A Cursed Reign (Whims of Fae Book 5)

by Nissa Leder

  Kaelem reached for her hand. “Come on now, my lovely newlywed. We should at least get something to eat before we worry about the looming war.”

  She looked up at him with annoyance until a grin spread across her lips. “Fine. I suppose we’ll think better when we have food in our stomachs.”

  “Yay!” Kaelem had always wanted to try mortal food in the mortal world. He’d asked the brownies to make him recipes from the cooking channel he watched, but he guessed authentic human food would be much different.

  “Well, there’s Mexican food over there.” Scarlett pointed across the street. “Or Thai. Or pizza.” She gestured to the storefront ahead of them.

  So many choices, all of which sounded purely delightful. “Pizza. I don’t think anything screams human more.”

  “Great. But one problem. How are we going to pay? I seem to have left my mortal money back in time when I was one.” She lifted a shoulder. “Oops.”

  “We can improvise.” He pulled her with him toward the store.

  The smell of garlic hit him once they stepped inside. Maybe human food wouldn’t be that different after all.

  A waiter in all black greeted them. “Will you be dining in or ordering to go?”

  “Dining in,” Scarlett replied.

  “Perfect. Right this way.” The waiter stared at Scarlett, likely taking in her beauty. Kaelem couldn’t blame him. Her dark hair stood out from her fair skin, now as flawless as possible. The slight peach tone to her cheeks made her look ethereal, and her tattoos made her fascinating.

  They followed him to a booth on the outside of the room.

  “Your waiter’s name is Diana and she’ll be with you shortly. Enjoy your meal.” He never looked at Kaelem, instead keeping his eyes locked on Scarlett.

  She blushed.

  “Thanks,” Kaelem said, hoping to pry the waiter’s gaze away from her, but it didn’t work.

  The waiter smiled before walking away.

  “He was cute, huh?” Kaelem asked Scarlett.

  “Yeah, I guess.” She opened her menu.

  “I think he liked you.”

  She flipped a page. “Cool?”

  Kaelem groaned and grabbed his menu. Salads. Ew. Who would go to a pizza place and get a salad? “What’s a calzone?”

  “It’s like a pizza turned into a sort of burrito thing.” Scarlett folded her menu and sat it on the table.

  “What are you going to get?”

  “Half pepperoni, half Hawaiian.”

  There were so many options. A pizza burrito did sound amazing, but it felt criminal to not get a pizza. “I’ll get a pepperoni pizza.”

  “Good choice.” Scarlett folded her menu and handed it to Kaelem with the back face up.

  The words Dessert Pizza caught his attention. There were options for candy and chocolate and caramel. “Holy fuck.”

  “Humans have pretty decent desserts, too.”

  A waitress approached them, also dressed in all black. “Hello, beautifuls! Welcome to Rico’s Pizza. Have you had a chance to go over the menu?”

  “Why yes, we have,” Kaelem said. “I want a large pepperoni pizza and a dessert pizza with lots of candy and chocolate.”

  She laughed. “Don’t you have quite the sweet tooth. And a fast metabolism, from the looks of it.”

  Kaelem couldn’t help himself and peeked into her mind. God, he is gorgeous. He must be a new customer. Surely I’d have recognized him.

  “And for you, gorgeous?” She turned to Scarlett.

  Still in her thoughts, Kaelem heard, Damn, she’s beautiful too. These two would have some miracle babies!

  “A medium, half pepperoni and half Hawaiian. And a Sprite, please.”

  “Coke for me,” Kaelem added. He’d always loved the Coke commercials he’d seen.

  “Wonderful. I’ll get your order in and get your drinks out to you asap.”

  After she was gone, Kaelem said. “She thought we both were beautiful creatures.”

  “You listened to her thoughts?” Scarlett whispered.

  “Of course. This is my chance to see how the mortal mind works. Why wouldn’t I?”

  “Because it’s an invasion of privacy.”

  “What if they don’t know I’m doing it?”

  “It still is.”

