He didn’t appear to appreciate her attempts at humor. “I still wish Rafe had let me kill him.”
She grinned. “But then I’d have gotten jealous that I didn’t get a lick at him.”
The grin faded when she looked up and saw the rawness of the emotions etched on his worried face.
“I’m glad Rafe stopped you,” she told him seriously. “Mab was upset enough by what he’d done, especially given that their relationship had been so close. I think she felt a little guilty that her ending things could have spurred him to put her entire realm in jeopardy. But I think things would have been even worse for her if you had killed him.”
He sighed against her hair. “She was upset. She never guessed one of her favorites would betray her.”
“That wasn’t why she was so upset. Or at least not all of it.”
He looked his question.
“She obviously sees the members of the Guard as her children. She just saw one of her sons turn against the others. That would nearly kill most mothers, I think.”
“Okay, you can’t tell me they were lovers one minute and then refer to him as her son the next.” He gave an exaggerated shudder. “Even in Faerie some things are still taboo. Not to mention creepy.”
She smacked him lightly. “You know what I mean.”
He kissed her forehead. “Sometimes.”
“Anyway, at least she got Seoc back safely.”
Luc chuckled. “Yeah, and he’ll be using his innocence to get out of trouble for centuries.”
“Hey, I would, too, if I’d been so falsely accused.”
He laughed. And snuggled her just the slightest bit closer. “She demanded to be invited, you know.”
Corinne frowned at him. “Mab? What did she want to be invited to?”
He smiled slightly. “Our wedding.”
She paused meaningfully. “Are we getting married?”
“Well, since we’ll be living together here in Ithirand I plan to stay with you till the end of our days, I thought we could.”
Corinne tried to ignore the fluttering in her stomach and the aching fullness of her heart. “But you said Fae didn’t get married.”
“You aren’t Fae,” he said simply.
“You know, now might be a good time to keep your promise and explain to me how it is that in fifty years I’m not going to look like your great-aunt Ida.”
“Well that’s easy,” he said with a grin. “I’m not going to look this way in fifty years.”
She frowned. “How do you figure that?”
“Aging is only partially genetic for the sidhe. Most of the eternal-youth thing has to do with living in Faerie. No one there really ages past adulthood. As long as I’m living in Ithir,I’ll age almost like a human. And if we want to slow things down once in a while, we can always go to Faerie for a visit. Mab says we’re welcome in the palace anytime.”
Corinne digested that. “I suppose that could work. But are you sure about getting married?”
“I thought it would make you happy.”
It would make her ecstatic, she realized, but she didn’t intend to let him skip all the steps between meeting and marriage. She wanted all that good stuff, too.
“It will,” she admitted, “but we’re not going to do it yet.”
She felt him stiffen. “Why not?”
“Because I want to date first.” She pulled back to smile up at him. “Look at it this way. You know I’ll say yes to your proposal eventually, which takes the pressure off, but you still get all the fun of trying to persuade me.”
He laughed softly. “Ah, I understand. In that case, rest up, sweetheart. You’re going to need your strength for my brand of persuasion.”
“I can’t wait.”
They lay together in silence for a few minutes, and Corinne felt the drowsiness caused by the drugs and the events of the past couple of days start to take over. She could hear his heart beating steadily beneath her ear, and knew there was no place she’d rather be than in his arms. She couldn’t wait for the future.
She didn’t realize she’d drifted off to sleep, but when she woke again, Luc was gone and the clock told her she had been out for almost three hours. She rolled over and winced at the pain in her head.
“Here. Have some medicine.”
She accepted the pill Missy pushed into her hand and swallowed it with a sip of water from the glass that was pressed against her lips. When she dropped her head back and opened her eyes gingerly, she saw Missy and Reggie sitting on opposite sides of her bed. “Where’s Luc?”
Missy grinned. “Graham, Rafe, and Dmitri pried him away from you long enough to feed him. He was starting to turn a little gray.”
“We think they plan to get him drunk, too. Just to celebrate.”
Corinne scowled and looked around, her gaze screeching to a stop when she saw Ava watching her from the foot of the bed. “What?” she asked. “No Danice?”
