something witch, cutting her off from Merc. “Willing to try dark magic, yes. That much is true. But even you are not capable of this, I’m afraid, so perhaps you should just do as the vampire king has requested so that we can return to Faerie and end this.”
She canted her head at my father, her sharp eyes narrowed.
“Listen,” I said, intervening before things got too far off-track, “I’m not in the mood to watch this pissing contest, so if you could just skip all the bullshit and do what we need you to do, that’d be great. The life of someone I care about depends on it—as do the lives of the witches you lost to the golems.”
Sherry’s eyes went wide at that information, as did the coven queen’s, and we quickly got them up to speed on everything that had happened in the Ether—except for what Etherian had demanded of us. Why we were actually there.
“So, does that change things for you, or do you still want to play this little game of yours?” I asked Sherry.
“They’re alive?” the coven queen asked, both hope and disbelief thick in her tone.
“Yes. All of them, I believe. Including Bea.”
The look of relief on her face tugged at my heart. But Sherry didn’t appear to share her leader’s feelings; she looked irritated, at best. Maybe she and Bea weren’t exactly friends.
“The being in Faerie,” Merc said, “has been suspended in a state of disembodiment, or at least that’s how it seems. He would like to regain his physical form, which is unlikely to happen, so we are planning an alternative option for which we need your help.” He looked to the queen. “I was told that you would be more than willing to aid in this endeavor, but it appears that might have been an overstatement, which is unfortunate, especially given the lengths we recently went to for you and your witches—and to save your queen from the fey.”
“That is unfortunate,” Sherry replied.
“We need a way to fuse this guy into the fey king’s body,” I explained, my patience gone, “or at least a talisman to make him think we can. And we also need something to prevent the fey king from using any of the wolves against us.”
She looked at me like I’d lost my damn mind—and in fairness, maybe I had.
Knox pushed past Reinhardt to stare Sherry down. “So, can you do it or not? And will you?”
“Give the fey a body or make you a talisman?” she replied coyly. Her back arched so that her breasts angled up toward him. My blood began to boil.
“Both. Either. I don’t really give a shit. We don’t have time for your games.”
“I can make something that will work for the wolves, but you won’t need one for the fey king’s body,” she said. “The warlock lord and I can do what the fey has asked—provided Reinhardt is not afraid to get a little dirty.” Her gaze locked on Reinhardt, and for a second, I got totally skeeved out, thinking she wanted to bone my dad for payment. I mean, he was a silver fox, but—no. Just no.
“I will do what is necessary,” he replied, the anger in his tone palpable.
“Might want to rephrase that around this one,” I muttered under my breath.
All the amusement left her face, and her warm eyes went cold and black. “I would watch your tongue,” she warned.
“And I would be careful who you threaten,” I said, calling forth my fire as anger roared through my veins. “You’re going to tell Reinhardt how to use dark magic to give this fey asshole a body, and you’re going to do it now. Then you’re going to make the talisman as a bonus gift, and you’ll do both without payment, because I’m not going to serve up anyone else I love to you. You’ll do it out of the goodness of your shitty little heart, and you’ll do it with a fucking smile on your face, or I’ll burn it off. Got it?”
To her credit, she didn’t falter under my threats, but I could see that she had no plans to push the issue further. She’d lost, but she wouldn’t admit it. Instead, she quirked a brow at me and folded her arms.
“I got it…but you don’t need to be such a bitch about it.”
I took a step closer. “Keep pushing me and I’ll let the bitch out.”
She stared at me for a moment, then finally broke her gaze to look at my father.
“You said you want to use the fey king’s body? Is it possible to use another?” she asked, as though that were a perfectly reasonable conversation to be having.
“He technically wanted his body back,” I replied.
Her annoyed expression turned to me. “And where’s his body?”
“He didn’t say. Faerie, I imagine.”
“How long has he been without it?”
I shrugged. “He wasn’t super forthcoming about the details while he was testing us to see if we were worth releasing. All I know is that he wants his body back, period. But we plan to offer him the fey king’s instead.”
She inhaled sharply, then let the air out in a dramatic exhale. “The fey are such drama queens.”