  Kaelem tugged at the waist of his jeans. They were so tight and uncomfortable. He much preferred his dress pants. Not only did they feel better, but they looked a lot better, too. The waitress would have really thought him gorgeous if she’d seen his ass in his favorite pants.

  When she returned with the drinks, she said to Kaelem, “Do or do not. There is no try.”

  “I’m sorry…” He had no idea what she was talking about. Was she drunk?

  It’s a Star Wars quote, you idiot, Scarlett said. From Yoda. The character on your shirt.

  The waitress pressed her brows together in confusion.

  “That Yoda sure knows what he’s talking about,” Kaelem said awkwardly.

  She grinned. “I love that series. The original trilogy is the best by far, don’t ya think?”

  “Duh!” Kaelem said. He’d always wanted to use that expression.

  “Your pizzas should be out soon.” She walked away.

  Kaelem glanced at Scarlett, who was nearly crying she was laughing so hard.

  “You owe me one,” she said. “Maybe you should have worn a plain t-shirt instead.”

  “Hey, I’m trying to fit into this world. A character on one of the soap operas I watch is a big Star Wars fan, so I figured it was a very mortal thing to be.”

  “Oh, it is. But usually, people who wear Yoda shirts know who he is.”

  Kaelem enjoyed this banter. He’d seen some carefree moments from Scarlett—mostly when she was intoxicated—but besides the time he’d visited her in her human home to give her the stone, he’d never seen her in a mortal environment.

  The ease she felt there was blatant. It made sense. She’d spent most of her life as a human. Despite all the power she possessed now, she must have still felt mortal in her heart.

  They joked some more until their waitress brought them their pizzas.

  As humans would say, oh my god. It was both disgusting and amazing at the same time. The dough was thick, but it didn’t actually taste like food. He was used to homemade, fresh loaves of bread from the brownies and, although this didn’t compare, it had a quality he couldn’t put his finger on. Maybe it was the cheese. He’d never had it but it seemed mortals on TV were obsessed.

  “Is it everything you dreamed of?” Scarlett asked after she finished a slice of hers.

  “Yes, so much. It’s both awful and wonderful.”

  Scarlett shrugged. “The best things in life are.”

  After Kaelem had finished every bite, they were ready to leave.

  “Now, how are we supposed to pay?” Scarlett asked.

  Kaelem searched out with his mind out and found a man sitting across the room on a first date. Perfect. He used his mind control gift, one he didn’t use often because it did feel a bit too invasive for his taste, and told him to tell his waiter their dinner was on him so he’d look generous to his date.

  “Excuse me, sir,” the man said to his waiter. “See that table over there?” He pointed to Kaelem and Scarlett. “Their meal is on me tonight.”

  “That is so generous of you,” the woman with him said.

  “I think it’s important to do random acts of kindness. This world is dark sometimes, so I like to be the light.”

  Smooth. The man was savvy. Kaelem didn’t put those words into his mouth. Did he actually mean them? Was that a thing the guy actually did?

  “You made him pay for us?” Scarlett asked him, her judging glare back.

  “He looks good for his date and we don’t have to dine and dash—something I saw on my soap opera last week. It’s a win, win,” Kaelem said. “Now, let’s go.”

  Kaelem stood first and held his hand out to help Scarlett up. When their hands touched,
a jolt of lust spread through him.

  “Come, wifey,” he said. “Our honeymoon awaits.”

  Chapter Nine

  Scarlett wanted to ignore the tingle that had tickled her when her hand touched Kaelem’s, but she couldn’t. She hadn’t wanted to go to dinner when he first mentioned it, but she couldn’t deny it had been fun. She missed this world. Despite how perfect the fae life seemed, with its glamour and longevity, it could never erase her years of being human.

  After they’d exited the restaurant, they waited outside, still hand-in-hand.

  “What now?” Kaelem asked.

  They couldn’t evanesce there without more details, and with no idea where to go, walking would take forever.

  Then a taxi drove by and Scarlett felt like a complete idiot. Duh. How long had she been away from the human world that she wouldn’t think of a taxi? But they didn’t have any money.

  “We don’t need money,” Kaelem said.

