For two long and tedious days I’m imprisoned in my luxurious chambers, guarded by a couple of fae stationed outside my door like solemn, unmoving statues. Only when I ask to walk the grounds, inquire where Orlinda has disappeared to, or demand an audience with Ever, do their lips curl into cruel smiles, their gazes fixed on the wall tapestry opposite my room as they repeat the same phrase over and over in bland monotones.
You are detained by order of Queen Varenus, Empress of the Land of Five, Sovereign of the Five Elements, and Ruler of the Seas of all Time. Prince Everend cannot aid you.
I’m incredibly tired of hearing it.
After lunch on the third day, I’m lounging in the window seat inspecting the silver falcons embroidered on my fern-green tunic when a clipped, gruff voice tells the guards to get lost. A huge sigh of relief parts my lips as I get to my feet. Finally, Ever has come.
Before I make it halfway across the floor, the double doors swing open, and he strides in, Balor at his side, golden armor flashing and eyes so wild and blue they make my pulse spike violently.
He comes at me like a tornado and wraps me in his arms, nearly crushing me to death.
“Lara,” he groans, squeezing tighter. “I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner. The queen ordered me on a draygonet hunt, a ruse to keep me away from the castle. If I’d had any idea she’d locked you in here, I would never have left.”
“But what does she hope to achieve by keeping me in here? She can’t possibly believe I’m a threat to your plans to find your queen. I don’t imagine Elemental faery princes regularly find true love with dirt-poor waitresses. And my highest ambition right now is to get back to Magret and the gardens. That’s it.”
A frown crumples his brow. “You’d rather live in your servant’s cell than these chambers? That’s all you wish for?”
“Yes.” I wave my hand around the whimsical, extravagant quarters. “I don’t fit in here. It’s too much.”
Now here, of course, is the perfect opportunity to beg him to help me return home. I don’t want to be stuck in Faery forever. I really don’t. But, incredibly, the thought of never seeing Ever again seems worse than not reuniting with my family.
Behold the bizarre truth—I seem to have fallen in love with a cursed fae prince. I have no idea when or how I fell, but there’s no other explanation for the state I’m in, mooning about my gilded prison, reliving every single heated glance and scorching touch we’ve shared.
“How baffling you are,” he says, toying with my hair. “The ladies of the court line their daughters in front of me, hoping I’ll choose every one of them as concubines. I would rather be locked up with you for the whole turn of a moon than go hunting. Yet you choose toiling in the garden over my company.”
Balor barks, and Ever’s lips quirk as though he can’t quite believe what he’s saying. His warm palms frame my face, tilting my head up like a flower toward his brilliant golden light. “Lara, I wish I were mortal, and we could be handfasted, not for a year and a day, but always and forever.” A hypnotic mix of silver and blue flashes in his eyes as his head lowers and soft lips meet mine.
The gentle caress of his kiss asks a question, and I bury my fingers in his hair and answer with sighs, my body pressing against smooth metal layers of armor.
His arms tighten around my back before he breaks away, eyes searching mine. “Is it possible… despite our differences, do you ever dream of being joined with me in that way, Lara?”
I nod. “Yes. And I swear I’m not lying. I absolutely want that. I want you.” I pull his face to mine and attack his mouth with gusto. He stumbles against a wall painted with feast scenes, feathers, and flowers interspersed with vines coiling over a shiny, white and gold background.
It suddenly strikes me that the decorations on these walls are the opposite of the black and silver ones in Ever's rooms, yet somehow connected. The same air symbols cover both, but the images surrounding them are different, his masculine and mine more feminine. I think these rooms are meant to house his lady when he finds her, where she’ll live while waiting to become the Queen of Five, co-ruler of Talamh Cúig. And Ever's wife.
Groaning again, he pushes away and paces back and forth across the leaf-patterned rug by the main windows. “What am I doing wasting time talking of the impossible and kissing you? I need to get you out of this land to safety.” He stomps to the door. “Right now. We must go. Bring a warm cloak. We’re going to find a portal.”
“Wait. A what?” One moment, he’s saying he wants to be with me always, the next he’s trying to shuffle me out of his world forever. “Stop a minute. What’s going on?”
He strides back and gathers me into his arms. “Dana save me, I cannot stop touching you.” Breathing harshly, this time when his lips take mine, he presses me against a wardrobe, his sharp teeth grazing my skin, and my mind disintegrates. This is everything, all I need. All I want.
Hands grasping my thighs roughly, he lifts me, and my legs wrap around his waist with no care for the bruises his armor will leave on my body. When I bite his earlobe, it suddenly occurs to me to wonder why he’s dressed for a ceremony. Or a battle.
“Why are you in your armor?” I ask between urgent kisses.
“Armor?” His head jerks up. “Damn the Elements.” He slides me down his body until my stockinged feet hit the stone floor. “What am I doing? I have lost my mind. There’s no time for this. I must get you out of here while it’s still possible. Put your boots on. Do it now.”
“But I don’t want to go, Ever, not yet. You and I, we’re only at the beginning and—”
“No, this is the end. There’s no other choice. If you don’t leave now, you will surely die here. My mother has somehow learned of the tattoo on your skin.” Because I told her about it. “And it won’t be long before the Merits hear of it, too. In fact, she’s probably already scheming to hand you over to El Fannon. And, worse, there is the one who started this curse—Aer, the wind mage—truth be told; out of everyone, she is the greatest danger to you.”
Crossing my arms, I move to the window, my attention snagged by the violent sky layered like black slate above the ruins of the old castle. “What does my tattoo mean?”
Outside, the wind howls, branches scraping glass and stone. “It’s no concern of yours. Forget it.”
“I won’t forget it. I want an answer.”
The fire spits and crackles as he paces through the gray light, a scowling vision of silver and gold. Finally, he stops in front of me. He swallows, gaze dropping to my throat. “Where is your necklace?”
“The queen took it.”
The flames in the fireplace blow out as a gust of wind rattles through the room. Anger sizzles hot in his eyes, making him tremble, the set of his mouth grim. For a moment, his eyes close, and I hear knuckles crack, fingers forming fists at his side.
“You bear the mark of the foretold queen, the one who will stop the poison. Your skin is etched with the garnet dragonfly.”
I laugh. “That’s just stupid. I could never be a queen of the fae. I’m human. I’m used to serving people bacon and egg bagels, not ruling over them!” Hysteria rises inside me, a feeling like the entire world is crammed inside my brain and about to explode out.