His eyebrows shot up, and then his gaze fell to my blanket-swathed frame. “Fuck you and your poisonous, lying lips, Kahleena. There’s no way you’re only one. Time shifts differently in realms, sure, but not even in this hellish plane does it shift that drastically.” He paused and then snorted when I didn’t amend the truth to fit his narrative. “I’m not a fucking moron, and if you think it will protect you from me, let me clear that disillusion up now. It won’t, and it won’t alter the plans I have for you. So stop playing with me, or I’ll really start playing with you, princess. Those tears you’re working to build for my benefit won’t either.”
“I’m not weeping, prick. You asked me a question, and I answered. I don’t care if you believe me, and no, I never thought it would impede your psychotic-ass plans. You brought me here and stripped my clothes. Can I get dressed, or am I expected to sit around naked?” I demanded, choosing anger to try to stifle the pain growing inside me. He tossed me the dress, and when I reached out to grab it, the blanket dropped, exposing my naked breasts.
“Those are not the tits of a one-year-old, Kahleena,” he growled, snatching the blanket away. Releasing the dress, I grasped the blanket until my knuckles turned white. His eyes flashed with warning, and he ripped it away, causing me to tumble off the bed.
I ended up sprawled on the floor in an ungraceful, naked heap of awkward limbs. My arms crossed, covering my upper and lower body as well as I could manage. Swiveling toward the bed, I discovered he’d squatted on it, holding up the dress with one finger.
“Poor little princess, what’ll you wear?”
“Don’t make me channel Erie and wear your flesh as clothes. I’m confident it isn’t sanitary, and I’m uncertain of how to skin someone. That means you’d probably reek around me long after I rid myself of your hateful, degrading mouth. Not to mention, you’d probably give me a rash or some shit.” He sat back, frowning while he scratched his head.
“You sound so savage, but would have me believe you’re simple-minded. I don’t think I care to trust you or your words anymore.”
“I don’t care what you believe. In fact, please ignore me and leave me the hell alone.” Shaking my head, I gripped my arms.
“You may not care now, but soon you will. If I were you, I’d get dressed unless you wish to see your mother like that.” He tossed the dress down beside me, and stood silently in front of me.
I glided my regard to him, narrowing it on the arrogant smile that lifted the corner of his mouth. He slid closer, grabbing my arm to jerk me up with him until he loomed over me. His hand slid to my hip before gliding down over the curve of my ass cheek. His fingers closed, squeezing the cheek before his mouth lowered, drifting toward mine slowly.
“I think it’s time we invite your mommy over for a visit and see who she chooses. What do you think?” he asked coldly.
“How about no?” I snorted, noticing he’d gotten closer without my sensing him moving. “Let go of me.”
I backed my lips away from his and awarded him a withering stare.
“Are you actually playing hard to get, Kahleena? Don’t you think it’s a little late for that?”
“Hard to get? You seem to be confused or something. You call me names, and then you inform me that you don’t want me or care if I find pleasure from you using me. Then, because that wasn’t enough, you call me a liar before throwing me onto the floor naked.” I raised an eyebrow. “Correct me if I’m wrong here, but I told you no and ended it first, didn’t I?” I searched his darkening face, laughing coldly. “You’re nothing but a bully. One who feels he’s entitled to anything and everyone he wants. Well, you are not entitled to me. And, if I were you, I wouldn’t fuck with my mother. She may look delicate and kind, but she’s opposed the gods and won. Right now, my family isn’t your enemy, but if you follow this path, you’ll set us all on a collision course that will lead to war. While me and mine can slip away to live somewhere else, you and your people will be trapped here or in whatever is left of Faery.”
His eyes slid to silver and then shifted to ice-blue, his hair turned a snowy white, and air puffed in front of my lips. The floor trembled, and then ice began spreading out on it, forcing me to abandon my modesty and jump onto the bed next to him.
Wrapping my arms around my torso, I stepped back as he moved closer, smiling as ice particles formed on my lashes. He paused before me, lifting a finger to trail over my cheek that singed the flesh with the frost. His fingers snapped, and flames spread on his skin. Flicking his wrist, he smirked wickedly as flames burned within the glare he aimed at me. Perspiration built on my skin, and sweat trickled on my forehead and between my breasts. A single finger pushed toward me, landing between my breasts to catch a bead of moisture.
He stepped closer, smiling down at me before his fiery stare slid a scorching path down my naked frame. His attention drifted back to my face as leaves began to fall around us, covering me and the bed in an earthy scent. His eyes changed to an amber shade, sparking with gold while he dropped onto his knees beside me. I pushed from the bed, but he leaned forward, using a leaf to run it over the valley between my breasts.
“You think I merely want the realm, but you’re wrong. Danu took so much more before she achieved that victory. She fed my father and mother to her beasts and young. I tried to oppose her, fought her from the shadows for centuries. I reveled as I eradicated them from my land, but it became an unending war, and many died because of both sides. For a time, we discovered peace from the gods, and life slowly settled around us. Since we’d hidden away and discovered a way to avoid the gods, I agreed to take a queen, and she was everything pure and beautiful. In the glen where the waterfalls glow, I laid with her and we created a life together. Three months before we were to be married, they captured her.” He paused, swallowing hard past the words he didn’t wish to speak. “Danu shredded the flesh from her while she lived and then fed her to the newest pet she’d created—the Horde King. He feasted on the woman I loved, piece by agonizing piece, until death finally took her from the misery they forced her to endure. Danu knew I couldn’t reach any of them in time to save them as well. So, there I stood, within the forest, forced to watch her die because the trees prevented my army from moving forward. Your family has taken everyone I loved and slaughtered them.”
“We didn’t do that to you. Our people have suffered because of Danu too. She created me so that she had a way of hiding from the consequences of her actions. Danu set everything into motion so that I was born. They held my mother down, and Bilé’s creations tried to cut me and my brothers from my mother’s womb while she fought to protect us. My father’s family? They’re the horde, and Alazander tortured them, ripping them apart and murdering their siblings in front of them if they didn’t do as he’d ordered. I get that you’re angry and want your revenge. I understand your need, but she’s fucking dead. You’re only repeating the cycle, and that changes nothing.”
His sinister laughter escaped, and he adjusted on the bed to get closer to me. He swiped his tongue over his lips, wetting them before he spoke. “Everyone I loved was murdered and then I had my world stolen from me. You call it Faery, but we called it the Etherlands,” he stated, scanning my face before drifting the leaf he held down to my navel. “You’re about to tell me that Faery cannot survive without the fae within it because the Tree of Life will wither and die.”