  “What?” Scarlett asked before realizing he’d been in her head. “I told you to stay out of my head.”

  “Yes, darling, and I’ve told you to keep me out. You need to be better at keeping your mental shields up. Who knows who’s listening in. If what my friend said is true, and there are fae all around the mortal world now, we might not even realize someone with the mind gift is close if we aren’t paying attention.”

  Scarlett sighed. “You’re right.” She needed to be better. Why was it so difficult?

  “We can use mind control on the taxi driver for a free ride.”

  “But that’s stealing.”

  “Look at it this way. If the Fates win, who knows what might happen to the poor humans? If the taxi driver actually knew that giving us a free ride could save millions of lives, I’m sure he would do it.”

  “Aren’t you dramatic,” Scarlett said. But he was right again. Humans stood no chance against the Fates if they had plans for the mortal world. Saving not only her people in the Otherworld, but humans like Natalie and Teddy, might not happen if she was too afraid to dirty her hands. “Fine.”

  Kaelem walked toward the edge of the sidewalk, tugging Scarlett with him, and raised his hand. A taxi pulled over.

  “How did you know?” Scarlett asked.

  “I watch a lot of TV.” Kaelem opened the door. “After you.”

  Scarlett got into the back of the cab first, followed by Kaelem. She scooted all the way across to the window, expecting him to stay by the other window, but he continued to the middle seat.

  We’re on our honeymoon, remember? he said into her mind. Now, keep your mind shields up.

  Right. Scarlett raised her mental barrier, double checking that there were no holes. She was getting more used to the magic all the time, but for some reason having to always be prepared for a mind attack had been hard for her to learn.

  “Where to?” the taxi driver asked. He was young. Likely only a couple of years older than Scarlett, but unlike her, he would age. His red hair was cut short on the sides and longer on top, where he’d used ample gel to make a faux hawk.

  Kaelem raised his butt off of the seat and dug into his pocket. He pulled out the note and read the address.

  “That’s all the way across the city,” the driver said. “But it’s your lucky day. This one is on the house.”

  Scarlett groaned. Kaelem must have invaded the poor guy’s mind. But what choice did they have?

  “I’ve always wanted to make out in the back of a taxi,” Kaelem whispered to Scarlett.

  “That’s nice. Let me know how that goes when it happens.”

  “You wound me. Aren’t I a good enough husband to you?” He rested his hand on her thigh, low enough to be acceptable in public, but high enough it made her tingle. “I only want to make you happy a wife.”

  “I…” Scarlett started to reply when his hand moved a little further up. She grabbed his hand and moved it onto his own lap. “I think you’re on your own right now.

  He didn’t try again, but she saw the satisfaction in his eyes.

  The rest of the car ride was silent, except for the 80s rock music playing on the taxi’s radio. Kaelem opted for playing air drums while Scarlett looked out the window and took in everything around them as they moved slowly through traffic.

  She’d always wanted to visit New York. She and Natalie had planned a trip there after graduation, but with everything that happened with Scarlett’s mom, their road trip was forgotten. There was so much excitement to city life. So many lights. So many different people with different goals, dreams, religions, hobbies. It was lovely.

  But what if all those people became toys of the fae? If the fae had already infiltrated the mortal world as much as Kaelem said, was anyone safe? Things would only be worse if the Fates wanted to use the human realm.

  Darkness had set in, making the buildings all around even brighter. Scarlett read every billboard she saw, wondering what she’d missed while she’d been away. Which football team won the Super Bowl? Which celebrity starred in the latest scandal? No matter how far removed Scarlett had become, the world continued.

  Truthfully, she wasn’t that important. Finding a weapon that could kill her when otherwise she couldn’t die was a scary thought, but she hadn’t regretted her decision to search for it. Her life meant nothing if the world turned to darkness.

  Eventually, the taxi driver pulled over in front of a skyscraper and said, “Here you go. You have arrived.”

  “Thank you, kind sir,” Kaelem said. Then he took off his watch, which from the looks of it was really expensive, and handed it to the driver. “For your generosity.” He looked to Scarlett and winked.