“We couldn’t get ahold of her,” Reggie said. “She and Mac are away at their mysterious ‘weekend house.’ But I left a message on her machine at home, and with her secretary and her paralegal. And Daphanie stopped by earlier, but she was on her way out of town with Asher. She’s exhibiting at some kind of craft show down south this weekend.”
Corinne rolled her eyes, then winced at the pain it caused. “Did you send out notices or something? It’s not like I’m on death’s door or anything.”
“Oh, we know,” Ava drawled. “But we thought the whole gang deserved a chance to grill you on Tall, Dark, and Faerie.”
“Fae,” she corrected.
“Whatever. So spill it. Tell us all about him.”
“Buy the movie.”
“I’m not into porn flicks, darling. I prefer to read the book, but that takes so long, and you can summarize for me.”
There would never be a book. If she had her way, Corinne’s article on summertime mass hysteria in Manhattan would be the last time she ever mentioned a non-human being in her life. From now on she’d just focus on loving one.
“Can’t you get a life of your own instead of prying into mine?” she demanded.
“Why should I?”
Corinne looked helplessly to Reggie and then to Missy for help. They just grinned at her.
“Don’t look at us,” Reggie said. “She did this to us, too.”
“It’s like a rite of passage,” Missy added. “We all have to go through it eventually.”
Corinne scowled. “That’s ridiculous. She has no right to pry like this.”
Ava arched a slim, dark brow. “Why do you think I waited until you were exhausted and vulnerable and too weak to fight back? Now spill.”
Corinne knew when she’d been beaten, but that didn’t stop her from scowling furiously at the object of her displeasure.
“Fine,” she growled. “Until Luc escapes and comes to rescue me—which is becoming a distressingly familiar scenario—I’ll satisfy your prurient curiosity. But just remember this. One day soon, it’ll be your turn to answer questions about your love life.”
Ava laughed. “Corinne, darling, the day I fall in love is the day I’ll answer any question any one of you wants to ask me.”
Corinne felt her mouth curve into a wicked grin, and saw the same expression mirrored on Reggie’s and Missy’s faces. Oh, boy, she could hardly wait.
“Ha! You said it, and I’ve got witnesses,” she purred. “I want you to remember that promise, Av, because we are going to take great pleasure in holding you to it. One of these days you’re going to get yours. And believe me when I tell you that love has a nasty habit of ignoring what you want, and giving you exactly what you need.”
That’s just what it had done for her.
Coming soon…
ON THE PROWL
ISBN: 978-0-312-35721-4
Available in May 2012 from St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Don’t miss these other novels in The Others series from
New York Timesbestselling author
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bsp; Christine Warren
BLACK MAGIC WOMAN
ISBN: 978-0-312-35720-7
PRINCE CHARMING DOESN’T LIVE HERE
ISBN: 978-0-312-94794-1
BORN TO BE WILD
ISBN: 978-0-312-35719-1
BIG BAD WOLF
ISBN: 978-0-312-94795-8
YOU’RE SO VEIN
ISBN: 978-0-312-94792-7
ONE BITE WITH A STRANGER
ISBN: 978-0-312-94793-4
WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
ISBN: 978-0-312-94791-0
HOWL AT THE MOON
ISBN: 978-0-312-94790-3
THE DEMON YOU KNOW
ISBN: 978-0-312-34777-2
SHE’S NO FAERIE PRINCESS
ISBN: 978-0-312-34776-5
WOLF AT THE DOOR
ISBN: 978-0-312-94553-4
AVAILABLE FROM ST. MARTIN’S PAPERBACKS
St. Martin’s Paperbacks Titles By Christine Warren
Black Magic Woman
Prince Charming Doesn’t Live Here
Born to Be Wild
Big Bad Wolf
You’re So Vein
One Bite with a Stranger
Walk on the Wild Side
Howl at the Moon
The Demon You Know
She’s No Faerie Princess
Wolf at the Door
Anthologies
The Huntress
No Rest for the Witches
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
NOT YOUR ORDINARY FAERIE TALE
Copyright © 2011 by Christine Warren.
All rights reserved.
For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
ISBN: 978-1-4299-5109-8
St. Martin’s Paperbacks are published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Not Your Ordinary Faerie Tale Page 22