  After they were out of the taxi and he had driven away, they looked up at the building.

  “Now, what?” Scarlett asked.

  “My friend says this guy comes here a lot. We just need to hope he’s here tonight and that we can find him.”

  “Lovely.”

  Kaelem tugged Scarlett to the side of the building. It was dark and smelled like a sewer.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “We don’t want to look like mortals anymore. Not in this place.” His Star Wars outfit shifted into white dress pants and a silver dress shirt. A charcoal-colored tie appeared next. “Much better. Now you.”

  Scarlett looked down to see her jeans and t-shirt vanish and a tight red dress take its place. Her shoes shifted into matching red heels.

  “Much, much better.” Kaelem grinned.

  She had to admit, they both looked great. “Is it hard to glamour clothing?”

  “It takes a little practice. You have to be able to really visualize what you want to look like.” Kaelem shrugged. “We aren’t newlyweds anymore, but lovers out for a fun night.”

  “Why lovers?”

  “Then no one will try to separate us.”

  “You don’t want to find yourself a woman to seduce?” Scarlett tucked her hair behind her ear.

  “Who says I don’t already have one in mind.” Kaelem linked his elbow with hers. “Guess you’ll have to wait and see.”

  They walked up to the building’s entrance, but the sliding glass door didn’t open.

  “Hello?” Kaelem asked.

  Nothing happened. Had his friend lied to them? Was this the wrong place?

  “Well, what have we here?” a voice said behind them.

  Scarlett tensed. Shit. Had someone figured out who they were? She checked her mind shields. Still up.

  “If it isn’t the Unseelie King himself,” the voice said.

  Scarlett and Kaelem turned to face the man. He was clearly fae. He wore teal dress pants and a cream shirt. His skin was flawless, dark and glowing. Then he grinned a white smile that could be friendly or creepy, Scarlett wasn’t sure which.

  This was a club made for the fae and unlike Scarlett whose royal position was known to few, Kaelem was King of the Unseelie Court. It was unsurprising that someone would recognize him. It was also unsurprising that he might have enemies lurk
ing about.

  “Can I say I’m not surprised to find you here?” Kaelem said sternly, then grinned. “Though I remember something about you going to the Carribean. Scarlett, this is my old friend Nico. The one who told me about this establishment but forgot to mention how in the hell we’re supposed to get inside.”

  Nico approached them and extended an arm to Scarlett. She shook his hand.

  “You are exquisite,” Nico said, still holding her hand in his. “I’ve seen a lot of gorgeous women, but you’re something else.”

  Scarlett pulled her hand back, resisting a blush. Though his words here flattering, something about him seemed greasy.

  “This suddenly silent one is Scarlett, the one I told you about,” Kaelem said then pulled Nico into a hug. “Now, will you help us get in?”

  “Of course.” Nico walked to the side of the glass door and knocked three times, paused, then knocked once more and the door slid open. “You just need to know the passcode. After you two.”

  Kaelem linked his arm with Scarlett’s again as they entered the building. Being so close to him brought her comfort. Unsure of what they would face, at least they had each other.

  There must have been some sort of spell on the doors because peeking in from the sidewalk, the inside looked like a plain office building with a front desk and cubicles, but this was anything but plain.

  Sparkling chandeliers hung from the high ceiling above, dimly lighting the room, giving it the perfect ambiance. Instead of cubicles, high-backed booths lined the outer ring of the room.

  They approached a dark, wooden podium. Behind it stood a human woman with peachy skin and blond hair. “Welcome to Sandy’s,” she said to Kaelem and Scarlett before noticing Nico. “Hello, Nico, welcome back.”

  “These two are with me,” he said.

  “Wonderful,” she said. “Right this way. Your usual booth is open.”

  She turned and Nico followed her.

  “Coming?” he turned and asked.

  Kaelem and Scarlett hurried behind.

  All the waitresses wore little black dresses. Some were strapless, others halter tops, some even had capped sleeves. They all were short, but none were too revealing. The waiters all wore black dress pants, but some were shirtless while others wore black shirts.